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GM to axe 1,000 Oshawa jobs

GREG KEENAN

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 7:51 AM EST 30/08/07

Cuts that will ripple through economy come in the face of slumping sales of pickup trucks ...Read the full article

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  1. Teacher David from China writes:

    Think the handwriting has been on the wall for a while on this one.
  2. Robert Pike from Kitchener, Canada writes: Come on feds!!! Newfoundand and Alberta are doing extremely well. Pump a bit more to keep these companies going. You've already wasted a ton, why not a bit more?
  3. Love my Country Expect More From My GOVERNMENT from TO, Canada writes: This won't bother Harper as he prefers to drive around in an American Lincoln.
  4. Typical Country Weather from Shelburne, Canada writes: I fail to see how government can somehow change the course of events now, particularly since this is mostly a made-in-America problem. This may only be the beginning.
  5. Michael Crowell from Halifax, Canada writes: Note to File: Solution; build a quality product at a competative price and sales will increase. Net result, more work for the Buzz's boys and girls. All my life I purchased NA cars. Several years ago a bought a new Toyota as a second car. The quality was exceptional. Since then I have purchased two more new Toyotas'.
  6. m. r. from Canada writes: Harper's American Lincoln is a Town Car now assembled in St. Thomas Ontario o o o!
  7. Time Out from Canada writes: Love my Country Expect More From My GOVERNMENT from TO, Canada writes: This won't bother Harper as he prefers to drive around in an American Lincoln.
    How long did it take you to come up with that piece of insight?
  8. earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: The feds have already pumped enough money into Oshawa. Profit or loss, the big 3 have their hands out for every grant, loan, and election year handout they can get. Only gives them more money to package employees during layoff cycles.
  9. George Bishop from nr Fergus Ontario, Canada writes: Isnt this the same General Motors that the Premier of Ontario gave a lot of Taxpayers money too to keep Jobs in Ontario, it wasnt the one for 'green cars' but at other times in last couple of years, when will governments learn that they should not waste our Money on Foreign manufactures like General Motors. You will note that when Toyota decided to place another plant in Ontario at Woodstock, they did not ask for Cash to do it, I do note that the Ontario Liberal government did give some Cash for a Parts Plant there as well.
  10. earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: Michael Crowell, excellent point:

    One need only buy a Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus to fully understand why NA car companies are bleeding and dying.

    Because of quality problems and the cost of purchasing incentives like low interest financing, the average profit for a north american car built in Ontario is about $300. For an Ontario built Toyota it's about $2500.

    and the cost differential for a Toyota or Honda is well worth it. People who buy them are glad they did and are not going back to the crap that GM/Chrysler/Ford are selling.

    Until the 'big 3' decide to take on the Japanese in the area of quality they will continue to get their heads handed to them on a platter.
  11. Tim Bee from Canada writes: Funny how all the surveys say NA cars' quality is right up there with the Japanese cars. I guess people are just lying in the surveys.
  12. Jay D from Ottawa, Canada writes: I don't know anyone in my age group (late 20s) who drives a NA model. Once the boomers die off the NA auto makers are really in trouble because they'll lose their legacy customers. The problem is simply quality and model choice. Japanese designs are clean and simple. The Japanese are far ahead in producing eco-friendly engines. The quality statistics on Acura/Lexus/Infiniti speak for themselves.
  13. j w from Oshawa, Canada writes: Surveys might indicate quality improvements but customers have long memories and have changed brand preferences now. Its going to be a long time before they give them a second chance. Besides, check out the resale value on Big 3 versus imports. That alone can justify the retail differences. Surveys are interesting but customers are casting their votes with their hard earned money.
  14. gilles monenemie from Canada writes: Flaherty should step in and demonstrate thsi governemnts leadership in fiscal responsibility. He could just get GM to change the motors and sell them as E-85 ethanol trucks and give them hefty discounts because they are so climate friendly, thats the best plan greenwash the public that they green vehicles and subsidize them through the nose. Thats how this government thinks, corporate welfare for the ethanol industry and car industry to save this luddite company with their dinosaur products. Ethanol is a scam brought to you by monsanto, cargill, adm and some well liquored politicians. I can't believe we are subsidizing e-85 vehicles when there is no e-85 in the country and that the GHG benefits of corn ethanol are marginal. Dummies running this country and even stupider people voting for them!
  15. Mike Mikelson from Toronto, Canada writes: Perhaps 75% of the previous posters would do well by actually reading the article? The problem isn't people buying foreign cars, its that the largest market of pick-up truck consumers is tightening their belts. I'm sure Toyota, Honda and Nissan are also seeing a slow down in pick-up truck sales.

