From http://news.techwhack.com/2506/201112-general-motors-might-close-four-us-based-plants/ ...


General Motors might close four US based plants

General Motors might close four US based plants

Market sources claim that the Chief Executive of the world’s largest automaker General Motors Rick Wagoner is due to announce company’s plan to close around 4 of their United States based car production plants. The announcement can come anytime this week itself and the reports quote a company insider for this information.

The AP version of the story is here: http://newsok.com/article/1646137/?template=home/main

I've not been able to locate anything yet which identifies or speculates about which plants, but I suppose that the OKC plant may well be a possibility.

Crap - closing in early 2006 -over 2500 employees lose their jobs - Merry Christmas -

Here it is, from ABC news at http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1333118


GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 PlantsGeneral Motors to Cut 30,000 Manufacturing Jobs, Close Nine North American Plants
By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Auto Writer
The Associated Press

DETROIT Nov 21, 2005 — General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand.

The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of the world's largest automaker, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut.

GM said the plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada.

And, from http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/stocks/automakers/10253826.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA


General Motors Cuts Deeper

By TSC Staff
11/21/2005 9:02 AM EST


General Motors (GM:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) raised the number of jobs it plans to cut over the next three years to 30,000 Monday, and said it expects to lower its annual cost structure by $7 billion by the end of next year.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner said up to nine GM plants are now slated to cease operations as part of the restructuring, which represents an expansion of the cost-reduction program the company outlined earlier this year. The moves will reduce GM's North American assembly capacity by about 1 million units by the end of 2008.

Previously, the company was targeting 25,000 job reductions. "Much" of the reduction will be carried out through attrition, Wagoner said, adding that they will result in a significant restructuring charge.

The $7 billion of annual cost reductions reflect $6 billion in structural cost cuts, up from a previous goal of $5 billion, plus $ billion of material cost savings. "Our collective goal remains the same: to return our North American operations to sustained profitability as soon as possible, thereby helping to ensure a strong General Motors for the future," Wagoner said.

GM said production will cease at its Oklahoma City plant; its Lansing, Mich., craft center; its Doraville, Ga., plant; its Lansing, Mich., metal center; its Pittsburg metal center; its Portland, Ore., parts distribution center; its parts processing center in Ypsilanti, Mich.; its engine facility in Flint, Mich.; and its power train components facility in Ontario.

Operations will also cease at Line No. 1 at its Spring Hill, Tenn., plant; on the third shift at its Oshawa car plant No. 1 in Ontario; and on the third shift of its Moraine, Ohio, plant. GM said the parts distribution center in St. Louis will cease warehousing activities and be converted to a collision center and one other parts processing center will cease operations.

Nov 21, 9:13 AM EST

GM to cut 30,000 jobs, close 9 plants

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand.

The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of the world's largest automaker, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut.

GM said the assembly plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada.

An engine facility in Flint, Mich., will close, along with a separate powertrain facility in Ontario and metal centers in Lansing and Pittsburgh.

Wagoner said GM also will close three service and parts operations facilities. They are in Ypsilanti, Mich., and Portland, Ore., and one unidentified site. A shift also will be removed at a plant in Moraine, Ohio.

"The decisions we are announcing today were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work," Wagoner told employees. "But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible."

GM said the plan is to achieve $7 billion in cost reductions on a running rate basis by the end of 2006 - $1 billion above its previously indicated target.

Wagoner said last month the automaker would announce plant closures by the end of this year to get its capacity in line with U.S. demand. GM plants currently run at 85 percent of their capacity, lower than North American plants run by its Asian rivals. The plant closings aren't expected to be final until GM's current contract with the United Auto Workers expires in 2007.

GM has been crippled by high labor, pension, health care and materials costs as well as by sagging demand for sport utility vehicles, its longtime cash cows, and by bloated plant capacity. Its market share has been eroded by competition from Asian automakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. GM lost nearly $4 billion in the first nine months of this year.

The automaker could be facing a strike at Delphi Corp., its biggest parts supplier, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month. GM spun off Delphi in 1999 and could be liable for billions in pension costs for Delphi retirees.

GM also is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for accounting errors.

Last week, after the automaker's shares fell to their lowest level in 18 years, Wagoner sent an e-mail to employees saying the company has a turnaround strategy in place and has no plans to file for bankruptcy.

Globalization hits the heartland hard today.

