November 22, 200519 yr ^there was like 7500 working there back in my days. basically the 60's thru the 80's. the econoline van, thunderbird, cougar, etc were produced there.
November 22, 200519 yr ^At least they didn't close the whole plant down. While that is true, it's hardly a ringing endorsement of the plant by GM execs.
November 22, 200519 yr Healthcare, labor and capital they spent on new production lines. They were budgeted for a certain level of sales, and I know for the products I work on, the 500 and Freestyle, they only sell half of what was budgeted.
November 22, 200519 yr Author From the 11/19/05 Dayton Daily News: Bill would aid Delphi workers Proposal introduced to give them tax credits for part of care costs they assume By Mehul Srivastava Dayton Daily News WASHINGTON | As Delphi Corp.'s bankruptcy case winds it way through the courts, three Ohio congressman are pushing legislation aimed at helping Delphi employees deal with potential cuts to their health care benefits. If a portion of Delphi's pension costs were to be taken over by the federal government following a bankruptcy, some employees could apply 65 percent of their health insurance premiums toward a tax credit. But sometimes the time gap between when a company files for bankruptcy and when the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation takes over leaves employees at risk, according to Chad Tanner, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon. ... Contact Mehul Srivastava at (202) 887-8378. Dayton Daily News reporter John Nolan contributed to this report. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1119delphi.html From same: Delphi raises offer to unions By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Delphi Corp. said Friday it made an improved wage and benefits offer to its labor unions to reduce operating costs and emerge from bankruptcy reorganization. Union leaders said they are studying the offer, but that it still falls short because it includes only slight improvements on Delphi's initial proposal, which reduced average base wage rates for production workers to about $10 an hour from current hourly rates of $27. The unions received the proposal Wednesday. ... Contact John Nolan at 225-2242. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1119delphioffer.html
November 22, 200519 yr Author From the 11/22/05 Dayton Daily News: Delphi CEO: preliminary decisions on plants coming next month By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Delphi Corp. will reach preliminary conclusions in December about which operations and products it wants to keep when it emerges from bankruptcy reorganization, even if it doesn't have cost-cutting labor deals with unions by then, its chief executive said Tuesday. The auto parts supplier expects to revise those expectations in light of new labor agreements, changes in market demand for its products and expectations of its creditors, Robert S. Miller Jr. said during an interview with the editorial board of the Dayton Daily News. He said, though, that the reductions in union labor costs that Delphi says it needs to compete won't be enough by itself to save plants that are at risk. ... Contact John Nolan at (937) 225-2242. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1122delphiweb.html From same: 'The true devastation will come when they do close something' By Kevin Lamb Dayton Daily News Some are angry, some are afraid. Retirees dread having to go back to work, and active workers dread being thrown out of work. They're depressed. Or demoralized. Or disillusioned. Or all of the above. Delphi's 5,700 local employees and additional retirees don't know how badly their lives will change, but they're watching a pledge of lifetime security turn out to mean the company's life, not their own. Plants will close, and four of the five local plants were essentially on probation even before Delphi filed for bankruptcy. Wages and benefits will be cut, by $3 for every $5 perhaps. ... Contact Kevin Lamb at 225-2129 or e-mail [email protected] http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1120delphi.html
November 26, 200519 yr Author Playing catch-up here...from the 11/21/05 Dayton Daily News: GM cutting 3rd shift at Moraine plant, closing 9 plants By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | General Motors Corp. said Monday it will close nine assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 and eliminate the third shift at its Moraine Assembly Plant next year. GM said it is making the changes to reduce production in line with market demand. The announcement means GM will cut about 30,000 manufacturing jobs by 2008, up from the previously announced 25,000. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1121gmweb.html From the 11/22/05 Dayton Daily News: Moraine losing 1,150 jobs as GM slashes costs By Margo Rutledge Kissell Dayton Daily News MORAINE | City officials breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday that the Moraine Assembly Plant does not appear on General Motors' list of plant closings. And they remain optimistic despite the company's announcement that "the third shift will be removed at Moraine, Ohio, during 2006, with timing to be based on market demand." ... Contact Margo Kissell at 225-2094. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1122gmmoraine.html