    This can't be pinned on Harper, Hargrove or the automakers themselves; its simply a cyclical marketplace that's seeing some retraction.
  16. Jay Bird from Toronto, Canada writes: Most of the quality survey's I have read are based on ownership in the first 3 months to one year. Some should be conducted after 2, 3, 5 years of ownership. Then there is the resale value issue with the Big 3 autos. Style, quality, price. Addressing those three points will turn them around but that never seems to get through to them (Big 3). Perhaps the mountain they see before them is just too daunting so they do nothing instead.
  17. Tim Bee from Canada writes: j w from Oshawa, Canada writes: Surveys might indicate quality improvements but customers have long memories and have changed brand preferences now. Its going to be a long time before they give them a second chance. Besides, check out the resale value on Big 3 versus imports. That alone can justify the retail differences. Surveys are interesting but customers are casting their votes with their hard earned money....

    Well, you are discussing perception VS reality. The reality is that NA car quality is as good as the Japanese.
    I intend to take advantage of lower resale value of a Canadian built NA car this fall and buy a one year old car. I might save close to 1/3.

    I could buy a used BMW and save one or two thousand, but what would be the point? Yet peple do that!! That is the sheer stupidity of the consumer.
  18. .theboredbureaucrat . from Canada writes: Hmmm ... less people employed in the automotive industry hopefully means less cars being produced. I am not sure where the problem here is. The government shouldn't step in and bail them out by subsidizing a failing industry but by offering retraining, job placements, and incentives for other companies to hire workers whom are about to be laid off, preferably in more sustainable industries.
  19. Tim Bee from Canada writes: Jay Bird from Toronto, Canada writes: Most of the quality survey's I have read are based on ownership in the first 3 months to one year. Some should be conducted after 2, 3, 5 years of ownership. Then there is the resale value issue with the Big 3 autos. Style, quality, price. Addressing those three points will turn them around but that never seems to get through to them (Big 3). Perhaps the mountain they see before them is just too daunting so they do nothing instead...

    I can say that I have an old NA built car and didn't have a bit of problems with it for the first 12 or so years. My dad never has significant problems with his cars either. I wonder if it is the people who own the cars that don't know how to take care of them.
  20. j w from Oshawa, Canada writes: So you are actually blaming the customer? Noted.
  21. P T from Greenfield, Canada writes: I was planning to buy a new vehicle this fall, then I priced my choice in the USA. Either US is paying too little or Canada too much. Either way, I'm putting off the purchase.
  22. talk Courts, Senate, Press, Protesters, East Coasters ? What pleases him from Canada writes: What was Harper 's comeback to ' let them freeze in the dark '
  23. Joe Kinso from Carp, On., Canada writes: Most of the 'good ole boys' here in the sticks own pickups. They are not contractors. The are commuters. The cost of fuel to commute to the city is killing these guys and they are buying 'second' cars to commute. This has nothing to do with a slow down in house construction, it's simply a reality check for the 'good ole boys'. The cost of fuel is cutting into the beer budget.
  24. Tim Bee from Canada writes: P T from Greenfield, Canada writes: I was planning to buy a new vehicle this fall, then I priced my choice in the USA. Either US is paying too little or Canada too much. Either way, I'm putting off the purchase..

    Actually I agree. Car buyers and book buyers etc. should just not buy anything for the next couple of months and let the companies, both NA and foreign, decide if they are going to reduce the MSRP or not sell cars.
    It's not like gas where you have to buy it.
  25. earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: initial quality surveys are useless. They usually only speak to the first warranty covered months of a cars life.

    My first Honda Accord went 350K, then I sold it for an amazing $3200.

    Made the mistake of once trying a Chrysler Intrepid. After the warranty period it literally fell apart piece by piece. I gave up when it needed a second engine replacement.

    My Accords have been maintenance only - oil, gas, occasional brake job. Best built cars I have ever owned, won't buy anything else.
  26. Tim Bee from Canada writes: earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: initial quality surveys are useless. They usually only speak to the first warranty covered months of a cars life.

    My first Honda Accord went 350K, then I sold it for an amazing $3200.

    Made the mistake of once trying a Chrysler Intrepid....

    Well everyone knows not to buy an Intrepid.
  27. Tim Bee from Canada writes: earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: initial quality surveys are useless. They usually only speak to the first warranty covered months of a cars life.

    My first Honda Accord went 350K, then I sold it for an amazing $3200.

    Made the mistake of once trying a Chrysler Intrepid. After the warranty period it literally fell apart piece by piece. I gave up when it needed a second engine replacement.

    My Accords have been maintenance only - oil, gas, occasional brake job. Best built cars I have ever owned, won't buy anything else...

    My sister and brother in law have engine problems with their Honda Accord. Main reason why they decided to get a new car. So there you go.
  28. J. Mac from Canada writes: Go buy your cars and big mother trucks in the USA now before they shut the loophole. its all legal. Save 12,000 on 40,000 car. They even have people who will do all the paperwork and deliver the car. US guarantees are good here.If the workers making NA GARBAGE cars didn t see this coming they were blind.
  29. Marc Proulx from Nepean, Canada writes: I certainly feel bad for the CAW members who will lose their jobs. The gradual loss of automotive jobs in southern Ontario mirrors what has been happening in the United States 'rust belt' for the last 15 years. I am just waiting for Buzz Hargrove to come out again and blame our current Federal Conservative Government for the CAW workers' problems. He will put the blame on our high dollar rather than the declining American market, or structural problems in the automotive industry. Buzz Hargrove is the same guy who supports the Provincial & Federal Liberals who all 'drool' over the Kyoto Accord. Adhering to the 'letter of the law', the Kyoto Accord on greenhouse gases will certainly be the death knell of Ontario's automotive industry.
  30. earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: Tim Bee writes: Well everyone knows not to buy an Intrepid.