According to this page of the Greater Okc Chamber of Commerce, http://www.okcchamber.com/page.asp?atomid=124, GM employs 3,400, but I don't know how current that information is.

That sucks. I hate it, when OK gets hit by something like this.

For sure. Other than some general statements in the AP story, and here at Reuters, http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-11-21T151733Z_01_MOL148834_RTRUKOC_0_UK-AUTOS-GM.xml, I've seen nothing particular about timing of the shutdown, other than in 2006, generally. FWIW, the announced was coupled with the hope that,

GM said it hoped to be able to achieve much of these cuts through attrition and buyouts.

We shall see.

Uh oh! I've just read this at http://newsok.com/article/1683827/?template=home/main


City GM Workers Shocked
By Greg Elwell
The Oklahoman

The Oklahoma City General Motors assembly plan was on lockdown Monday morning after the announcement the company would close nine manufacturing plants, including the Oklahoma City facility, by 2008.

A vendor to the company, who was coming out of the United Auto Workers offices, said workers inside were shocked at the announcement.

Former Oklahoma City police chief Sam Gonzoles, who now works with a GM supplier, said they couldn't believe the news and that United Auto Workers representatives previously told them the plant would not be closed.

Representatives for local 1999 said they had no comment on the announced closing but would likely release a statement later in the day. ....

The word "lockdown" seems to answer the question, "When". But, maybe better news will occur during the day and days ahead, maybe not.

The story also indicates the number of employees to be "more than 2,400".

Here's the Oklahoman's pic, slightly enlarged.

http://www.dougloudenback.com/pics/gmplant.jpg

The Oklahoma City plant is among four announced for closure.

We need to get someone in there, and fast. Not only will we lose 2,400 GM workers, we will lose support companies as well. This is the most devistating news to hit in some time.

From KOCO-TV, http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/5373560/detail.html


Watch Live Coverage Of UAW, Governor's News Conferences

POSTED: 10:25 am CST November 21, 2005
UPDATED: 10:36 am CST November 21, 2005

OKLAHOMA CITY -- In reaction to the announced closing of the GM plant in Oklahoma City, the UAW will be holding a news conference at about noon on Monday. Gov. Brad Henry is also scheduled to hold a news conference at about that time; however, his exact starting time is unknown for sure.

Be sure to watch Eyewitness News 5 for comprehensive coverage of this story and its effect on Oklahoma City. We'll be carrying these news conferences live on channeloklahoma.com.

Hyundai is expanding like crazy people. Perhaps they can look at the plant and retrofit it for their stuff.

The plant employs 2,400 people...high paying jobs....these people will lose their 50,000K jobs a year and be working at AOL for $9.50 an hour. Thanks George Bush for the high oil prices that have contributed to this.

I was actually afraid of this. I never thought the plant should've been retooled for SUV's. We were doing much better when we were making Malibus.

I say Oklahoma needs to boycott GM.

I think GM is stupid for doing this. They could've saved more money by cutting plants in areas with higher a cost of living. They would've actually have saved money by staying in OKC.

On top of that, GM spent millions rebuilding the plant after the tornado. Why? What a waste of millions of dollars.

The UAW just stated that the plant was closing because of high gas prices, which had created a low demand for SUV's. Who can we blame for this? Well, the UAW came right out and said we can thank the big oil Bush administration for the closure.

If Mick Cornett is reading, we need to approach this from two sides:

1. We need to first try to encourage GM to see that oil prices have fallen, and demand for SUV's should rise again. If that doesn't happen, we need to try to encourage GM to spend the money to retool the plant to produce a different automobile. Tey've already dropped so much money into the GM plant. Why let that go to waste?

2. If we can't keep GM, we need to try to attract another car manufacturer to the plant. As Luke said, Hyundai is growing by leaps! Why? Because they offer a fuel efficient car.

The car market is really fluid. Back during and right after the oil bust, US automakers were losing the fight to Japanese automakers. Gas prices were high at that time, and gas guzzling American cars weren't competing with smaller, fuel efficient Japanese cars.
Then after the oil bust, the market shifts. Gas is cheap, and people start buying larger cars again. Once again, we've returned to the oil boom days....foreign smaller cars are being preferred over larger American cars.

One thing I'd like to point out....I think it's very interesting that gas prices are falling now, while the Senate is investigating price gouging.

One thing I'd like to point out....I think it's very interesting that gas prices are falling now, while the Senate is investigating price gouging.