November 26, 200519 yr Author From the 11/22/05 Dayton Daily News: Cuts aim to save $7 billion By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | General Motors Corp. said Monday it will eliminate 30,000 jobs nationwide, including as many as 1,150 in Moraine, as part of a major restructuring that will close nine assembly, stamping and powertrain plants and three parts and service centers by 2008. At the same time, the Moraine plant may be helped by GM's decision to close a sister plant in Oklahoma City. That plant makes extended versions of the same sport utility vehicles made at GM's Moraine Assembly plant. ... Contact John Nolan at 225-2242. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1122gm.html From AP, 11/22/05: Automaker needs more cost savings, analyst says By Aleksandrs Rozens Associated Press NEW YORK | General Motors Corp., which has operated more like a bank than an automaker by offering low-cost financing, may have to do more to placate investors who shrugged off the massive staff cuts it announced Monday. "They have to figure out a way to sell cars. To be successful they have to have a product that sells without incentives," said Andrew Harding, chief investment officer at Allegiant Asset Management, where he helps run $15 billion worth of fixed-income assets such as bonds issued by the automaker's finance unit, General Motors Acceptance. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1122gmreax.html
November 26, 200519 yr Author From AP, 11/23/05: GM's cuts weighed efficiency of plants, lineup of vehicles By Erica Ryan Associated Press General Motors' decision to spare Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and some other Midwestern states from major cuts came down to basic business: which plants were the most efficient, their age and what kinds of vehicles they made. GM said Monday that it plans to cut about 30,000 North American manufacturing jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008. ... http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/BUSINESS/511230334/1003
November 26, 200519 yr Author Let's not forget about Lordstown! From the 11/22/05 Warren Tribune Chronicle: Lordstown plant avoids bullet By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle LORDSTOWN - If General Motors Lordstown workers wondered if they made the right decision four years ago by agreeing to major work changes, they got their answer Monday by avoiding the company's job-cutting ax. "Lordstown is safe. There wasn't even a second thought to an effect on us,'' said Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the Complex East assembly plant, in talking about GM's announcement of 30,000 job cuts and 12 plant closings. "We've come a long way at Lordstown and taken care of a lot of issues,'' Graham added, referring to ratification of a new labor agreement in 2001 that paved the way for GM's nearly $1 billion investment to build the hot-selling Chevrolet Cobalt premium small car. ... [email protected] http://www.tribunechronicle.com/news/story/1122202005_new02lordstown22.asp From AP, 11/22/05: Saturn's future in doubt By the Associated Press SPRING HILL, TENN. | When General Motors Corp. started building cars in this sleepy farming town nearly 15 years ago, the Saturn plant was touted as a key component of the automaker's vision for the future. But now this thriving Nashville suburb finds itself recast as another in a long list of Rust Belt survivors — worried about its economic future as GM announces it will eliminate a production line in Spring Hill where the Ion compact car is produced. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1122saturn.html From the 11/22/05 Akron Beacon Journal: Lordstown may get Saturn Ion car line By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer General Motors' Lordstown Assembly Plant may benefit from the impending closing of a Saturn assembly line in Tennessee. The Lordstown plant, which now makes Chevrolet Cobalt small cars, is being considered as the next site to build the Saturn Ion when the line at Saturn's Spring Hill, Tenn., plant closes. A decision may come as soon as next month, according to a Lordstown United Auto Workers official. ... Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or [email protected] http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/13231167.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business
November 27, 200519 yr Author Comparisons to Norwood and lessons that Dayton could learn, from the 11/27/05 Dayton Daily News: Norwood had to rethink development after GM left By John Nolan Dayton Daily News NORWOOD | The massive General Motors Corp. assembly plant that once dominated Norwood's business district and was the city's biggest employer and taxpayer is long gone. Gone, too, are some of the small businesses that depended on the flow of autoworkers and their discretionary cash from the plant, which GM closed in 1987. Its footprint today is covered by an array of doctors' offices, small businesses and restaurants, including a fitness center with a workout room whose walls bear a painted depiction of Norwood's vanished industrial skyline. ... Contact John Nolan at 225-2242. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1127delphi.html
