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GM employees hope for support(Daily News, The (Bowling Green, KY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 2--As U.S. automakers prepare for another plea session with Congress today, many local residents are once again holding their breath as national leaders decide if a government loan would help General Motors, Ford and Chrysler survive. After declining their previous requests for up to $25 billion in loans to stay afloat, Congress told the automakers to describe how they would use the funds and to detail their survival plans. As those proposals are due to be presented to Congress today, reports are circulating about GM's plans to offset its financial crisis -- plans that would hit close to home. GM is expected to propose to close plants, eliminate vehicle brands and renegotiate United Auto Workers labor contracts. Some brands the company might reportedly drop include Saab, Pontiac and Saturn. The company might then consolidate its dealerships to sell the remaining cars in the eliminated brands. "Saturn is one of the top performing brands," said Rick Adams, general manager of Saturn in Bowling Green. "We had heard that (the company was looking to drop its Saturn dealerships) before and had been assured that wasn't the case. So, we feel that whatever happens with GM, Saturn will be at the top of the list to keep," he said. "We're probably more likely to see mergers, but I don't even see that with Saturn; it's always been an established franchise." Employees at the local Saturn dealership are more concerned with the overall economic state than GM's financial struggles, Adams said. "Most of my employees have been here a long time," he said. "We've been through a downturn in the economy before and we know that's just what happens. We don't know how deep it will be or how long it will be, but we know it will turn around." A consolidation of dealerships would likely be a step in the right direction for GM, albeit a small step, said Dennis Wilson, professor of economics at Western Kentucky University. "That actually makes some pretty good sense; they're consolidating their method of distribution," he said. "That would seem like a pretty wise thing to do, but it does lead to the question of why this hasn't been done a while ago." But while dealership consolidations would cut costs, it would be a fraction of the amount of money the company needs to save, Wilson said. "I think it's a temporary solution to a long-run problem," he said, "and while buying out Saturn dealerships is a good thing, it's a very minor thing." In fact, the major move GM needs to take to save itself involves restructuring its contracts with the UAW -- a move that might be tricky, Wilson said. "I'd be curious about the renegotiations because I would want to see how acceptable the UAW are to that," he said. "Unless significant changes are made, and significant changes have to involve the UAW, my feeling is that in terms of GM and Chrysler, bailout funds are just a Band-Aid on a gashing wound." According to reports, GM might propose delaying $7 billion worth of retiree health care funds as part of its plea for a U.S. loan. UAW leaders from across the nation will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday in Detroit. Local UAW president Eldon Renaud was preparing Monday for his trip to Detroit. Renaud said he could not discuss the nature of the negotiations, but adequate health benefits and pensions are essential to auto workers like those who work at Bowling Green's GM Assembly Plant, and the UAW is concerned with any renegotiations, he said. "We have people whose very lives hang in the balance, and it's our job to protect them," he said. "As a union, that's our job -- to improve the lives of our working people. We're concerned with anything that has been renegotiated with our members." Renaud said workers' pay has increased with the cost of living, and pensions are modest. "Some of our retirees have been retired for a number of years," he said. "I know some people who are getting $600, $700 a month. Now they want to cut their pensions ... I want the best for the people who work here. I want the best for this community." To see more of the Bowling Green Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bgdailynews.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Daily News, Bowling Green, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |