Greed, not unions, brought GM down

[vigman]

From a union point of view

Not part of the UAW...
BUT in my industry...and a union member for 32 years this is my take.
There are 7-8 non union " supervisors " or " managers " ( read penguins with blackberries to replace the out dated clipboard ) who have NO business in my business. WHY because they are CLUELESS. I constantly have to pull there behinds out of the fire. They go to meetings for HOURS, which are catered.. have power point & excel presentations ( with all the latest toys ) till they have an "IDEA" which they spend HOURS doing research over... and then they come to me and ask why isn't this working.. and I have to explain it to them in very small groups of words, otherwise there head explodes.

My company has spend MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS upon half baked idea's.. and it's just written off due to " creative accounting ".

And do NOT get me started on the marketing people who come up with " creative idea's " for an add or a TV spot, or trailer/teaser, spend 10's of THOUSANDS of dollars and man hours.. just to have a director poo-poo the presentation.. because this doesn't represent his ( or her ) movie.

This get's spun into ...
Well it's so expensive due to all that UNION OVERTIME.

Where the truth of the matter is yes we are working overtime... but typically we are on standby till the " creative" people make a decision.

My basic pay rate had barely kept up with inflation..
BUT I do have a good health & retirement plan..
I do make more than most middle management,,, but not when you weigh in the following:

I do not get a company car.
I do not have a corner office.
I do not get a company cell phone.
I do not get stock options.
I do not have a company charge card.
I do not get lavish holiday parties.
I do not have access to a company jet.
I do not get an extra 2 weeks of " sick time".( read extra vacation ).
I do not get a cut of the box office gross.
And there is no GOLDEN PARACHUTE with my name on it!
My severance package is not MILLIONS...

But when there is a " crisis " I do get that phone call @ 2:00am to report in ASAP. and fix what is " broken ". While most everyone else is still in bed " phoning it in".

Now I ask you, who's lapping up the cream?

It's not me...
I get a fair wage for my responsibilities.. and that's it!

Vig~

 

[XLR8]

Corporate, Wall-street, Banking, Real-estate, Union and many other greedy hands is/has taking/taken our Great Nation not just GM to their knees! ;squint:​

Later . . . . . .

6 Shooter​

erd:

Pretty much sums it up, D.

I'd have to agree with you, guys.

The thing is, you can't lump everyone in a neat little stack or column, as in Column A is/was greedy or Column B is/was greedy-er. There are hardworking, honest people with a high moral standard and good work ethics on both sides of the table, be it bargaining table, conference table, boardroom table or kitchen table. And there are also the narcissistic, the conscienceless, the sociopaths who never think further than their own noses and care only about what's in it for them.

There's more than enough guilt to spread around.

 

[HJZ06]

Yes unions are much of the blame, but who started Hummer, Saturn and purchased Saab? What a gross waste of money! And they have the BALLS to dump Pontiac? There are no more leaders in any industry, let alone government. This touchy feely thing is putting this Country on it's ass.

 

[redvett]

Yes unions are much of the blame, but who started Hummer, Saturn and purchased Saab? What a gross waste of money! And they have the BALLS to dump Pontiac? There are no more leaders in any industry, let alone government. This touchy feely thing is putting this Country on it's ass.

Hummer was not started by GM it was started by General Dynamics and GM bought the rights to it. Saturn was a great idea only GM didn't follow through with new models, in-fact all MFR's were scared when Saturn came out and feared GM finally got the package correct and they did but as usual failed in delivering.

 

[HJZ06]

Hummer was not started by GM it was started by General Dynamics and GM bought the rights to it. Saturn was a great idea only GM didn't follow through with new models, in-fact all MFR's were scared when Saturn came out and feared GM finally got the package correct and they did but as usual failed in delivering.

I 'm talking about the dumbass H2 and H3 Hummers. They have no place in this world, just my opinion. Most reasonable people would wonder why there are so many of the same models with different names. Simply sad.

 

[Stuart]

Saturn was a great idea only GM didn't follow through with new models

erd:
I never understood that. Why did they create Saturn and then let it limp along for so long?

 

[catbert]

Management is ultimately at fault .They caved in to Union demands for years .Management answers to the stockholders ,bond holders .

Finally, someone who gets it. Remember what they told us in the service: the commanding officer is responsible for everything that happens or doesn't happen in the unit. In the case of GM, that would have been Rick until he left with $13m. I think GM might get the concept now, but we'll see.

 

[catbert]

erd:
I never understood that. Why did they create Saturn and then let it limp along for so long?

Because so much money was spent on truck/suv development and marketing.

 

[Mac]

I 'm talking about the dumbass H2 and H3 Hummers. They have no place in this world, just my opinion. Most reasonable people would wonder why there are so many of the same models with different names. Simply sad.

You're right... it is just your opinion... especially since you were kind enough to have contradictions built right into it.

I own a Hummer H3 and it's a great vehicle. It's much more unique than the dozens of "sport-cutes" which aren't truly 4X4 vehicles like the CRV, RAV4, Rogue, Envoy, Escape and others of the same ilk.

As far as the Hummer's "place in the world", I find that kind of dumbass intolerance annoying and frustrating. I don't tell you what to buy or drive. Perhaps if GM had listened to customers and built vehicles which matched their interests, they wouldn't have lost their customer base.

-Mac

 

[Mac]

Hummer was not started by GM it was started by General Dynamics and GM bought the rights to it. Saturn was a great idea only GM didn't follow through with new models, in-fact all MFR's were scared when Saturn came out and feared GM finally got the package correct and they did but as usual failed in delivering.