    You got me on that one, but it was the new model, and it's a good example of how the NA purchasing incentives can trap even those who read Consumer Reports.

    Lesson learned.
  31. Stude Ham from Outremont, Canada writes:

    and in spite of all this GM continues to shill massively high priced gas guzzlers. isn't there anyone at GM learning the real facts in consumer auto preferences these days?
  32. CPT America from United States writes: Okay now that we have gotten through our orgasmic-morning interlude over Japanese products lets look at some facts. The Japanese do not have the legacy costs that other automakers face and they have governements that keep their market closed and their currency low. Since some CDNs are cheering for the demise of the US, please answer me why the Japanese Yen has not appreciated agianst the US Dollar? And for all of you in the know, I guess you weren't in the multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit agianst Toyota for sludge in their engines. Yeah, that is what I thought!
  33. Wasabi Jones from Canada writes: To heck with Toyota and Honda. They make great cars, but cheaper foreign brands like Hyundai have now also zipped by GM in terms of quality, performance and reliability. I love my Santa Fe. To think I even considered buying a Rendez Vous or Escape. Yikes! And Kia is on its way.
  34. Tim Bee from Canada writes: J. Mac from Canada writes: Go buy your cars and big mother trucks in the USA now before they shut the loophole. its all legal. Save 12,000 on 40,000 car. They even have people who will do all the paperwork and deliver the car. US guarantees are good here.If the workers making NA GARBAGE cars didn t see this coming they were blind....

    What does this have to do with NA built VS foreign built cars?
  35. Tim Bee from Canada writes: The main problem I have with the NA companies is they have had 30 years to develop some better 4 cyclinder, small and medium size cars so that consumers who want better fuel economy can get them.
    They only make entry level cars in those configurations.
    That is why a lot of people are passing them by.
  36. Jon O from Canada writes: Two days, 1500 Jobs! First General mills, Now General Motors.
    I blame Dalto.
    Wake up people!
  37. garlick toast from mill village, Canada writes: .......'like a rock........'
  38. Lowen Wrainger from Canada writes: Wow, this is a double whammy. The housing market is slumping, so therefore fewer trucks are sold. Now some people don't have houses to live in, and then to add insult to injury, they won't even be able to sleep in their trucks.
  39. earl pearl from maple, Canada writes: The main problem I have with the NA companies is they have had 30 years to develop some better 4 cyclinder, small and medium size cars so that consumers who want better fuel economy can get them .

    The main problem i have is definitely quality and the low-cost 'engineered obsolescence' mentality of NA companies.

    There is absolutely no comparison of quality between the top Japanese cars and their big 3 equivalents.

    Plus, the big 3 have much at stake in keeping their dealer networks happy with repair/maintenance work that it's part of their business model. Keeping those that sell the junk happy trumps keeping the customer happy.

    And if you want some thought fodder about why the big boys don't like fuel efficient cars try to find a copy of the movie 'Who Killed the Electric Car?'. Amazing historical view of the rise and orchestrated fall of the GM EV-1 vehicle.
  40. Roland Neissinger from Latteville, Canada writes: These are clear economic circumstances: Demand from U.S. Home Building Contractors down (later Canadians to follow) = Orders of hefty pick-up trucks down.
    To some of the listings above: Sure north American quality is up and at par with Asian and European Cars and Trucks, but consumers fall or still adhere for skilled marketing and make phoo-phooeing brainwash.
    To build a car for the North American consumer to have no complaints it basically has to run forever, with minimal or no maintenance before they stop whining.
    On the other hand we still have too many people which have never seen a powertool or a shouvel posing around with monster pick-up trucks, using them as Sport Truck, this market will fall the more prices rise an consumer awareness finally realizes that there is something like peak oil happening out there, regardless of the kiting of opinions of 'how much' and for 'how long' - we need alternative or multi fuel trucks for the professionals in the future.....
    And we will need the people qualified for building them too.....
    The reminder is economical politics.....
  41. B Lam from Canada writes: The first thing GM should learn is how to find or make a working fuel gauge. Over the years, I had seen many GM cars had fuel gauge problem. Yet, GM still have not been able to fix it. My company's brand new mini van still has this problem.
  42. Fred B from TO, Canada writes: Government has no business doling out money to save jobs.
    If the company is failing then let it fail. Why make cars and trucks that people don't want to buy. We're not China.

    Buzz thought we were going overboard on the environment and turned to the Liberals for some payola.

    Down with unions. Up with the environment.
  43. Mtl Quebec from Canada writes: Robert Pike from Kitchener: you just wrote a typical waste-money Liberal-style text. Market drives things, not subsidies...
    The good news is that some people might decide to go live somewhere else than at the GTA dump.
  44. Old Folksinger from Canada writes: Poor quality control and obsolete design explain why Alberta has so many more Honda and Toyota trucks on its crowded highways.

    The CAW free ride is ending. Too much union abuse of power with contracts that were obviously unsustainable twenty years ago. Buz and his boys have killed the golden goose.

    Big three gonna be the medium two before long. Nothing stops the laws of economics and customer satisfaction. Government bribes may slow the inevitable but that's all. Bye bye jobs.
  45. Simon Garth from istanbul, Turkey writes: I made the mistake of buying USD 30.000 worth of GM corporate bonds in 2004 thinking this company was a trustworthy one, and was convinced to sell them with a USD 9.000 loss in 2005, thanks to everyday rumours pumped into the market immediately afterwards about how fast GM is heading to bankruptcy. Of course my USD 9.000 did not evaporate; it has found its way in the pocket of some legitimate scoundrels in Manhattan.

    GM made me lose all my faith in corporate USA. All US companies look very much like Enrons to me today. S&P and the like worked hand in hand to downgrade Ford and GM debts almost weekly then and when GM reached B-, suddenly they stopped producing news about these two goddamn companies. S&P is as questionable a company as late Arthur Anderson given the timings of its downgrading and upgrading habits, and I believe these companies are only there to administer the market fluctuations to make money out of that.

    GM’s reasoning now works this way: All its losses are caused by external forces since 2005. Either Rita or Katrina hits GM loses, or UAW extracts money for health care GM loses, or people feel like buying less trucks that particular quarter GM sells less trucks, or now it is the would-be subprime mortgage crisis possibility that made GM sell less trucks and this result reflects the period in which even Bernanke was unaware of the issue. GM never wants to address the real issue and thinks about only two remedies: Borrowing more money, cutting more cost. I do not know what percentage of any given GM vehicle’s price is the interest paid by GM but I can tell you it is comparable to the production cost now. GM is a zombie company, and it still keeps on producing lots of good for nothing models that I can immediately name at least 5. The market cap of GM is now less than many medium sized internet companies.

  46. Pete Kauchak from Cascadia, Canada writes: I'm always tired of Ottawa bailing out this industry time and time again just to help subsidize the existence of overpaid CAW workers. GM should outsource to a cheaper labor market so we can get cheaper cars. It's going to happen anyway in a decade or two. We should focus on an industrial strategy based on the manufacturing of highly complex proprietary new technology products which requires specialized knowledge and can't be so readily outsourced
  47. Devil Bud from Toronto, Canada writes: Still buying foreign? I hope you somehow work in an industry not affected by economic downturn. For those who think that buying Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. is a good move, why don't you canvass your friends and family and see how many of them could afford being laid off. If you are not buying domestic, you can pat yourself on the back for supporting foreign auto makers and sacrificing Canadian jobs. Do you think people in Asia care about your job? Do you the governments in Asia care about your job? Guess what....they don't. In fact, they allow a tiny percentage of our cars into their country, while they flood our markets with theirs. Fair trade....Haha!!! More like federal government gross negligence. Even our own government adds to domestic jobs being sacrificed at the expense of foreign company profits. Just ask the federal government who they gave their newest contract to build buses for the military. Oh, that's right, our very own military will be bussed around in German buses.....hmmmm. As for people who enjoy to speak on such things that they know nothing about.....Check the JD Power rankings to see who the best auto manufacturers have been over the past years. Oh, wait, has GM always been at the top? Out of a job yet?
  48. Sharon Maracle from Toronto, Canada writes: While Buzz may express shock and dismay, even a simpleton could have seen this coming.

    The baby boomers have already made their purchases, and with the baby boomers sucking up the good jobs, not alot of young walmart and gap workers can afford NA vehicles, and the ones that can cannot afford insurance.
  49. Kevin's Clone from Canada writes: I feel for the workers but the product they are building is cr*p. If I won a GM truck in a lottery I'd sell it. As far as pumping more money in No No No .. Sink or swim. Auto buyers will tell the tale for the Domestic (Gm Ford and Chrysler) auto makers. I personnally think they are really going to be downsized.

