Seems to be the typical small business owner mantra.
"Look how efficiently I can run my operation, why can't big business be
like me? The workers are overpaid, blah blah blah, I pay mine minimum
wage, blah blah blah, a pizza lunch is their Christmas bonus. Unions are
evil, blah blah blah, get rid of them so I can get away with paying the
workers even less and cut other entitlements. Workers should all live in
slums and eat dog food, whilst I have a big house, big cars, a couple of
holiday homes and eat real nice because I am the boss and I deserve a
good quality of life. The workers don't deserve much because they are
lazy, uneducated slobs, who haven't got the motivation or skills to get
ahead and therefore should suffer"
Heard it all before and the sad thing is when these people started out
as workers their attitude was not like this. Betcha boots this
individual was making good coin to enable him to save up and start a
small business. Either that or he was born into the business, which
makes his attitude even worse.
Sure there is a fair bit of bloat in the auto industry but it goes all
the way to the top and why exactly should a exec get a truckload of
money and perks and an assembly line worker get bugger all? Ahh that's
right Johnny Whitecollar was lucky enough to be able to get a college
education, whilst Billy Bluecollar drew the short straw and now has to
suffer, in a mundane, low paying job, with no prospect of ever being
able to save up money to be able to start a small business/buy a
house/pay for a decent education for his kids (if he can afford to have
kids that is).
Anyway perhaps it is time to shut down the US auto industry and import
all the vehicles from low wage countries, perhaps then Mr Knox will be
happy because there won't be any need for a greedy auto union, bleeding
the country dry.
However Mr Knox may find that he will go bankrupt because of the flow on
effect, which may not be a bad thing, perhaps working a low wage,
mundane job will make him reconsider the role of unions and so on.
Sure the bailout sucks but what are the alternatives? Why should
banks/et al get handouts and the auto industry has to suffer the
consequences of the mistakes of the financial sector. If anything the
auto industry should get the cash and the banks can go stuff themselves.
Sure the car business has it's problems but did it cause the GFC by
overpaying and under producing?
Perhaps Mr Knox could turn his genius to the real culprits in this mess,
instead of attacking a soft target.
Hendrik
who thinks that unions are a necessary evil because there are evil bosses
Rich Thomas wrote:
There was lots of discussion on this topic a coupla weeks ago, I got
this from someone else, seems a point/counterpoint.
--R
A letter from GM and a response from an industry vendor's President.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine
whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to
help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our
nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now
on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we
began prior to the global financial crisis......................As an
employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most
effective and passionate voices.. I know GM can count on you to have
your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Gregory Knox,
In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout
for the United States automakers please consider the following, and
please also pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors
North America for me.
You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has
bred like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the
last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping the nation,
awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his magical wand and make all our
problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great
nation to keep "living the dream"...
The dream is over!
The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management
myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time
that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid,
arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without
paying the price for these atrocities...and that still the masses will
line up to buy our products
Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I
speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey
Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier
ones for 3 decades now throughout the Midwest and what I've seen over
the years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Mr Clark, the president of General Motors, states:There is widespread
sentiment in this country, our government and especially in the media
that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It
is not...
You're right -- it's not JUST management...how about the electricians
who walk around the plants like lords in
feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while
they drag ass...so they can come in on the weekend and make double and
triple time...for a job they easily could have done within their
normal 40 hour week
How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of
scare tactics...for putting out too many parts on a shift...and for
being too productive (mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been
getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must
we?!?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?
How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:
over the last few years ...we have closed the quality and efficiency
gaps with our competitors.
What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?
Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency
between us and them?
The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?
Do I need to go on?
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the
United States auto industry for decades..
Time to pay for your sins, Detroit.
I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist,
Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given
the banks a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause
short term problems, but despite what people like George Bush and Troy
Clark would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next
day... and something else would happen...where there had been greedy
and sloppy banks new efficient ones would pop up... that is how a free
market system works...it does work...if we would let it work...
But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is
right and that capitalism doesn't work -- that we need the government
to step in and "save us"...save us, hell -- we're nationalizing...and
unfortunately too many of this once fine nations citizens don't even
have a clue that this is what's really happening...but they sure can
tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams...yeah -- THAT'S
important...
Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing
vehicles EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?...How
can that be???
Let's see...Fuel efficient...Listening to customers...Investing in the
proper tooling and automation for the long haul...Not being too
complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming 4 decades
ago...Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma
plans...Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like
"the enemy"...Efficient front and back offices...Non union
environment...Again, I could go on and on, but I really
wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know in
their hearts.
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of
wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten
yourself into -- my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis,
as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one
of their greatest gifts, by the way) -- I make them stand on their own
two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them
through.
Radical concept, huh...
Am I there for them in the wings? Of course -- but only until such
time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.
I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly
are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting
and government.
Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.
Bad news people -- it's coming whether we like it or not
The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough
to "make it all go away" I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back
in" almost immediately after the vote count was tallied..."we might
not do it in a year...or in four..." where was that kind of talk when
he was RUNNING for the office?
Stop trying to put off the inevitable ...That house in Florida really
isn't worth $750,000...People who jump across a border really don't
deserve free health care benefits...That job driving that forklift for
the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year...We really shouldn't
allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a
country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most
atrocious human rights infractions on the face
of the globe...That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000
really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home...Let the market
correct itself people -- it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's
gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is
that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what is
has...and doesn't live beyond its means...and gets back to
basics...and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest
nation in the history of the world...and probably turns back to God.
Sorry -- don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with
you the "bad news"
Gregory J Knox
President, Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
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