Not great news for our Vette friends.
12-22-2009, 09:48 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Not great news for our Vette friends.
Nice to see our Vette friends in the Summer, but 8 car a day production is not a recipe for future success........
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/...270&p_docnum=3
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/...270&p_docnum=3
12-22-2009, 11:36 AM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
GM to lay off 75 at BG plant
Officials cutting Corvette production from 11 cars per hour to eight
JENNA MINK, The Daily News, jmink@bgdailynews.com/783-3246
Published: December 16, 2009
About 75 local residents will be without jobs this Christmas as the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant indefinitely lays off more workers.
Plant officials are in the process of laying off those workers and cutting vehicle production from 11 cars per hour to eight cars per hour.
It has been a tough year for the Corvette plant – a bad economy and company financial troubles have forced the plant to temporarily shut down for a total of 26 weeks this year. And even though GM emerged from bankruptcy and recently reported good sales figures, the local plant still struggles.
“It’s almost positive news because there’s not as much negative news,” Bowling Green plant manager Bob Parcell said. “The biggest challenge in the short term is that we (cut production at) the plant, and we’re still struggling to get the pieces of the puzzle put together.”
As demand for luxury vehicles, such as the Corvette, has dwindled, the plant has been forced to slow production. Last year, the plant churned out 18.5 cars per hour – that rate was cut to 15 cars an hour in October 2008 and then to 11 cars an hour in March, according to Andrea Hales, communications manager for the local plant.
Now, production lines slowly move, transitioning to eight vehicles an hour. Earlier this year, the plant halted production of the Cadillac XLR.
Production cuts create the need for fewer workers. At the beginning of this month, the plant employed 486 workers – a drop from the 1,100 workers it once employed.
Employee morale is “not very high,” Parcell said. “You look at 2009 ... and the plant’s been down as much as it’s been run. It’s hard to come to work all fired up.”
In fact, strengthening employee morale is one of Parcell’s goals and, on a positive note, no temporary shutdowns are scheduled for 2010.
This year, employees, such as Patrick Klein, have watched co-workers get laid off and have temporarily been without jobs during plant shutdowns.
“It’s hard for anybody to keep their chin up when they know they’re going to get laid off,” he said.
Klein has worked for General Motors for 13 years and has been at the local plant for seven years – he’s also vice president of the United Auto Workers Local 2164.
For Klein, it has been difficult to make plans, such as scheduling a family vacation, due to job uncertainty.
“It’s been kind of a struggle not knowing month to month how many weeks we’re going to work,” he said. “Just not knowing what our work schedule is going to be, it’s hard to plan things.”
And even though the company recently released better-than-expected sales figures, Corvette sales are still low, Klein said.
“And that’s what directly affects us here,” he said. The plant will struggle “until those sales pick up a little bit, so we can stop (production cuts) and layoffs.”
Nick Davis has worked at General Motors for 15 years and at the local plant for five years. He remembers his first day at the Corvette plant.
“I walk in ... and I see clean, beautiful cars,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m in Disney World.’ ”
And while he enjoys working at the local plant, the past year has been challenging, he said.
“It has been difficult,” he said. “So difficult that, sometimes, I don’t want to talk about it. Some people are in worse shape than others because of it.”
Davis said he tries to concentrate on any positive news, and, for him, there’s an upside to temporary layoffs.
“Personally, I really enjoyed it,” said Davis, a father of two young daughters. “It made me a stay-at-home dad and brought me closer to the girls than I ever expected. It was kind of a blessing, but not really.”
Even though times are rough, workers said they’re optimistic about their jobs and about the plant’s future.
“It’s just a difficult time, a very difficult time, but I do have a positive outlook,” Klein said. “I think things are going to get better; I just don’t know when.”
Davis said he’s confident in the local plant and the product it makes.
“It is one of the last muscle cars being made,” he said. “I do believe we’ll be here for a while.”
Officials cutting Corvette production from 11 cars per hour to eight
JENNA MINK, The Daily News, jmink@bgdailynews.com/783-3246
Published: December 16, 2009
About 75 local residents will be without jobs this Christmas as the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant indefinitely lays off more workers.
Plant officials are in the process of laying off those workers and cutting vehicle production from 11 cars per hour to eight cars per hour.
It has been a tough year for the Corvette plant – a bad economy and company financial troubles have forced the plant to temporarily shut down for a total of 26 weeks this year. And even though GM emerged from bankruptcy and recently reported good sales figures, the local plant still struggles.
“It’s almost positive news because there’s not as much negative news,” Bowling Green plant manager Bob Parcell said. “The biggest challenge in the short term is that we (cut production at) the plant, and we’re still struggling to get the pieces of the puzzle put together.”
As demand for luxury vehicles, such as the Corvette, has dwindled, the plant has been forced to slow production. Last year, the plant churned out 18.5 cars per hour – that rate was cut to 15 cars an hour in October 2008 and then to 11 cars an hour in March, according to Andrea Hales, communications manager for the local plant.
Now, production lines slowly move, transitioning to eight vehicles an hour. Earlier this year, the plant halted production of the Cadillac XLR.
Production cuts create the need for fewer workers. At the beginning of this month, the plant employed 486 workers – a drop from the 1,100 workers it once employed.
Employee morale is “not very high,” Parcell said. “You look at 2009 ... and the plant’s been down as much as it’s been run. It’s hard to come to work all fired up.”
In fact, strengthening employee morale is one of Parcell’s goals and, on a positive note, no temporary shutdowns are scheduled for 2010.
This year, employees, such as Patrick Klein, have watched co-workers get laid off and have temporarily been without jobs during plant shutdowns.
“It’s hard for anybody to keep their chin up when they know they’re going to get laid off,” he said.
Klein has worked for General Motors for 13 years and has been at the local plant for seven years – he’s also vice president of the United Auto Workers Local 2164.
For Klein, it has been difficult to make plans, such as scheduling a family vacation, due to job uncertainty.
“It’s been kind of a struggle not knowing month to month how many weeks we’re going to work,” he said. “Just not knowing what our work schedule is going to be, it’s hard to plan things.”
And even though the company recently released better-than-expected sales figures, Corvette sales are still low, Klein said.
“And that’s what directly affects us here,” he said. The plant will struggle “until those sales pick up a little bit, so we can stop (production cuts) and layoffs.”
Nick Davis has worked at General Motors for 15 years and at the local plant for five years. He remembers his first day at the Corvette plant.
“I walk in ... and I see clean, beautiful cars,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m in Disney World.’ ”
And while he enjoys working at the local plant, the past year has been challenging, he said.
“It has been difficult,” he said. “So difficult that, sometimes, I don’t want to talk about it. Some people are in worse shape than others because of it.”
Davis said he tries to concentrate on any positive news, and, for him, there’s an upside to temporary layoffs.
“Personally, I really enjoyed it,” said Davis, a father of two young daughters. “It made me a stay-at-home dad and brought me closer to the girls than I ever expected. It was kind of a blessing, but not really.”
Even though times are rough, workers said they’re optimistic about their jobs and about the plant’s future.
“It’s just a difficult time, a very difficult time, but I do have a positive outlook,” Klein said. “I think things are going to get better; I just don’t know when.”
Davis said he’s confident in the local plant and the product it makes.
“It is one of the last muscle cars being made,” he said. “I do believe we’ll be here for a while.”
12-22-2009, 02:57 PM
#6
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12-22-2009, 07:23 PM
#9
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I first read that as 8 per day and thought that sucks. When it's 8 per hour instead of 11, in this market thats quite robust.