New Gm Buy Out Plan 2008

unit731 · February 19, 2008

Automotive News

GM offers all U.S. union workers buyouts, retirement

DETROIT (Reuters) -- General Motors will offer buyouts or early retirements to all 74,000 U.S. hourly workers represented by the UAW in a sweeping deal with the union intended to clear the way for GM to hire lower-cost replacements.

The cost-saving agreement follows on a program launched in January for about 5,200 workers at GM's service parts and operations facilities across the United States and five other facilities, and comes with better terms than GM offered to UAW workers in 2006.

Separately, GM said this morning that it posted an adjusted net loss of $23 million in 2007 compared with an adjusted net gain of $2.2 billion in 2006. But, as previously announced, GM took a massive $38.7 billion charge for how it calculated certain tax assets. As a result, GM's net loss was an all-time record $38.7 billion.

GM's core automotive unit posted an adjusted $553 million gain for the year compared with an adjusted $339 million loss in 2006.

"GM's worldwide vehicle sales increased 3 percent, or 277,000 units, to 9.4 million vehicles in 2007, marking the second best year in units sold in the company's 100-year history," the company said in a statement. "For the third consecutive year, a majority of the company's sales -- almost 60 percent -- were outside of the U.S."

Meanwhile, GM representatives said it would take weeks to roll out the complicated buyout offers to its workers, who will have 45 days to consider them and then seven days to reconsider. It expects to complete the voluntary program by July 1.

GM's agreement with the UAW follows similar deals the union reached with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC following the 2007 contracts that allow U.S. car makers to hire many workers at lower wages and benefits, while guaranteeing some jobs.

Grip72 · February 19, 2008

Automotive News

GM offers all U.S. union workers buyouts, retirement

DETROIT (Reuters) -- General Motors will offer buyouts or early retirements to all 74,000 U.S. hourly workers represented by the UAW in a sweeping deal with the union intended to clear the way for GM to hire lower-cost replacements.

The cost-saving agreement follows on a program launched in January for about 5,200 workers at GM's service parts and operations facilities across the United States and five other facilities, and comes with better terms than GM offered to UAW workers in 2006.

Separately, GM said this morning that it posted an adjusted net loss of $23 million in 2007 compared with an adjusted net gain of $2.2 billion in 2006. But, as previously announced, GM took a massive $38.7 billion charge for how it calculated certain tax assets. As a result, GM's net loss was an all-time record $38.7 billion.

GM's core automotive unit posted an adjusted $553 million gain for the year compared with an adjusted $339 million loss in 2006.

"GM's worldwide vehicle sales increased 3 percent, or 277,000 units, to 9.4 million vehicles in 2007, marking the second best year in units sold in the company's 100-year history," the company said in a statement. "For the third consecutive year, a majority of the company's sales -- almost 60 percent -- were outside of the U.S."

Meanwhile, GM representatives said it would take weeks to roll out the complicated buyout offers to its workers, who will have 45 days to consider them and then seven days to reconsider. It expects to complete the voluntary program by July 1.

GM's agreement with the UAW follows similar deals the union reached with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC following the 2007 contracts that allow U.S. car makers to hire many workers at lower wages and benefits, while guaranteeing some jobs.

ok... i read that twice

and one thing still doesn't make sense to me....

wtf is a reuters?

hubbycap · February 19, 2008

Reuters (pronounced roiters) is a news agency like Associated Press.

In reading this, it looks like GM is biting the bullet and finally taking the serious steps necessary to compete with NON-UNION imports that are setting up factories in the US and do not have a $1600/vehicle retired-employee nut to overcome before they are head to head on actual product costs.

The above statement may step on some toes, but the US is no longer an island and since there is a free market environment and other companies do not share the socialist nanny approach to their workforce, GM, Ford, and other large national treasures can no longer ignore the fact that their competitors are not saddled with negotiated perks that reduces their reaction to market forces to that of a slug.

There is a limit to what the market will bear, and in as much as many would like to support their union brethren, the number of imports parked in the employee parking lots of the "American" manufacturers attests to the fact that we have reached that limit.

As a business owner, my view point is biased but even the most ardent union member should realize that they have nearly killed the geese that lay the golden eggs.