That poems not about the conductor, it's about the section men that maintain the track. Can't remember all of it, but has to do with he doesn't ride the train, he doesn't blow the whistle...etc etc. Kinda funny here, because a considerable portion of the derailments are caused by neglect due to budget constraints (gotta get a big bonus for the managers), yet it's the operating and track maintenance guys that get lynched for it.

 

Well, I'm glad I didn't need to call 911 to have my britches put out.

Good points on the union side of things, especially the points about the incorrect / mistimed consumer products, and promisses made.

A point I would like to make is we choose what we do in this world. We are not bound to a career, job or city. Jobs come and go, companies rise & fall. Self made opportunities are the ones with the most risk and most reward. Working for someone else, while a necessary evil until the right opportunity arrives, is and should be only a temporary means to an end. As we are seeing with the degradation of union benifits...... nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky.

 

I'm not sure as to what caused their potential demise,I suppose it's a combination of all the above. From my stand point I've owned several new GM trucks and I feel they (GM) takes advantage of their loyal customers. It wasent until the duramax a few years ago that they offered a good diesel motor all previous diesels were junk ,but bowtie lovers purchased them no questions asked. Maybe America is waking up?

 

I was raised on GM, but have watched and shook my head at the crap they've rolled off the assy line. I'll NEVER own another GM, I don't care what they come out with, they can keep it.

BTW, Toyota employees aren't union.

 

Electronical doodads are my gripe, a motorized air blend door like I don't have enough sense to control the inside temp. with a slide/cable control. Olds had a mechanical constant apply transfer case...no problems. Add the 1998-last year electronical apply with the encoder motor...no more Oldsmobile....
Now with all the doodads, who builds GM's stuff? Delphi, who's in some trouble too so where will they cut costs? Doodad quality? Shift solenoids?

 

The average Delphi hourly employee makes about $80K a year with benifits.

 

HOLY POOP Where do I sign up?????

 

Rode in a Bowtie today. Fairly new truck, extended cab, nothing to really complain about I guess. Seats were comfortable enough for the three miles I rode in it. Had to shut the door twice before the owner told me I had to put some umph into it. Wait, my nissan door will shut by its self on near flat ground. I dont remember having to slam a dodge door either, but it seems like every GM I have had, you slammed a door to get it to shut completely. The last good GM I owned was a 1971 Chevy short step side truck. Every other one has had minor problems and annoyances that should have never shown up. (over heated a transmission in an S-10 with 400# load in the bed. Had to change spark plugs and plug wires more often in that '98 truck than my '71).
Is GM's problems with the unions? I dont know, the vehicles I have owned that are GM were good for the first 50K miles then turned into a big, brown, stinking POS.
If we really want to put one last nail in GM's coffin, the US should allow Nissan and Toyota to bring their diesels into the US in their little trucks.

 

thats right,,thats what needs to happen in the usa.fire everybody,,,,you make 5 bucks an hour?youre fired!...we should bring in mexicans that will work for 1.50 per hour,and let everybody else go...you think you are so valuable?you do what?a mechanic?fireman?policeman?electrician?a/c tech?,,,,you can train mexicans to do any of these jobs in no time,,and theyll be glad to work for peanuts!........union labor didnt put anybody out of business,,the management did!...if you are the one making the executive decisions,its your fault if you dont make it.not the guy working his **** off fer you!...thats right ,unions suck!hard work will get you what you deserve,sure it will!just ask any employee at wal-mart what they make.,,,,,,geesh,,,if all americans thought like you all,,this whole place would be through already!

 

Bama's right, a mexican can be trained to do any job... with very detailed, simple, work instructions that any 6 year old can follow.
Now, after you have trained them, you can spend tommarow training someone else because the guy you trained yesterday didn't show up for work today and probably wont be back till next week.
How do I know? I helped move a manufacturing facility to Mexico and worked for a year closely with the management and engineers at the new facility to get them the information they needed to be able to function and used my 6 year old son to verify work instructions. If he could figure it out, they were good.

 

Its simple math: Revenue - Costs.

Either sell the vehicles at a high enough margin or reduce your costs sufficiently. GM management, the unions, the dealers, the parts sellers all want to make a lot of money. Great idea, IF you can get the buyers to pay the price.

Must agree, their cars, SUVs, trucks, whatever are NOT worth the money they charge. Hey, I don't think Dodge pricing is much better, but at least they have a better product, IMHO.

Its a shame that greed has become the #1 motivator, especially at the top. You can blame Wall Street for this one. The pressure GM is under from the Street is enough to buckle any company. Wall Street is the BIGGEST crook of all and someday maybe we'll take back control from all those greedy Sons-a- bi???s.

 

NOT MY JOB

It's not my job to run the train.

The whistle I can't blow.

It's not my job to say how far the trains allowed to go.

It's not my job to let off steam or even clang the bell.

But let the darn thing jump the track.

And see who catches .....
(oh well, you know what goes here).

 

Part of the benefits overhead problem may stem form the simple fact that people are living longer than they did 50 years ago.
So instead of that 30 year service retiree dieing at 50-60 years old and no longer drawing that pension check, he's now living to 70-80 years old.
I don't see too many companies griping about those multi-million dollar pension and benefit checks they're sending to their ex-CEOs.

 

They keep telling us that it's our fault for living longer, but I don't believe it. Look at the ages of people in the obituary on any given day. And at the same time they tell us that, we see on the news that we're all fat and dying prematurely of heart disease. How can both be right?

 

The CEO's, CFO's etc., etc., etc. do not just give themselves those salaries everyone. Almost all of the bigwigs, at publically held companies, salaries, stock options etc. are voted on by the board of directors!!!!!! There isn't a person who frequents these forums that would say no to those numbers if some people are stupid enough to offer it to you.

On the other hand though. If a company is making a lot of money, its stock is going up, its paying its shareholders dividends etc. etc. I would argue that the CEO is earning every penny they are paying him.Some of these guys/gals are incredibly smart and business savy and do their companies well. You rarely hear of these ones though because the "LIBERAL MEDIA" only focuses on the bad ones!!!! Many CEO's have a minimal salary (not to most of us though) but have STOCK OPTIONS. If they turn a company around or whatever and the stock goes up they exercize those stock options and make a boat load of money on the sale!!!

I do agree however that if a company goes down the toilet that, as a good faith measure, the bigwigs should take at least a proportionate decrease in their pay. If not, the board should can their butts!!!