November 29, 200519 yr Author From the 11/27/05 Dayton Daily News: Teamwork critical for Moraine By Jim Dillon Dayton Daily News The Dayton area's long and prosperous relationship with automaker General Motors Corp. is at a crossroads. Last week, GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the company will cut 30,000 jobs by closing or consolidating operations at 12 plants and centers by 2008 and remove $7 billion from the company's $42 billion annual operations budget. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1127dillon.html
December 3, 200519 yr Author From the AP, 11/30/05: PHOTO: Delphi Corp. workers Larry Koltak (from left), Andy Hendricks and Paul VanGessel picket in front of the Wyoming, Mich., plant Tuesday to protest the company's executive compensation plan. Lori Niedenfuer Cool PHOTO #2 Delphi Corp.'s plant workers protest bonuses for executives Plan to slash salaries in Ohio, elsewhere noted By Dee-Ann Durbin The Associated Press DETROIT - Delphi Corp. hourly workers protested the company's executive compensation plan with pickets Tuesday at the auto supplier's plants, saying it's unfair to pay generous bonuses to top management while proposing drastic wage cuts for hourly workers. At a brake plant in Dayton, Ohio, about 40 people held up signs and cheered as passing motorists honked in support. The Dayton area has five Delphi plants that employ about 6,000 people. ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051130/BIZ/511300308/1076/rss01
December 3, 200519 yr Author From the 11/30/05 Dayton Daily News: United Way opens help line for area's workers at risk By Stephanie Irwin Dayton Daily News DAYTON | If Delphi closes its plants in Dayton, 5,700 workers could flood the area's human services network. They'll be looking for financial help, food pantries, counseling—and that's only the beginning, said Mark Levy, president and chief executive officer for The United Way of Greater Dayton. ... Contact Stephanie Irwin at (937) 225-7404. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1130delphihelp.html From same: Delphi hopes to treat creditors fairly In some cases, lenders paid pennies on dollars owed By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Robert S. Miller Jr., Delphi Corp.'s chairman and chief executive officer, said he hopes his company's creditors receive more of the money they are owed than creditors in other bankruptcies he has overseen. It likely will be 2007, when Delphi hopes to emerge from bankruptcy, when the auto parts company will seek court and creditor approval for a plan of reorganization that would spell out plans to repay creditors. Even after that, Delphi could object to some claims and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain would have to resolve the disputes. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1130delphi.html
December 3, 200519 yr Author From the 12/2/05 Dayton Daily News: Area makes pledge to Delphi Elected officials, business leaders talk to troubled parts maker's chairman By John Nolan and Jessica Wehrman Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Local elected officials and business leaders told Delphi Corp.'s top executive on Thursday that the community will do all within its power to help financially strapped Delphi keep its Dayton-area plants operating. The Dayton delegation met with Robert S. Miller Jr., Delphi's chairman and chief executive officer, to promote the region's long history of support for auto production and auto parts manufacturing, said J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition. The delegation, led by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, did not make any direct offers to Miller, but said it valued Delphi as a corporate citizen and would provide any possible economic assistance to continue the relationship, Nauseef said. ... Contact John Nolan at 225-2242. http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1202delphi.html
December 10, 200519 yr Author From the 12/6/05 PD: Ford's Lorain plant to close early - Dec. 14 Tuesday, December 06, 2005 Christopher Jensen Plain Dealer Auto Editor With a $130 million upgrade of Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake completed, the automaker will be able to close the Lorain Assembly Plant a little earlier than expected. The plant will close on Dec. 14, about a week early, said Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari. Ford renovated a 1.2 million-square-foot area at the Avon Lake plant to allow the big E-vans, best known as the Econoline, to be built more easily, more efficiently and with better quality, according to Ford. More at http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/1133861447107040.xml&coll=2 From the 12/6/05 Elyria Chornicle Telegram: Countdown to shutdown Lorain Ford plant to stop making Econolines Dec. 14 Bette Pearce The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — The end of a 47-year era will come at 11 a.m. Dec. 14, when the last Ford Econoline van rolls off the line at Lorain Assembly Plant. For the United Auto Workers who have poured years of service and sweat into the place, seeing the plant close will be hard. “I’ll miss this old place. A big part of my life has been spent here,” said Tony Moore, 58, of Wakeman, who started working at the plant 39 years ago. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-06-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head1.html
December 12, 200519 yr Author From the 12/11/05 Dayton Daily News: CWA president rallies Delphi employees Thousands flock to Dayton event By Rob Modic Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Wearing a bright red cap, Larry Cohen, president of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America, told a frigid but spirited crowd at Courthouse Square on Saturday that the fight for Delphi jobs starts here, in one of the highest concentrations of automotive manufacturing in the country. "We came out here to Dayton not to finish this fight, but to start this fight," Cohen told 2,000 to 3,000 cheering workers who came by the busloads from Delphi plants as far away as Warren in northeast Ohio. ... Contact Rob Modic at 225-2282. http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1211delphi.html
December 17, 200519 yr Author Both articles from the 12/11/05 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram: Leaving Lorain It’s the end of the line for Ford plant Ford’s 47-year legacy in Lorain Bette Pearce The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — It was the best of times for America and Americans. The post-World War II economy was booming, the baby boom was in full swing and everybody liked Ike. It was the Fabulous Fifties — a moniker richly earned. It also was a time when moms stayed home, kids had roller skates with keys and a T-bone steak dinner could be had at Gray Drugs for 79 cents. And it was a time when dads went to work, secure in the knowledge their jobs would be there for the next 30 or 40 years and they’d retire with a good pension. Yes, times were good. And on May 19, 1958, times were getting even better in Lorain County when the Ford Lorain Assembly plant rolled its first vehicle off the line. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-11-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head1.html Workers chased their dreams to Lorain Assembly Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram Like a bear attracted to honey, it was the paycheck that Jim Williams’ relative showed him that lured him in. “He was making in one week what it took me two weeks to make working at a country club in D.C.,” said Williams, 70, of Lorain. “You could make good money as an autoworker.” It was 1966, and 29-year-old Williams packed up his wife and child and headed to Lorain, a hardscrabble steel town that had good-paying jobs for folks willing to work hard. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-11-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html
December 17, 200519 yr Author From the 12/12/05 Elyria Chronicle Telegram: PHOTO: At the site of the former GM plant on Lowell Street in Elyria now sits the Northern Ohio Industrial Park, a privately owned warehousing hub that serves as a transportation and storage facility for at least seven businesses. chronicle Could closed plant be reborn? Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — Just a tinge of vision and a ton of faith should be all it takes. Since hints of its possible closing first surfaced several years ago, residents have been hoping Ford Motor Co.’s Lorain Assembly Plant could one day be reborn into something greater than just another ramshackle building in the midst of a concrete meadow. Something like a transportation Mecca, says Lorain Mayor Craig Foltin. “It’s a prime location for a major distribution center,” said Foltin, adding that Ford’s exodus will be a massive blow to the city. “You have the turnpike, Interstate 90, a railway, and capabilities for shipping — everything you’d need as a major operation for distribution.” More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-12-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html
December 18, 200519 yr Author From the 12/13/05 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram: Lorain reveals hopes for Ford site Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — Ford Motor Co. is shutting the Lorain Assembly Plant this week and Lorain’s Community Development Department on Monday unveiled a westside urban renewal plan that provides a glimpse of what city officials hope is in store for the soon-to-be empty Baumhart Road site. City officials have already confirmed that three privately owned companies – two from California – have expressed interest in the site, and all of them specialize in transforming abandoned industrial complexes into office, retail and commercial districts. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-13-05/Daily%20Pages/Local/Html/local2.html
December 18, 200519 yr This would be huge for the Lorain / Elyria area. I was in Elyria a few weeks ago and their downtown on a weekday looked pretty depressed. Here's hoping for the best!
