Last truck rolls off line at Oshawa GM plant: Last truck rolls off line at Oshawa GM plant
I didn`t catch the story on this but it sounds like Chrysler has closed their Canadian plants as well today?
Chrysler is to close nearly 800 U.S. dealerships: Chrysler to close nearly 800 U.S. dealerships
GM has said it will cut its number of Canadian dealers to about 400 from the currant 705 or about 40 per cent.

 

to bad for the workers, but it may help get rid of the unions that cause alot of this. (no flame please)
Lucky for us i guess that we don't have those plants here.

 

Nothing against unions but in my opinion the unions just got too strong. But they do have their time and place. GM spends more on medical then they did on metal.

 

Good articles Morris.

I have never been in a union, but I have lots of friends that are. I have alot of opinions and thoughts about unions, and most of them arent very good. The auto workers one is no different. No wonder we are paying so much for a new damn truck with the wages and benefits that those guys get.

Anyways I heard on the news last night about Chrysler closing a bunch of dealerships, think they worded it that dealerships were losing their franchises.

 

one thing that i've noticed is that every tiny town has a couple of new car dealerships. is this necessary?? most of these towns are only a hour or two from a larger city anyway where there's all the same dealers... i hate to see people lose jobs, but i don't see the need for this many dealers...

again, my humble opinions, not trying to start a fight.

 

Like anything else I suppose unions do have their place but in the case of the auto manufactures it was just another heavy burden when the economy slumped so sharply.
While the entire problem wasn`t entirely union benefits I think it was a significant part of the problem.

 

I assume that when ya say a couple of dealerships in a small town, you mean different ones though eh? (like a chevy and a ford, as compared to two chevy dealers in the same town)?

 

But then some smaller town dealers like Watrous Mainline is amoung the most reputable strong dealerships out there. If a dealership can carry their weight they should be allowed to stay in business.
Closing small dealers is what killed Massey Ferguson in Western canada.

 

You would think that maybe the overhead would be lower in some of the small towns for the dealerships. Maybe they should close the city dealerships and people can drive out to the country for their new vehicles. IMO

 

i guess there's different sides to every coin... i agree though Ryan, there are some small town dealers that you hear of that really excel. lol... lets take the GM products... do you really need a chevy dealer and a gmc dealer?? its the same crap in a different pile.

 

my opinion: it is the unions fault. Not all unions are bad but when they get to be too big they stop protecting the good employees and spend more time protecting the ones that shouldnt be working. U of S same way and the SGEU too. Ive worked in union shops and ive been a union rep for 6 years. I much prefer non union

 

Good call.
In my old hometown of Nipawin, there is such a puny useless ford dealership there, and its a waste. The local GM and Dodge attract way more customers, even if the vehicles arent fords! I say close the ford down, and make people drive to Melfort or P.A. to get a ford.

Another good call. Although I havent worked in a union shop, ive had plenty of friends/relatives that have all said the exact same thing. Only they usually say it when the union isnt even that large yet.

 

I beleive the autoworkers unions got too big for their britches. They are one of the contributing factors of the vehicles high costs. Especially since it costs them under $10,000 to build small cars. A few years ago those cars were selling in the hi teens and 20's thousands. Now they are down to low teens. Trucks cost just over $10,000 to make depanding on style. A lot of thos eoption cost the manufacturer a peanuts to make and install, yet charge like $1500 for A/C or stereos. Or 2000 for alloy rims that they stamp out hundreds of them
The managment also was taking their big cuts, and then there are all those shipping company's also driving the costs up for they charge nearly a 1000 a car to deliver here in Saskatchewan.
I work in a union. It has its good points. They were initialy suspose to protect workers from bad managers and business men. who rather have everyone working minimun wage and long hours. If you get injured , say good bye to the job. That happened to my wife from a car accident. She could not work and they fired her. Non union.
The thing I hate with my union is they do protect it seems to me more the bad workers. I seen over the years the lazy the theives and they get caught and get walking papers. The union fights to get them back and usually wins. Then there is back pay. A lot of these cases take 4 years to settle, so 4 years of back pay. I seen the good worker who makes a mistake and served walking papers and the union is not there. I find the difference is the good worker has pride and he accepts the fact he screwed up. The bad worker is it is not my fault and off to the union he goes.
I have 2 more years to go to get a retirement. Thank God I have a pension plan that the union fought for me. Nothing like the auto workers..
Otherwise retirement would be living in the poor house on the govrnment pensions.

But for the auto worker to justify their wage of $76.00 an hous while most everyone in Ontario is maybe in the teens or low 20's for wages. Whoa, that is a plumb job for a lot of these guys who never finished highschool and got hired in through a family member.
I look at it maybe now the prices will come down to a more reasonable price that I can afford to buy a new truck.

 

I can only wish your right that the prices would come down on new trucks Glen!

 

Bingo. Many unions spend their money looking for a fight, not representing the always on time, do my job and go home types if they have a work related issue. I think the unions should be involved in making sure their members do their jobs and not looking for ways to keep their jobs. These types cost companies huge amounts of money.

I have worked in managment positions supervising union employees and have also been in unions (not by choice). Unions are there for a reason, sometimes I think they forget that.