    Rebuttal???
  50. Yvonne Wackernagel from Woodvile, Canada writes: Well, here is a good opportunity in an election year for McGuinty to help with Ontario Industries. After all, after giving $l million to the Ontario Cricket Club about which everyone shouted, he also gave half of the total year end grant of this programme - $15 million to the Jewish Appeal Federation! Yes, this grant is supposed to 'provide one time unconditional grants to FUND PROJECTS SUCH AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW FACILITIES, THE RENOVATION OR RELOCATION OF EXISTING FACILITIES, AND PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT. The United Jewish Appeal Federation's mission statement reads as follows: 'UIA Federation's mission is to preserve and strengthen the quality of Jewish life in Greater Toronto, Canada, Israel and around the world through philanthropic, volunteer and professional leadership.'
  51. Devoted Harperite from Canada writes: Go to thetruthaboutcars.com, and search the Editorials section for the General Motors Death Watch series. This is just the beginning pebble of a coming avalanche for the Detroit-based automakers.
  52. lary waldman from Qualicum Beach, Canada writes: It is with increasing frustration that I view the circumstances surrounding the availability of jobs in Canada as anything but 'will you have fries with that', mentality. This lay-off is something a child could have predicted a year or two ago, if given access to the information. How is it that it is presented as some kind of surprise to the Public. It's like every time there is a hint of news from Detroit we all hold our collective breath and hope the sword will Passover our factories. Well it didn't work for the Egyptions and it aint going to work for Canada. And then when you turn your mond to made in canada solutions what do you see, a wholesale sale of our manufactureing capacity and a return to the old hewers of wood and carriers of water kind of thing. A kind of giant Home depot for the world where raw materials are available to all those who have cash. This enrichs the rich and leaves the poor standing in line for a handout. Or have I missed something and thats the whole idea? God help us all if Stephen Harper ever figures out away to ingratiate himself to the French Canadian. In my view, they stand between us and the worst of times.

    Lary Waldman
  53. robert F from Toronto, Canada writes: THANK you Greedy American banks for wrecking the north American economy! Because of you people are now loosing their jobs...you weren't happy with billions, you needed even MORE...and oops...MY BAD! You've ruined it for everyone!

    Couldn't sit back with 17 homes, a private jumbo jet and new heads for christmas, nope...had to grab that little bit more.

    MWAH!
  54. robert F from Toronto, Canada writes: If they hadn't lowered their standards to appease they're miserable stock holders, we wouldn't have gotten into this mess. :P
  55. J Dick from Toronto, Canada writes: The big three have to pay out an extra 25$ an hour over Toyota here in North America. You can't compete when the other guys have that much of an advantage.

    But rather than accept lower wages and benefits, the CAW workers seem to believe they are entitled to have their already inflated wages propped up by the taxpayers. Those same taxpayers earn far less on average than the average CAW worker - but despite that, are supposed to subsidize the union workers so that they can continue to make 80,000/year to do manual labour requiring no formal education.

    The government should not be putting one more nickel into the failing business model. It's not as if GM, Ford or Chrysler is about to turn the corner and have everything looking great in a couple years. Those union agreements hang around their neck like a millstone. If anything, they should look to start supporting Japanese automakers here in Canada.
  56. Ranald Walton from Canada writes: There is a flip side of buying vehicles from other than GM, Chrysler and Ford. The bottom line is North America's manufacturing base is being rapidly exported away. This is bad, bad news.
  57. Robert Loblaw from Canada writes: Yvonne Wackjob - Nice to see that something your leftie loser premier has b oiled your Nazi blood.

    Have a nice day!
  58. Tim Bee from Canada writes: J Dick from Toronto, Canada writes: ...The government should not be putting one more nickel into the failing business model. It's not as if GM, Ford or Chrysler is about to turn the corner and have everything looking great in a couple years...

    I remember reading that in the 1970's and 1980's. Of course, it was wrong then, will it be wrong again?
  59. Douglas Long from Toronto, Canada writes: Devil Bud would make me laugh if it weren't so sad. Listen, dear dinosaur, to what you are saying. It cannot possibly have come as a surprise that GM is dropping a shift at Oshawa. Most other truck plants across North America have already done so. This isn't about domestic vs import (although it's been pointed out before that this really isn't a valid argument for Canadians anyway since both Japanese-owned foreign manufacturers and American-owned foreign manufacturers have vehicle assembly plants in Canada), it's about GM needing to produce fewer trucks as fewer people want to buy them.

    We live in a global economy. It's about time organisations like the CAW (and, indeed the Detroit 3) started waking up to that fact and acting accordingly, possibly by helping to re-skill employees so that they can get good jobs elsewhere when the inevitable happens. Perhaps the Government could look to better investments in retraining rather than, as some have suggested, supporting unsupportable manufacturing plants for foreign vehicle companies.
  60. S Vishwanath from Canada writes: Anyone ever think that GM's new pick-up trucks just aren't good-looking?
    I see the new GM trucks and just shake my head. The side profile is off. The bulges on the fenders are unseemly. The front end seems to be from the nineties. They did very well design-wise with the full-sixe SUVs, but the crisp styling didn't carry over to their same-platform trucks. They just aren't that attractive.

    Toyota and Ford and maybe Nissan have much nicer looking offerings in the full-size truck category and all now have comparable engines.
    Why would someone choose a GM over those trucks nowadays? You get better quality in the Japanese offerings and you get better design from Ford and even Dodge.