December 18, 200519 yr lorain and many others noted in the nytimes today with the topic being this very issue. remember this like an elephant people --- lorain lost out with ford to someplace called hazlewood near st. louis. even worse, it seems their state politicians lobbied hard to keep their plant open, while taft & co were silent and let ne ohio go hang out to dry as usual! also, unfortunately for lorain there is a lot of competition in the old auto factory market -- ugh!: Car Plants as Chips in Big-Stakes Game By MICHELINE MAYNARD Published: December 9, 2005 WIXOM, Mich., Dec. 8 - A high-stakes game of poker is under way in the automobile industry, and Chuck Buchanan is one of the chips. Ford's big luxury-car plant here, where Mr. Buchanan has worked for 32 years, is rumored to be on a list of plants that Ford may close under its second restructuring plan in the last four years. Michigan officials have vowed to fight to keep the Wixom plant open. But first they have to elbow their way to a table already crowded with officials from cities and states around the country making offers to Ford, General Motors and parts suppliers like Visteon and Delphi, with all of them planning to close factories in coming months and years. From St. Paul to suburban St. Louis, and towns outside Atlanta and Detroit, mayors, governors, civic leaders and officials of the United Automobile Workers union all hope they have the cards to walk away the winners. More at link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/business/09ford.html?ex=1135054800&en=36b977ff334b2754&ei=5070
December 19, 200519 yr Ford closings could hit area hard Analysts consider Batavia plant at risk Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter Ford Motor Co.'s Batavia transmission plant could be in jeopardy when the nation's No. 2 automaker announces a new round of plant closures and job cuts in January, according to union sources and industry analysts. The plant, which employs about 1,600, produces a line of transmissions that have proved less popular than initially forecasted. That, combined with past union and cost problems at the Clermont County facility, could make the Batavia plant a target for cutbacks.... http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/12/19/story1.html
December 19, 200519 yr I hope not. My friend works for them at the Batavia plant. He got a new home, twins and a new born on the way. But you know it was expected. I mean a job(80k a year) like he has does not last forever.
December 19, 200519 yr Ford & GM are in real trouble. My wife sold her GM and couldn't find anything in their product line that she liked so she went elsewhere. And to be honest as loyal of a Chevy guy that I am, I am kind of burnt on my options. My Monte is an 01 and I will have owned it for 5 years in Febuary. I currently don't see anything in their product line that I like. The new Saab 9-3 interests me, but once I saw the required 93 octane gas, I canned that idea with rising gas costs.
December 20, 200519 yr I don't know anyone who works at that plant but my dad used to work at the Camero plant in Norwood in the early 80's, he said everyone was just sitting around most of the time. I talk to truck drivers who deliver to GE in Evendale or Formica or any of these big places and guys are sleeping on the job. My grandpa was a foreman at one of the old Cincinnati machine tool places that got killed by Japanese competition in the 80's. The common denominator is labor unions with high hourly wages, huge retirement benefits, and guys just sitting around. It would be different if every worker was kicking ass, but they simply aren't. These companies are hugely inefficient and their overpaid employees tend to live above their means. When they are laid off they often can't get a job paying even half so they lose the house, the boat, the car, and too often their wives as a result. The inflated wages are half the problem, the other half is people who can't budget in case they lose that job.