Hummer was originally designed and built by AM General, not General Dynamics.

-Mac

 

[catbert]

Hummer was originally designed and built by AM General, not General Dynamics.

-Mac

Right you are! AM General was spawned by American Motors, who got the assets of Kaiser American, who bought the facilities from Studebaker. Why else would they have been in South Bend?

Isn't (wasn't) Tire Rack housed in one of the old American General buildings?

 

[Mac]

Isn't (wasn't) Tire Rack housed in one of the old American General buildings?

I hadn't heard that before but anything is possible!

-Mac

ps: I just did a quick calculation for my recent 1800 mile round trip in my H3 and I averaged 19 mpg. Mind you, I wasn't driving too fast. At 60 mph, the engine is turning around 2400 rpm...

-Mac

 

[HJZ06]

You're right... it is just your opinion... especially since you were kind enough to have contradictions built right into it.

I own a Hummer H3 and it's a great vehicle. It's much more unique than the dozens of "sport-cutes" which aren't truly 4X4 vehicles like the CRV, RAV4, Rogue, Envoy, Escape and others of the same ilk.

As far as the Hummer's "place in the world", I find that kind of dumbass intolerance annoying and frustrating. I don't tell you what to buy or drive. Perhaps if GM had listened to customers and built vehicles which matched their interests, they wouldn't have lost their customer base.

-Mac

Please

 

[Mac]

Please

Well, I can't complain about his manners...

May I ask whether your negative opinion about Hummers is based on anything substantial or do you just have a hate-on for SUVs in general?

-Mac

 

[HJZ06]

I do own a SUV. I just can't see a vehicle like a H2, a waste of raw materials and fuel. I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but it's popularity goes with the price of oil. You are right in saying, GM should have built the vehicles the consumers wanted. I always bought GM until Cadillac started selling crap with no factory support. After 18 months my Concours was worth 50% of what I paid. Went to MB for E320 and now GL450. No, not perfect but they do stand by their product, and resale is better. Don't think I'll ever buy a GM product as long as this administration/ govt. is owner. I have always been a car guy, it makes me sad how things are today. Harley Earl, Zora and the others inspired us as teenagers to one day own a Corvette. The day has come 4 times for me, but what's the future look like for teenagers today? Any inspirational car designs out there?

 

[Mac]

I do own a SUV. I just can't see a vehicle like a H2, a waste of raw materials and fuel. I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but it's popularity goes with the price of oil. You are right in saying, GM should have built the vehicles the consumers wanted. I always bought GM until Cadillac started selling crap with no factory support. After 18 months my Concours was worth 50% of what I paid. Went to MB for E320 and now GL450. No, not perfect but they do stand by their product, and resale is better. Don't think I'll ever buy a GM product as long as this administration/ govt. is owner. I have always been a car guy, it makes me sad how things are today. Harley Earl, Zora and the others inspired us as teenagers to one day own a Corvette. The day has come 4 times for me, but what's the future look like for teenagers today? Any inspirational car designs out there?

We're closer than it might appear at first glance.

The H2 is overweight and thirsty; no question of that. I wonder why GM didn't use more alternative materials in the construction to cut down on the weight? Even the H3 could use some lightening up. The rear door weighs a ton by itself. Why not a metal framed door with a fiberglass shell? Half the weight and all the protection. Why no diesel option?

GM lost it's way back in the 80s and it never fully recovered. The product lines were confusing and overlapping. Quality control issues nagged them and soiled their reputation. The unions and the executives were all greedy. The company did not listen to it's customers. The results were predictable.

I love my Corvette and my Hummer but I won't be purchasing a GM product anytime soon. When the time comes to replace my daily driver (the Hummer), I'm thinking Ford might get my business.

-Mac

 

[HJZ06]

See, we're right!

 

[5thgeneration]

The auto companies have with the UAW, have really changed the quality of domestic cars. But, there's very few who are listning as the domestic auto makers only hold on to about 21% of the american marketplace. Way too many Vega's, Pinto's and almost any 1970's and eighties cars that once parked, you could hear the thing rusting away. I have a Brother in law who always bought American made cars till the begining of the nineties, the last a Chrysler Concorde had to be returned to the dealership seven times in the first year, five of those trips were hanging off the back end of a tow truck. He when in to the dealership and put down the keys after being told he'd need a rental, and he said "My lawyer will be in touch !" and since then i can't even bring up the subject of a domestic car, he buys European or Japanese only ! So there's one customer who gone and ain't ever coming back. And he isn't alone. I don't know how the american auto marker are going to turn that around?

Guess what the American Auto Companies were not the only ones making junk back in the 70's and 80's. I observed plenty of Japanese cars being towed back then. Especially the Civic, what a total piece of crap that think was ! Tell your brother in law to go into GM or Ford showroom he would be stunned at the quality improvement from those days. To swear off American Autos because of the cars they made back then is just plain stupid ! And who knows the job you save could be your own ! I'm 57 years old and have never owned a foreign car, and I never will. And I make it to work every day driving one.

 

[redvett]

My current ride (daily) is a 2008 CTS4 DI and with 18000 miles its never seen the service department since delivery. My 2004 Silverado 4x4 ECSB has 41000 mi with only a service for the horn and my wifes Monti Carlo SS Supercharged zero service required at 50000+ miles. This says quality is good on GM vehicles to me. BTW my 2001 Corvette Convertible has had no problems with 31000 miles.

 

[darkstar]

I say "Greed"