Thus the main reason for them falling, I couldn't agree more

GM wants to blame gas prices, but this is all of their own doing. They are horrifically mis-managed.


As much as it stinks in the short-term for OKC, here's some things to think about:

1. I believe a certain percentage of the employees will continue to be paid after shutdown as part of the contract with the UAW.

2. Employees have had this hanging over their heads for over a decade and I would hope most of them are smart enough to have saved and have some sort of contingency plan.

3. I will actually be somewhat relieved to finally be divorced from awful, awful GM and their on-going, lingering threats.

4. At least the local economy is in pretty good shape currently. If this had happened 10 years ago, it would be much more crippling.

5. The rail service at that site has always been problematic and isn't easily resolved. I've heard this from a rail transport consultant and that worries me about finding someone to replace GM.

Folks I have no love for oil companies. But oil prices are not controlled by oil companies. The price is simply what the market is willing to pay for it. If someone out there offers $70 a barrel, well, guess what, $70 is now the price. If you want to point fingers, look at OPEC or the United States' current energy policy. Our gov't does not have the balls to tax gas, which is probably the only way to drive down consumption.

Oil is a commodity, which means the producers have very little control of the price.
More demand = higher price.

Period.

What's out there to prevent oil companies from price gouging?

BTW, I have ideas for both the GM plant and old Lucent plant. How about two mega call centers? We don't have any of those around here and it would diversify the economy! :)

BTW, I have ideas for both the GM plant and old Lucent plant. How about two mega call centers? We don't have any of those around here and it would diversify the economy! :)
Dream on, teenage queen! :tiphat:

If there are any readers on this forum who's job is affected, our prayers and thoughts are with you - it's a tough thing to go through.

I think it's crappy timing right before the holidays.

We are thinking of you all and hoping that you will recover quickly.

I will never buy a GM again if they don't rectify this.. you can bet the big wigs at that company won't have to alter their holiday plans. Jerks.

That sucks. I hate it, when OK gets hit by something like this.
Try living in Detroit..now you know how we feel here. At work the other day we all got our e mail from Mark Fields of Ford Motor Company..things dont look good. Again I am going to have to rant here..does everyone still feel like there is going to be jobs for all the kids growing up here in 20 years? and do you think it's high time we shut the doors and start taking care of our own here and bring lost jobs back? I may not have a job after the first of the year because of people not supporting America and American companies, and what is this going to mean for OKC? just when your economy was looking good and things were looking up. I am sorry people but it is time to **** or get off of the pot:

Team,

As our plans for the Way Forward come together, I've
made a commitment to honest, open and immediate
communications with employees. This includes telling
the Ford team first about the steps we will take in
the weeks and months ahead to return our North America
business to profitability.

Our leadership team has put into motion the difficult
but necessary decision to further reduce our
salaried-related personnel costs in North America by
an average of about 10 percent. This will affect every
function, including our corporate staffs, and will
involve the reduction of salaried, agency and
purchased services costs equivalent to about 4,000
positions. We will announce full details of our Way
Forward plan in January 2006 and anticipate that these
salaried-related cost reductions will be primarily
completed by the end of the first quarter.

Separating members of the Ford team is not easy, nor
is it something we take lightly. As our leadership and
Human Resources teams begin to implement the
involuntary separations that are part of this plan,
their priority at every step of the way will be to
provide support for those affected directly by these
actions as well as for everyone else on the team.

A leaner, flatter organization will be part of the Way
Forward plan we announce in January. The Way Forward
plan will be built around three pillars:

- Clarifying our brands for stronger emotional
appeal
- Strengthening our line-up with more great
products
- Achieving improved quality, costs, growth and
profitability - all at the same time

The salaried-related cost reductions, obviously, are
part of the third element of our plan. The reality is
that the best of the competition is more competitive
than we are on quality and costs, more efficient than
us in their operations, and they're achieving
market-share growth and sizeable profitability all at
the same time. We can and must do the same.

We know this is a period of anxiety and uncertainty.
That is why it is more important than ever that we
accelerate the communications and provide our
employees with the candid facts about our business and
the actions we are taking.

We will discuss our plans in more detail in January.
But we wanted you to receive the first word about our
salaried-related cost-cutting efforts from your
leadership as quickly as possible - rather than
through the local media.

- Mark Fields

The only thing that may save my job here is the fact I work on the development of the Hybrids and Hydrogen fuel cells.