December 20, 200519 yr This reply may seem a little immature: My first car was a 1987 Honda Accord, after that I never looked back. I am now on my 4th Honda, which is a Honda Accord EX. For you Honda owners, you know where I am coming from - they are indestructible.
December 20, 200519 yr Maybe indestructible but one of the most boring designs money can buy. This also goes for the Camry & Taurus... (no offense) ;)
December 20, 200519 yr This reply may seem a little immature: My first car was a 1987 Honda Accord, after that I never looked back. I am now on my 4th Honda, which is a Honda Accord EX. For you Honda owners, you know where I am coming from - they are indestructible. But if they're indestructable, why are you on your fourth one already? :wink: I've got a Honda, too (Civic). Definitely a boring design as monte says, but that's okay with me. And it was made in Ohio, too!
December 20, 200519 yr Ford & GM are in real trouble. My wife sold her GM and couldn't find anything in their product line that she liked so she went elsewhere. And to be honest as loyal of a Chevy guy that I am, I am kind of burnt on my options. My Monte is an 01 and I will have owned it for 5 years in Febuary. I currently don't see anything in their product line that I like. My family is very strong when it comes to supporting GM. I looked at their product line first and was not impressed with anything! The quality and the styling were sub par compared to other companies. I ran into the same thing with Ford. Finally I went to a Mazda dealership and looked at the 6. I was very impressed with the styling and the way it was put together, almost night and day compared to some of the Chevys I looked at. I've had my 6 for almost a year now and don't regreat my dicision at all. Eventhough I was almost disownded by my family when I brought home a forign car.
December 20, 200519 yr I also have a civic 1995 335,000 miles. If you take care of the motor they will not let you down. I think the Americans screwed themselves during the SUV craze and they are paying for it now. If a plant has to close I would rather it be in mt orab than sharonville.
December 20, 200519 yr Finally I went to a Mazda dealership and looked at the 6. I was very impressed with the styling and the way it was put together, almost night and day compared to some of the Chevys I looked at. I've had my 6 for almost a year now and don't regreat my dicision at all. Eventhough I was almost disownded by my family when I brought home a forign car. For a 4 door sedan, The 6 is hard to beat. I have seriously looked at it too but my buddy has one and I don't like owning cars that my friends have. I have even looked at the 3 since I have to commute and I want to save on gas but it was too small and one of my co-workers couldn't even fit in the car. I like the styling cues of the Pontiac GTO which is actually an Australian Holden Monaro, but I am past the days of V-8's when gas is at $3+ a gallon and the car is way overpriced. It sells for around $35K and should sell for $25K. Silly GM...
December 20, 200519 yr This reply may seem a little immature: My first car was a 1987 Honda Accord, after that I never looked back. I am now on my 4th Honda, which is a Honda Accord EX. For you Honda owners, you know where I am coming from - they are indestructible. But if they're indestructable, why are you on your fourth one already? :wink: 2 Accords and 2 Preludes. I get bored with cars - this is my downfall.
December 21, 200519 yr One person familiar with the plant said problems with materials sourcing and union rules kept it from meeting cost targets That says it all.
