Ford Plant to Close: Sound Off
Ford has announced it will close the Cleveland Casting Plant by 2009 and idle the Cleveland Engine Plant One for at least a year. How will this affect you or the Greater Cleveland area?
posted by lbarr at
10:48 AM
17 Comments:
Welcome to the outsourcing of America. Big CEO salaries. Just remember CEO jobs can be outsourced too. Go ahead and keep buying foreign cars, we will all be in line for food stamps. And please do not say "well a honda is made here in the states". thats bs the money goes back overseas.
What are the American auto makers to do? With the wages and benefits they are forced to pay by the unions they have no other option than to downsize. Be honest, I am sure we all know an anto worker who brags about going in an not having to do any work. Well now they have to do even less.
The ripple effect on the economy has not been seen, yet. My husband is a hard working casting plant worker. We understand an honest buck, he tips servers very well understanding their "need" to work. I wonder if any of these un-informed opinionators know what it's like to come home dripping in sweat with black sand everywhere it can penetrate. Yes, I also work full-time, and we're both grateful to be able to, for now. Last one out, turn off the lights...
well with more jobs going overseas and people buying imports just remember the next job lost could be yours! so much for fair trade.
the little guy get squashed again
high gas prices no jobs when will the us government start taking care of our own any ideas
I don't understand why they are closing the plant. What was the point then of all of those buyouts? Closing the plant is almost like saying, "Take the buyout or else."
Our elected officials should be thrown in prison for dereliction of duty.
Free trade is nothing more then a huge corporate giveaway, which leaves hard working Americans out of a job and dependent on other American's taxes to pay for their government subsidies.
To correct these deficiencies, we as hard working Americans must do two things:
1. Buy American made goods before there are none.
2. Toss these politicians out of office and elect new leaders with a blue collar background.
If we let these same career politicians stay in office, we will eventually see the United States become a third world country.
My heart goes out to the workers at Ford. Now let us speak with our power to vote and purchase.
Force McDonald's and the entire fast food/restaurant industry), health care/hospitals (not counting doctors), and Wal-Mart, Target, K mart, etc. to pay autoworker and steelworker level wages by forcing them to unionize, then go on strike against them. At the rate these industrial/factory jobs are going these will be the only type of jobs left. Still, some people can work just as hard making hamburgers, wiping invalids' butts, and stocking and ringing up cheap Chinese made junk as making steel and cars. Laid off factory workers would end up being forced to take these kinds of jobs because that's all there will be out there.
WOW SHOULD WE FEEL SORRY FOR PEOPLE WHO DONT SHOW UP TO WORK AND DONT PERFORM ON THE JOB NOT AT ALL. THIS IS WHY THE AUTOMAKERS ARE CLOSING PLANTS, MAYBE THEY WILL GET A REAL JOB AND UNDERSTAND WHAT ITS LIKE TO REALLY WORK INSTEAD OF BRINGING TV'S AND NESWPAPERS TO FILL IN THERE TIME.OH YEAH NOT TO MENTION THE FALSE MEDICAL CLAIMES THAT THEY USE TO GO ON MEDICAL THAT COST FORD MILLIONS. I KNOW ONE PERSON WHO MISSED 70 DAY IN HIS FIRST YEAR THERE BECAUSE HE WAS A CRACK HEAD, HE STILLED EMPLOYED AND MISSES WEEK AFTER WEEK. THERE IS MORE THAT WHAT MEETS THE EYE HERE.
It's is sad that people think that this is an isolated instance. It is happening to every manufacturing industry in the US. The cause has many facets;
People want cheap items...They end up buying imported goods, not American made.
People want to be paid a high wage and benefits...They complain or get upset when others don't buy their products because the cost is too high.
People must learn consistancy. High wages is something that everyone wants, but they don't support others by purchasing other US made products. It is a vicious cycle. If you want to critize the situation, first see want items you purchase and where you shop. If they are all US made products, you've earned the right to complain, If not. You have no rights to complain, you're part of the problem!
Unions are always willing to take, take, take, with no thought of the consequences for the future. Employees never realize that they work for the company and get a paycheck, they are not partners and this is not an entitlement program. I remember all the union member who have laughed at me and told me how they don't have to work or how they shut down the line to protest. Looks like you won't have to work now either.
Everyone should be OUTRAGED! From the high gas prices to the outsourcing of jobs, we are all heading down a very large drain! Wake up and smell the pot of coffee our leaders have made for us and get AFRAID, VERY AFRAID! and for the poster that talks about the wages and benefits that auto workers get, WHY NOT??? is anyone regulating the HUGE profits that Ford makes on a vehicle? the HUGE profit made on gas?? So in your opinion people dont deserve a better than living wage and benefits??? Why go to work, move to Mexico where you dont have a $600 heat bill and then you can afford to work for less! This affects you by the way. It affects the small business owner that supplies to the workers that work here, so it will in some way affect you, as it will close other businesses. I am not an auto worker by the way. But I am looking forward to the BRAVE NEW WORLD where the USA company store will be WALMART, the gas is $10 a gallon, everyone will be issued a WALMART credit card from the employer for their purchases at the company store, cash will be eliminated and everyone will be under tight control! After all it will be for our benefit and be easy..so we can all just kick back in our recliners and fall in the deep sleep we have been in for the last 7 years! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Cleveland... though this is a setback, this is an opportunity to retrain our workforce to be productive in other area businesses. We've been headed down this road with manufacturing since the 70s, so let's not act surprised now. Now that the plant is closing, how about we look seriously at regionalism to cut costs in the county?
THERE ARE CRACK HEADS IN EVERY LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT. LAWYERS, DOCTORS, PROFESSORS AND YES, THE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASS. YET, LIKE ANY OTHER INDUSTRY THERE ARE HARD WORKING PEOPLE WHO ARE PAYING THEIR SHARE AND MORE OF TAXES, WHILE TRYING TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES AND CAN SPELL.
The Union will do what!!!!
My husband is in a Union and has been working without a contract for over 2 years. Their response to that..."we have had many sleepless nights over this issue" Sure they have, I'm sure their wages have increased and when they retire I bet they don't have too many worries about their insurance or pension. The Unions created this mess but they won't take the blame for it nor will they suffer.
What did you expect? American cars are arguably NOT on the same engineering level as Japanese and German cars, PERIOD! My family has owned American, Japanese, and German cars, and BY FAR, engineering-wise, and ergonomically, foreign cars 'drive circles' around American vehicles! We've owned Pontiacs and Chevy's that were in the shop way to much, despite preventive maintenance!
Drive a Nissan, Toyota, VW, or BMW. Then drive a P.O.S. American car. If you can't feel or sense the far superior ergonomic feel and overall 'tightness' and quality of German and Japanese cars (that goes for Swedish like SAAB and Volvo too) over their American counterparts, you're not a stickler for quality to begin with!
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