I'm (along with many others) losing my job Dec. 31 and I don't even work for GM! More competition in the job hunt now it looks like. Think we are going to look at this as an "opportunity" to relocate and see what else is out there.

This announcement is just absolutly awful, the most awful business news to hit OKC since I moved here. My heart goes out to any and everyone who are affected by the closing. It is just sad....

The scary part of all this is...most manufacturing and technical related jobs in this country..and in fact the world are somehow tied in with the auto industry.

This is a good article that summarizes all the big challenges GM is facing, and how are not responding to them well:





A number of problems depress profitability for GM



By Paul Monies
The Oklahoman

A bank that happens to make cars. A health care provider that assembles trucks.

Of all the critiques of General Motors Corp., analysts say a simple one keeps rising to the top: the company is not designing and building the kinds of vehicles people want to buy.

With Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. snapping at its heels, GM's days as the world's largest automaker could come to an end as soon as next year. The company faces a multitude of problems, including:

Declining market share in North America. GM has seen its share drop to 26 percent, down from roughly 40 percent in 1985.

High labor and health care costs. GM is the largest private provider of health care in the United States, covering 1.1 million retirees, employees and their dependents.

An aging work force and pension obligations of $6 billion.

An over-reliance on large trucks and sport utility vehicles for profits as high gasoline prices prompt consumers back to cars and fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids.

Fallout from bankrupt supplier and former subsidiary Delphi Corp., which faces a looming showdown with its unions over pay and benefit cuts. GM is responsible for billions in Delphi's retiree obligations.

To address those problems, GM announced last week it would cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 facilities -- including Oklahoma City -- by 2008. Much of the job losses would come from early retirement and attrition. GM plans a "product renaissance" that will emphasize growth areas such as crossovers, compact and luxury sport utility vehicles, large pickups and entry-level luxury cars. Sales and marketing practices also will be revamped, the company said.

GM sits on $19 billion in cash and insists bankruptcy is not in its future. To shore up its junk-level investment rating, the company also put a 51 percent stake in profitable financing unit General Motors Acceptance Corp. on the block. Analysts expect that stake to sell for between $10 billion and $15 billion. In years past, earnings from GMAC have helped GM through rough patches in the automotive market.

Meanwhile, leaders at the United Auto Workers union blasted GM's manufacturing cuts, saying the workers who will be hardest hit aren't responsible for the automaker's troubles.

"We have said consistently that General Motors cannot shrink itself to prosperity," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. "In fact, shrinking General Motors only exacerbates its problems. ... GM's return to prosperity depends on it offering products that consumers find attractive, exciting and want to buy."

For GM retiree Carolyn F. Gardner of Guthrie, those vehicles can't come soon enough. She retired in 2004 after 25 years at the Oklahoma City plant. The former farmer took the job at age 46 and spent most of her time driving forklifts at the factory.

"They are too diversified, and nobody cares about building cars," Gardner, 72, said of GM's business model. "All the cars look alike, and GM hasn't done anything innovative for a while."

Analyst David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said GM can return to profitability, but it won't be easy.

"They need to shrink to a profitable point, and that will create a platform for future growth," Cole said.

GM expects to save $7 billion in 2006 from cuts in manufacturing and from recently negotiated savings in health care from union workers and retirees. Cole said those cost savings translate into $1,500 per vehicle, still far short of the $2,000 to $2,500 per vehicle in savings he estimates GM needs to become competitive in North America. Foreign automakers such as Toyota and BMW have younger U.S. work forces and fewer pension obligations. In their native countries, the government picks up the tab for employee health care.

"The big story is not just Ford or GM versus the Japanese or Koreans," Cole said. "It's really the old versus the new. Any established organization -- it could be a steel company, airline or car company -- that's been in business for a long time, has a broad collection of employees and isn't growing is facing serious difficulties."

Around the world, GM has shown success with sales growth in China. It is improving in Europe after several years of difficulties there. But customers in the U.S. buy about 17 million vehicles each year, so success here is paramount for any automaker.

"The North American thing is so big in terms of the impact," Cole said. "If you've got a problem here, I don't care how good your other places are, you've got a problem," Cole said.

Catherine Madden, an analyst with Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., said GM's plans to reduce its manufacturing capacity don't go far enough.

"Although this will help reduce some of the fixed costs and reduce under-utilization, there's still important steps over the next 24 months," Madden said. "Particularly on how consumers respond to upcoming product launches and delivering products that the consumer is excited and enthusiastic about and wants to go out and buy."