    GM has still yet to learn that the days of making any old truck with the Chevy or GMC badge on will sell is behind them.
  61. David Stanley from mtl, Canada writes: My 1995 MAxima looks new my neighbors 1995 lumina has already been sent to the scrap heap
    watch what happens by oct when the markets really take a dive
    when the unfurling of the lequidity crunch makes it known in no uncertain way that it is now an issue of inslovency
    we are not moving forward but rather we are heading full speed into
    a jobless society you will work for the govt or govt projects or will not work at all
    Anyone with half their senses left knows America is done for
    it is in a major slide that will never rise againThey owe more than
    they can pay back they have been selling off infrastruture to pay the bills |(interest only) and all their NAtional parks are sold now called UN heritage foundation sites
    the jobs going over seas and imigration out of control
    oil now being sold in euros and a war that threatens to continue or ever
    Americans Are doomed
    Our economy is intertwined with theirs it will affect us all
  62. Ranald Walton from Canada writes: S Vishwanath from Canada writes: 'Anyone ever think that GM's new pick-up trucks just aren't good-looking?'

    Goodlooking is in the eye of the beholder. I think the new GM pick up lines look awesome.
  63. Tim Bee from Canada writes: I hope people who are non-chalant about the loss of these jobs realize that it will affect them directly as the price of houses etc. will go down as the economy goes down.
    Also, if we want immigrants to come here, which apparently we need, we have to either have jobs that don't require high levels of education or we need to recognize their foreign credentials.
    Since we don't seem to eager to recognize their foreign credentials, we better keep these high paying jobs or nobody is going to come here to help pay for our retirement.
  64. Ranald Walton from Canada writes: Good luck, David Stanley from mtl, Canada, on affording a new Maxima if the few of us working, only work for the government. Governments can not create wealth and there will be no wealth to distribute.
  65. Jean-Paul Sartre from Halifax, Canada writes: Most North American corporations are now hollowed out shells whose sole purpose is to pump profits to the leeches on Wall Street. Corporate executives care only about their stock portfolios and options and could care less about the products and their employees. The new Bubble Economics will destroy America and get trading partners.
  66. David Stanley from mtl, Canada writes: Ranald Walton from Canada writes: There is a flip side of buying vehicles from other than GM, Chrysler and Ford. The bottom line is North America's manufacturing base is being rapidly exported away. This is bad, bad news.

    economically it is a nightmare the backbone industries of the economy is broken
    today the backbone is mcdonalds hambergers
    Why did it die
    poor products that could not compete
    as people started buying asian products they realized how much better they were
    now this realization may or may not hold tru in 2007 but the damage is done Once the realization was made it spelled the death toll for Detroit
    as once people started going to asian brands they would never go back ever
    So Detroit was left with a customer base that could not grow and when reduction of the customer base is only possible
    its the begining of the end they were greedy in Detroit and they failed to produce anything that an import buyer would come back to
    wether real or imagined
    North America has lost out and is going to lose more in the globalization of the countries
    every job will be weighed against how much it will cost to do that job in China
    Make no mistake about they are coming for your job too
  67. David Stanley from mtl, Canada writes: GM and ford have told the unions they want a 30% reduction in costs or they are moving to china and south america
    latest news
  68. b mac from Canada writes: Union bosses driving more work away from their membership? They just don't get it.
  69. E K from Canada writes: THe comments here are exactly what I expected them to be. More Big 3 bashing, and rehashing of old tired stereotypes about quality and so called lazy overpaid unionized autoworkers.

    Perhaps some of you should do some research on GM's Oshawa operations. They are amongst the most efficient and high quality products in North America.

    It is unfortunate that so many people here are taking joy in 1 000 GM workers hitting the unemployment line. Is it jealousy? Because that autoworker is making more money then you and your cushy desk job?
  70. Ordinary Citizen from Toronto, Canada writes: How many Ontarians does it take to make a car? None, because all the cars are made offshore.

    Dion will finish the Big 3 with his Kyoto plan. In his very words he claims the Big 3 will get caught up. But like the politician he is, he doesn't complete the thought-they will get caught up someplace else, such as China.

    Wake up, Ontario!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  71. Devil Bud from Toronto, Canada writes: Ohhh Doug Long, how you make me laugh....First off, it shouldn't come as any surprise that domestic auto makers are getting killed right now. You are right, it was inevitable and it should come as no surprise. It should be no surprise that the Bank of Canada pumping money into the markets to stabilize them and their distaste for dropping interest rates has had such an impact on domestic industry. Oh wait, is that economics talking? Just think for a second.....Dinosaur. The government likes to use such things as monetary policies in order to prop up a Canadian dollar in order to do what? Attract foreign investors. What is the flip side? Our exports are more expensive. What is monetary policy? Isn't it affected by the open market? It should be, but the government has instructed the Bank of Canada to keep our interests rate so high that our Canadian Dollar is continuously, artificially, being over-valued as compared to global currencies. This, on its own, has cost too many Canadian jobs. This is in addition to our government supporting foreign economies, as evidenced by their procurement contracts with foreign companies instead of domestic ones and the unfair trade practices that our domestic companies have to deal with. Don't sit there and tell me that this is a global economy. This economy is being dictated to us by foreign states who wish to have their cake and eat it too. Out of a job yet? Keep buying Foreign.
  72. Simon Garth from istanbul, Turkey writes: As J Dick says, if a labourer is making CAD 80.000 for doing the same manual daily tasks which could have been done for CAD 3.000 in China, this clearly means there is something wrong. This approach was tried by the Soviet Union once and eventually quitted.

