Member Login
Podcasts
BishopDuca&ThePope MayorGlover-DogPark SPD ShawChief-Crime2 Punxsutawney Phil Paul Elio-Interview I-Bowl:OhioRoutsULM Ohio Wins I-Bowl WoundedWarriorProjec ULM NewsConf.12-27 Ohio I-Bowl News 12- Sandy Hook Tribute Soldier'sPoem-T.Pace Gold Sales=Money ULM: I-Bowl Dec.28 WreathsForVets12-14 NerrenWins 26thJDC I-Bowl:ULM-Ohio U Kix Brooks-T.Pace Nerren-Spotlight 11- Whit Graves 26thJDC CookinTurkeyTips BlueAngels-BAFB Show Swaine: $250K Grant Nerren-Runoff 11-6-1 Archive ...Weather
Links
James Burton Guitar Festival
Haynesville Shale Landowners...
Chesapeake Energy Corp.
S-B I-20 DOTD Traffic Camera...
Robinson Film Center-S'port,...
Shreveport Hotels
Travelhost Magazine: Shrevep...
Reed Dickens: Outside Eyes
The FORUM News Magazine
SPAR
Shreveport
ShreveportNorth.org - Agurs ...
Judge Frances Pitman
Sci-Port Discovery Center: S...
Tom Pace Photography
Strand Theatre, Shreveport
National Weather Service
Shreveport Casinos
2009 AdvoCare I-Bowl
Jim Brown's Common Sense
LOGA: Haynesville Shale Info...
Horseshoe Casino-Hotel, Boss...
Judge Scott Crichton
MarshalsForKids,com
TomPace.org
Navigation
About Us
Talk of the Town
|
View News Update
BREAKING: 7-15-08 G.M. Announces More Layoffs; Production Cuts: What About S'port Hummer?
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008 8:27pm
DETROIT, MI From The Times (By: Tom Pace, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: AUTOMOTIVE NEWS 7-15-08 Will the General Motors Hummer truck line in Shreveport, Louisiana survive the latest round of layoffs and production cutbacks announced July 15th by the struggling automaker?
According to The Times article, G.M. said Tuesday, the U.S. auto giant will lay off salaried workers, cut truck production, suspend its dividend and borrow $2 billion to $3 billion to weather a severe downturn in the U.S. market.
GM said the moves will raise $15 billion to help cover losses and turn around its North American operations.
"In short, our plan is not a plan to survive. It is a plan to win," GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said in a broadcast to employees.
Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said GM wants to reduce its total salaried costs in the U.S. and Canada by 20 percent.
A large chunk of the reduction, he said, would come from cutting health care benefits for salaried retirees. Those people would get a pension increase from the company's overfunded pension fund to help compensate for Medicare and supplemental insurance, the company said.
Several thousand jobs will be cut through normal attrition and retirements, and through early retirement and buyout offers, Henderson said. The company could resort to involuntary layoffs but does not want to, he said.
GM has 40,000 salaried employees in the U.S. and Canada.
Henderson said the company intends to reduce its truck production capacity by 300,000 units, 150,000 more than it announced at its annual meeting in June.
The company will speed up closures of its truck and sport utility vehicle factories in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; Silao, Mexico; and Moraine, Ohio, and it will make thousands of job cuts at other truck assembly and parts factories, Henderson said.
He would not say if further plants will be closed, and said the company still must negotiate further cuts with the United Auto Workers.
GM said it will suspend its $1 annual dividend immediately, which will improve liquidity by $800 million through 2009. It's the first time the company has suspended its dividend since 1922.
|
|
|
|
Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said GM wants to reduce its total salaried costs in the U.S. and Canada by 20 percent.
A large chunk of the reduction, he said, would come from cutting health care benefits for salaried retirees. Those people would get a pension increase from the company's overfunded pension fund to help compensate for Medicare and supplemental insurance, the company said.
Several thousand jobs will be cut through normal attrition and retirements, and through early retirement and buyout offers, Henderson said. The company could resort to involuntary layoffs but does not want to, he said.
GM has 40,000 salaried employees in the U.S. and Canada.
Henderson said the company intends to reduce its truck production capacity by 300,000 units, 150,000 more than it announced at its annual meeting in June.
The company will speed up closures of its truck and sport utility vehicle factories in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; Silao, Mexico; and Moraine, Ohio, and it will make thousands of job cuts at other truck assembly and parts factories, Henderson said.
He would not say if further plants will be closed, and said the company still must negotiate further cuts with the United Auto Workers.
GM said it will suspend its $1 annual dividend immediately, which will improve liquidity by $800 million through 2009. It's the first time the company has suspended its dividend since 1922.
(C) Talk of the Town 2008. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Copyrights | Site Map