GM claims it's turned the corner on bringing exciting vehicles to the market. The company will debut new versions of its full-size pickups and sport utility vehicles in the next two years, all of which get significantly better gas mileage than current versions.

Meanwhile, niche products such as the Chevy SSR, a ZZ Top-inspired convertible pickup/hot rod, attracted rave reviews from designers. But GM canceled the model last week amid poor sales.

I read one article over the weekend that mentioned that GM has lost sales since 1985. That makes complete sense to me. After 85, most GM's were junk. Before 85, GM actually produced a solid car.
The reason most people are buying foreign, is because you get a better quality product for your money.

I rented a car this past year at DFW airport. They gave me a choice between a Toyota Prius and a Chevy Cavalier. I first got into the Cavalier, thinking I would take it. The car just felt cheap and flimsy. I decided to leave the Chevy, and try the Toyota. The Toyota was much more solid!

I think it's more a quality issue for GM. Their cars look nice, and are very useable, but they're not built well. They're like a rock...in other words, they're non-motile, because they're always broken down!

Rather than start a new thread on this, I see it as a somewhat related story since Delphi is a spin off of GM. Got this at work today.



Delphi Chairman and Chief Executive Robert S. Steve Miller has said in various interviews the compensation program is necessary to keep top executives around during the bankruptcy process. He said while hourly workers are overpaid at Delphi, its top managers and executives are underpaid.

Under its proposed employee-compensation plan, Delphi would allocate $21.8 million for cash bonuses to executives during the first six months of bankruptcy, and then an additional $87.9 million for 486 U.S. executives who would receive 30% to 250% of their salaries once Delphi emerges from bankruptcy.

There is then a severance package under which Delphi's top 21 officers would collect up to 18 months' salary and target bonuses, 89 other executives would get a year's salary and bonuses, and 373 officials would receive a year's pay.
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This just shows that the auto makers problems of having to find cheaper ways of doing things has nothing to
do with changes or economy. It's all their attitudes that they actually DO something in the company and the ones
that actually DO do work to keep the company going, make too much. They really think that decision making
is worth 6, 8, 12, 25 times what we make.

Backtracking unlikely for GM........


http://www.newsok.com/tempimages/f14gm01.jpg


GM said unlikely to backtrack on plant closure

By The Associated Press

No change is expected in plans by General Motors Corp. to cease production at its Oklahoma City plant despite a major incentives package proposed by Gov. Brad Henry and a meeting he will have with company executives, a GM source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Tuesday.


Henry plans a meeting with company representatives Wednesday to discuss the incentives package, which includes concessions from auto workers and plant suppliers and a $200 million bond issue to help retool the plant. Following the meeting, he was to publicly discuss the pending closure of the plant, which employs more than 2,200 people.

Henry has said the incentives package was a long-shot, but that it was worth trying given the plant's major impact on the state's economy.

GM is to close the plant on Feb. 21 as part of a restructuring plan to cut 30,000 hourly jobs and shutter 12 facilities by 2008 to bring production in line with demand. In addition to the plant workers who will by laid off, economists estimate more than 7,000 jobs would be lost at suppliers and in other sectors across Oklahoma.

Speaking to the Oklahoma Press Association's midwinter meeting last weekend, Henry called his incentive plan an "eye-popping proposal" that had received GM's attention.
The factory has been making seven-passenger Chevrolet TrailBlazers and GMC Envoys.

GM has been hurt by sagging demand for sport utility vehicles. It has lost some of its market share to Asian imports at a time when it is facing high labor, pension, health care and materials costs.
Workers at the Oklahoma City plant will receive pay and benefits under a union contract that won't expire until September 2007.

Listening to NPR last week, I heard this story of "job banks" that both Ford and GM have. Basically, they have idled workers do community service while still getting full pay and benefits. However, some workers do nothing but sit around and watch tv or play cards.

The article can be found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5194984. There is also an audio piece to it as well.



Paying workers not to make your product would seem a costly proposition for any company. But the Big Three carmakers have been doing just that for years. The little-known Jobs Bank program pays thousands of autoworkers who lost their jobs due to outsourcing or changing technology.

Ford has 1,100 workers in its jobs bank. Analysts estimate General Motors has more than 5,000. But GM CEO Rick Wagoner has said his company can't keep up with the costs, which he says runs to $400 million a year.

Still, it's a negotiated item; he's stuck with it until the UAW contract expires.