    My questions are:
    Subsidising for what reason? To create more unskilled workers? To encourage unionisation? To tax the educated to feed the uneducated? Is GM a local company? Do people become traitors when they refuse to feed local leeches? Is Kirk Kirkorian a national hero in Canada or the 10% owner of GM last year as an LA based gambling baron? I know there is one guy called Ford in Ford at the top and he is the owner but who is the owner of GM anyway?
    GM is a nobody's company producing cars for nobody. It is there to rob small investors, to be subsidised by governments, to enrich its officials further and to feed incompetent workers for publicity. Good luck with your sentiments dear patriots.
  73. Bruuks Brew from Canada writes: A summer student working on the line at GM makes more than $20/hr.
    The starting wage for a line worker at GM is comparable, or greater than the starting wage of a teacher, someone with 5 years of post secondary education.
    As far as I'm concerned, the CAW has caused their own demise.

    Rising fuel costs will result in people (not everyone) wanting a more efficient vehicle. Trucks, which the article focuses on, do not fall into that category, hence people (not everyone) are buying less of them.

    I will be quite ticked off if our gov't (any form) bails them out again. It's called capitalism. If my business suffers because I've had my head in the sand and haven't put together a product that people will buy, I won't expect the government to keep me going. I'd have no one to blame but myself.

    For all these people blaming the Japanese, or blaming those of us who don't buy NA cars, give your head a shake.

    'You can't take the effect and make it the cause.'
  74. Confucious Smith from Canada writes: Tim Bee from Canada writes: ' '...The government should not be putting one more nickel into the failing business model. It's not as if GM, Ford or Chrysler is about to turn the corner and have everything looking great in a couple years...'
    'I remember reading that in the 1970's and 1980's. Of course, it was wrong then, will it be wrong again?'

    Let me guess - CAW?
  75. Rick Czarnota from Calgary, writes: Bruuks Brew from Canada writes: A summer student working on the line at GM makes more than $20/hr.
    The starting wage for a line worker at GM is comparable, or greater than the starting wage of a teacher, someone with 5 years of post secondary education.
    As far as I'm concerned, the CAW has caused their own demise.

    I agree with you Bruuks Brew. For too long our federal gov't has supported the CAW's notion that slapping door handles on trucks etc. is a $100K/yr job...it's not. The biggest problem though are the pension liabilities; again a product of the CAW.

    Maybe instead of arranging to have the Camaro built in the new plant Buzz should have lobbied for a vehicle that isn't going to see a rapid decline in sales over the next decade.

    The entire globe is all a tizzy over reducing GHG emissions and the Liberals are like a stuck record repeating 'Kyoto' over and over again...and Buzz pushes to start building a large engine block, sports car. Buzz is one smart cookie.
  76. Jimmy Ray from the GTA, Canada writes: This demonstrates the irony of unions. Unions are meant to provide job security for their members. Then they drive up wages to absolutely ridiculous levels, so the company can no longer compete. Then 1,000 members lose their job. Will any union leader every understand this?
  77. Wasabi Jones from Canada writes: Devil Bud: I can't afford NOT to buy foreign.
  78. Clive Gingell from Canada writes: Jimmy Ray: Which is why, every time there are anti-WTO, or anti-G-8, protest marches 'demanding' higher wages for third world countries, you'll always see strong union representation. The unions attempt to create the impression that this is due to 'solidarity', but, in actuality, they want these countries to have higher wages in order to price them out of the markets and eliminate competition.
  79. I 'm Canadian from Canada writes: Big 3 and their unions are so slow to adapt to fast changing environments they are in. It 's a kiss of death for them if they don't make quick change of their 60, 70 and 80 way of doing business and work. In addition, dirt cheap and abandon imported Chinese Cars are coming, so I don't know how they handle the final blow.
  80. Tim Bee from Canada writes: Confucious Smith from Canada writes: Tim Bee from Canada writes: ' '...The government should not be putting one more nickel into the failing business model. It's not as if GM, Ford or Chrysler is about to turn the corner and have everything looking great in a couple years...'
    'I remember reading that in the 1970's and 1980's. Of course, it was wrong then, will it be wrong again?'

    Let me guess - CAW?...

    No. But what difference would it make? I am telling you what happened in the 1970's and 1980's. Do you dispute that?
  81. Bernard B from Canada writes: E K,
    I know one of those workers (won't be affected because of seniority) and while I have an issue with GM I am not against them. However I am not for them either. If you get paid too much for something that takes little skill in the current environment this is what happens. Is it their fault? No. Is it a corporate problem? Yes. Did the CAW contribute? Yes. As far as non-unionized workers who get paid less who subsidized these operations with their taxes, yeah they should be pissed. I will never buy a GM as the only good product they seem to make are pickups, and I don't need one. They treat their customers like idiots. Honda has been great from the sales, service, warranty and eventually resale. Oh I forgot, the car is great.
  82. Tim Bee from Canada writes: Jimmy Ray from the GTA, Canada writes: This demonstrates the irony of unions. Unions are meant to provide job security for their members. Then they drive up wages to absolutely ridiculous levels, so the company can no longer compete. Then 1,000 members lose their job. Will any union leader every understand this?...

