GM Woes - Idled Workers Freeloading

I have always maintained that GM has bigger problems, than just with models that don't sell and sit well with the public. The issue at hand, when you see the article above (click title to take you to NYT article), is the sense of entitlement that GM workers have, especially within the rank and file in the Jobs Bank.

Faced with huge legacy costs, all these "laid off" workers, for the lack of a better term, feel it is their right to sit and collect a full pay, with no onus on them to move on to something else in their lives. The fact is, today workers have to prepare themselves for the worst that may come in their working lives.

It was a generation ago, that workers were still relying on sticking with a company until retirement. My generation has learned the lesson well -- the only person who will take care of yourself is you. No union is going to take care of you...an individual has to look out for themselves, and ensure that they are marketable, and if that means moving from company to company, so be it.

GM workers are a generation behind in their thinking, and this will not change the outlook for GM, even with the buyouts, until the workers take ownership for making the company profitable. Having a sense of entitlement with a company does not bode well in the economy these days, and surely will doom any company with ever-increasing legacy costs. The steel companies in the US learned the hard way, but the workers adapted, and finally came to the realization that in order to keep up with the global economy, changes were needed, and all the unions pushing for better benefits eventually crushed the livelihoods of many.

GM, continue on with your cutting and slashing...maybe the employees will eventually get the picture when you have to shed the legacy costs. There is no reason why you can't turn the corner and increase margins to 10% to at least compete with the foreign automakers...$65 a hour for "semi-skilled" labour is a thing of the past...and the union should be ashamed for even putting the company in this position of "better than middle class" lifestyle for uneducated line jobs.

The reality of it all, is that I am sure GM will fall further behind, until all the deadwood is removed. Maybe bankruptcy isn't such a bad thing, to finally make the unions open their eyes. You can't have everything.