December 21, 200519 yr Author The final day, from the 12/14/05 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram: Workers gather for Ford closing Bette Pearce The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — Final, and no doubt tearful, goodbyes will be bid this morning as Ford workers past and present gather to watch the last Econoline roll off the Lorain Assembly Plant line. Richard Schultz, a Ford worker, said a flier was distributed to workers this week, outlining plans for the hours leading up to the final shutdown. The last Lorain-assembled Econoline was expected to roll off the line about 11 a.m., followed by a luncheon for both the day and night shifts at Lorain Assembly, workers from Ohio Assembly in Avon Lake who previously worked at the Lorain plant, and retirees from around the region. Ford Motor Co. announced two years ago that it planned to consolidate the Econoline operations at Ohio Assembly and shut down the Lorain plant, ending a 47-year legacy. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-14-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html LAST OFF THE LINE Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN — It’s Wednesday, scarcely a minute past 11:30 a.m. inside Ford’s Lorain Assembly Plant. A man in a red flannel shirt slides into the driver’s seat of a cream-colored Econoline van —as if he’d done this 16 million times — and gives a subtle nod to the knot of Ford workers and retirees who circle the vehicle. The man turns the ignition and the engine purrs with a smooth, buttery sound peculiar to new engines. With that, vehicle number 15,946,538 rolls off the Ford assembly line. It’s the last the plant will produce. “People don’t realize what we’ve lost here,” says Ford retiree Larry Wargo, who worked 31 years at the plant. More at http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-15-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head1.html
December 21, 200519 yr My family is very strong when it comes to supporting GM. I looked at their product line first and was not impressed with anything! The quality and the styling were sub par compared to other companies. I ran into the same thing with Ford. Finally I went to a Mazda dealership and looked at the 6. I was very impressed with the styling and the way it was put together, almost night and day compared to some of the Chevys I looked at. I've had my 6 for almost a year now and don't regreat my dicision at all. Eventhough I was almost disownded by my family when I brought home a forign car. Skram, tell your family to shut up; Ford owns Mazda, or at least a majority of it!
December 21, 200519 yr Well a majority is 50.1% of a percentage. If you wanna play semantics, Ford actually owns around 33.5% of Mazda and not the majority. The new Mazda 6 is built in the same plant as the new Ford Mustang though and I have rented both cars and the quality of the interior parts of the Mazda are far superior. If Ford has that much ownership of Mazda, why can't they learn from Mazda on how to use proper interior moldings.
December 22, 200519 yr Skram, tell your family to shut up; Ford owns Mazda, or at least a majority of it! HAHA, actually Ford is a 4 letter word around my parents house, I have no idea why either, no one in my family was ever associated with the auto inidustry. The fact that Ford owns a little over 30% of Mazda actually made it worse.
December 22, 200519 yr This reply may seem a little immature: My first car was a 1987 Honda Accord, after that I never looked back. I am now on my 4th Honda, which is a Honda Accord EX. For you Honda owners, you know where I am coming from - they are indestructible. I totally agree. I have a '97 Honda CRV with 240,000 miles on it and it never ran better.
December 27, 200519 yr Author From the 12/19/05 Dayton Daily News: Delphi, GM workers speak out Hundreds e-mail Congress via Web site By John Nolan Dayton Daily News Employees and retirees of Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. are telling Congress that they are worried about the future of their pension and health care benefits, and about the grim prospects for starting new careers after turning 50. Hundreds of current and former GM and Delphi hourly workers have responded to a Web site that House Democrats set up to allow the workers to submit e-mail comments about how they are being affected by the auto industry's financial problems. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1219delphiforum.html From the AP, 12/20/05: Delphi withdraws wage cut UAW calls auto supplier's decision a 'step in the right direction' By Dee-Ann Durbin Associated Press DETROIT | Auto supplier Delphi Corp., which filed for bankruptcy two months ago, said Monday it is withdrawing a wage proposal that angered its unions and will delay action to cancel its union contracts in an effort to reach a compromise on its restructuring plan. The United Auto Workers, which represents the majority of Delphi's 34,000 hourly workers, called the announcement "a step in the right direction." ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1220delphi.html
December 28, 200519 yr http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/12/26/daily6.html LATEST NEWS Business First of Columbus - 10:48 AM EST Wednesday Report: Chinese company in talks with Delphi A Chinese auto-parts supplier is negotiating with Delphi Corp. to acquire some of the company's assets in the United States, according to the trade publication Automotive News. ...
