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Monday, 05 June 2006 |
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Great Job! Here’s Your Pink Slip. No matter how well you do your job, it’s not safe from the corporate axe.
A Ford plant in Atlanta and a General Motors (GM) factory in Ontario, Canada, were named the two most efficient auto assembly plants in North America in a report released June 1. But there will be no celebrations or bonuses. Ford will shut down the Atlanta plant later this year and the GM plant is set to close in 2008. The two plants were judged most efficient by Harbour Consulting, a research firm the auto industry employs to gauge efficiency and productivity. There are some 2,000 workers at the Atlanta Ford plant and more than 2,700 in GM’s Ontario plant. Earlier this year, both automakers announced plans to shut down more than a dozen production facilities. Spokespersons for both companies told CNNMoney the plants were being idled and did not completely close the door to future operations. Ford announced plant closings of similarly successful plants last April, prompting this retort from UAW President Ron Gettelfinger: Once again, dedicated hourly and salaried Ford workers are paying the price for the company’s sliding market share….Once again, workers and communities are paying the price for our nation’s failure to enact a rational, jobs-creating policy for American industries. The U.S. government stands idle while our competitors manipulate their currencies and restrict their markets. |