    Well, even Mexican wages are too high for these companies so I'm not sure what wages would be acceptable.

    I remember reading a few years back that a company was leaving one third world country for another because the wages in the country it was moving to would be lower.
    So as soon as a country develops any standard of living, these companies will go elsewhere looking for desperate people to take advantage of.
  83. andre ferguson from kitchener, Canada writes: My 18 year old C1500 continues to cost under $2K/yr to run (average of initial purchase price and all things mechanical). I'm looking forward to the small 4.5L diesel planned for the Silverado in 2009. Maybe I can buy a used one a year or two later if it looks worthy. Toyota, Nissan and Dodge full sized trucks drink the most fuel, quality aside. GM's bloat is well known. That GM is the first to introduce a small diesel on light pickups is cause for cautious optimism.
  84. Devil Bud from Toronto, Canada writes: Sad. Buy your Civics, Corrolas, Rios and Accents. When jobs are cut at your workplace because there is an economic downturn don't assert your seniority rights or any other part of your collective agreement....those are things that unions brought you. If you own a business, you depend on everyone in this country being employed....with good jobs. Somehow it is not surprising that so many ignorant people out there believe their jobs are not affected by the domestic auto industry. If only we lived in such a vacuum. Good luck to everyone and your children. Forget prosperity for the future, you have your beautiful import, a mortgage and bills to pay. Out of a job yet?
  85. Tim Bee from Canada writes: Actually, this just might be a great buying opportunity stockwise!!
    I am going to look into it.
  86. Michael Jahonneson from Vancouver, Canada writes: "General Motors of Canada Ltd. will eliminate about 1,000 jobs at a truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., in January in the face of slumping pickup sales caused in part by the slide in the U.S. housing market......Construction trades workers represent a massive market for GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, which rely on large pickup trucks as a major source of profit."

    _____

    So, what percentage of the declining sales is attributable to construction trades workers not buying a truck because of the slide in the U.S. housing market? Most of the trucks (60%?) in Vancouver are driven by regular old commuters. Call me skeptical, but the downturn in truck sales is probably a combination of market conditions (as cited in the article) and consumer preferences being modified (vis a vis global warming scares). I meet many people who will NEVER buy a truck now (but would have 5 years ago) because of their concern about carbon footprints. Just an idea...
  87. Rob Davidson from Canada writes: My Honda civic was made in Alliston Ontario. Many people, living in my community, travel to Alliston to work at Honda. These are Canadians, making good money, in Canada.

    While I feel bad for the loss of jobs, the overproduction of trucks is due to the redneck philosophy that a real MAN needs to drive a TRUCK, even if he never puts anything in it that may even scratch the bedliner. Our future is high gas prices. GM makes very high quality large cars. They make ordinary small efficient cars. I discussed the lack of quality materials inside a GM small car with a salesman. He said that GM knows its market and that they are not looking to sell small cars to the wealthy, so their is no need to upgrade the interiors. Heads in the sand.
  88. Lou Lockhart from Canada writes: It's all Steven Harper's fault. The Feds should buy all the trucks that GM has problem selling. They should use all the surplus money to keep people employed and earning overtime.
  89. Ordinary Citizen from Toronto, Canada writes: I agree that the Big 3 with it's powerful unions have been slow to adapt. But so has Ontario's educational system. Education in Ontario can be easily described in one word: totalitarianism. A student or parent can't get a second opinion in the event of an erroneous judgement. The system lacks transparency and alignment. The best thing which could happen in Ontario is school choice and this is something that our socialists are dead against. But with a diminishing tax base, there will come a point when the province can no longer fork out excessively large sums of money to institutions, which currently operate within a wide comfort zone-almost zero competition.
  90. Bernard B from Canada writes: Devil Bud,
    More and more people are becoming less dependent on a parasitic industry and workforce (spin-offs included). Why should anybody buy a sub-standard product to keep the uneducated employed?

    Lou Lockhart,
    I assume you're making a joke (no sarcasm), cause it's damned funny. It's probably something a NDP gov't would do.
  91. Mary O'Hara from Toronto, Canada writes: In history, as in business, ever it has been the case that seemingly invincible dominant forces evolve into "fat cats" that lose their edge and are replaced by something more competitive or efficient or aggressive.

    The fat cats try to do anything they can to hang on to their power / benefits / advantages but eventually are displaced. Instead of spending time / effort / capital to innovate, they spend it fighting change.

    We are simply seeing this change.

    If we had more forward looking politicians Ontario would be thinking of ways to try to reduce dependency on the auto industry, and leverage our strengths into a position in an industry or market that has future potential.

    Building steel conveyances to zoom us around our ever more polluted and crowded cities is not the industry of the future.
  92. winston blowhard