January 5, 200619 yr Author From the 1/5/05 Dayton Daily News: Delphi employees air concerns on Web site Comments sought by Democrats in Congress By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | — Employees and retirees of Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. took advantage of a Web site that Congress offered to hear concerns about the prospects for jobs and pensions in the auto industry. What happens next as a result of the public comments solicited by Democrats on the House Education and Workforce Committee remains to be seen in the Republican-controlled Congress. The majority party has the final say on the workings of committees. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0105delphi.html
January 6, 200619 yr Author From the 1/6/05 AP: Delphi gets 6 more months to create bankruptcy plan By Aleksandrs Rozens The Associated Press NEW YORK - A New York bankruptcy court judge on Thursday gave Delphi Corp. management six more months to exclusively develop a reorganization plan. The auto parts supplier now has until Aug. 5 to file a plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The exclusivity period was set to expire in February. A vote by all creditors to approve this plan also has been pushed backed until Oct. 4. ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060106/BIZ/601060408/1076/rss01
January 9, 200619 yr Author From the 1/8/06 Detroit Free Press: GM, Delphi workers to protest car show By Jason Roberson Detroit Free Press DETROIT - Droves of out-of-town workers angry with General Motors Corp. and Delphi Corp. are planning to protest today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The protest will be spearheaded by Soldiers of Solidarity, a faction of the UAW whose members work for Delphi, the nation's largest auto parts supplier. ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060108/BIZ/601080329/1076/rss01
January 20, 200619 yr Author From the 1/19/06 Dayton Daily News: IUE says Delphi not talking Parts maker's actions at odds with statements about workers, leader says By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Although Delphi Corp. has said it intends to work out new wage agreements with its unions rather than ask a bankruptcy court to void current contracts, the company isn't negotiating, a Delphi labor leader said Wednesday. "We're not talking. I have had no negotiations with Delphi, none," said Henry Reichard of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America, which represents workers at eight Delphi plants nationwide, including factories in Kettering and Moraine. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0119delphi.html
January 21, 200619 yr Author From the 1/21/06 Dayton Daily News: Delphi says $19B in bills due Company in bankruptcy tells court of hurdles it faces; says it has $4B By John Nolan Dayton Daily News DAYTON | Delphi Corp., the auto parts supplier that filed for bankruptcy reorganization in October for its U.S. operations, reported on Friday that it is facing creditors' claims totaling at least $19 billion. The company, in a voluminous filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, also listed a broad array of unresolved environmental pollution claims against its plants and unspecified income tax debts owed to states and cities across the nation. Delphi told the court has personal property assets worth $4 billion. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0121delphi.html
January 21, 200619 yr Author From the 1/21/06 Cincinnati Post: Jobs at stake Restructuring by Ford could affect the Batavia transmission plant By Jon Newberry Post staff reporter Employees at Batavia Transmission will have plenty at stake - including the fate of their 1,745 jobs - when parent Ford Motor Co. unveils its restructuring plan on Monday. The announcement will include plant closings to address the carmaker's overcapacity. Citing a Ford insider with knowledge of the then-still-evolving plan, Automotive News reported that Ford would probably close five assembly plants plus additional plants that make powertrain components (engines and transmissions) and body parts. The 26-year-old transmission plant in Batavia Township makes Ford's German-designed continuously variable transmission, or CVT, that's been selling at rates far below the project's ambitious initial projections or even its much-lowered expectations of just two years ago.... http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060121/BIZ/601210307/1001/RSS04
January 22, 200619 yr Author From the 1/22/06 Dayton Daily News: The road ahead GM Moraine Assembly Plant faces uncertain future as SUV sales slump MORAINE | The auto industry's increasing financial pressures and intense competition for fickle customers have brought good and bad news for the employees of General Motors Corp.'s Moraine Assembly plant. The sport utility vehicle plant won industry-wide recognition from Harbour Consulting last year as the most productive midsize SUV factory, an honor it has received for three years now. The Buick Rainier, one of its products, was honored by San Diego-based research firm Strategic Vision as a quality leader in the medium SUV category. Despite that, Rainier sales fell 36 percent in 2005. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0122moraine.html
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