~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am curious WHY Wagoner was shown the door....other than Billions was Lost on His Watch...BUT and WHY the Auto Industry is being treated so "firmly" and yet the Wall Street Banker club is well, treated "differently".....This I do know it sends a questionable message to Unions, Workers and even Retirees....And on another level it is not just about Michigan, the Auto Industry effects One in Ten American Workers.....In the Whole Country.
On another level...I keep thinking WHY was Wagoner given the Door ? Did he line his pockets ? Did he gfit himself some bonuses ? Does he have 8 very nice Houses ? and 20 Cars ? 4000 Dollar Suits ? WHAT don't we know.???......And on another level, here's the thing, Banks are NOT lending Money for Anyone for Anything...so of course the Auto Industry is really hurting...Shouldn't the Banks and the Bankers have to answer About WHY the American People are not worthy of Loans ? On another level, to be honest there have been very few car ads on TV these past 3 monthes, and really very few special Deals for Americans....add that to No Loans...and guess what, No Car Sales...
But tonight we did learn from an ABC report that Wagoner was given a very nice 20 Million Retirement Package....
Snippet from the ABC story:::
"Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company's financial filings show.Although the Treasury Department has barred GM from paying severance to Wagoner or any other senior executive, Wagoner is eligible to collect millions in retirement benefits from his former employer, according to the documents reviewed by ABC News.The Obama administration asked for Wagoner to resign Sunday, as part of its restructuring of the auto industry. President Obama said this morning that forcing Wagoner out indicated it was a time for new leadership.Under Wagoner's leadership, GM lost tens of billions of dollars, took billions in taxpayer-financed aid, and cut tens of thousands of jobs, including announced plans to cut 47,000 employees by the end of 2009."
America has had Hard Times before, but the Car Industry survived...we need to research What was Done in the Thirties...I really don't want to be driving a Chinese car 10 years from now...
And sadly people are also not buying cars because they are worried about their Homes and their Jobs....and because they have seen no ReCovery Money or Stimulus yet....YET...
Click the Title for a Guardian Article that unfolds the story simply....I will link more updates and articles tonight....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the Text of Obama's Announcement today.....
New GM CEO admits " Mistakes Were Made"
And of course.....Reuters has started reporting that Workers have angst....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So here's a video clip from the Obama Announcement ( sorry it's Fox):::
And this GM Superbowl Ad now seems so sad...and prophetic...truly sad..the one with the "un-employed" robots...
6 comments:
While Wagoner was pressuring union workers for wage concessions due to failure, he was receiving 8-figure compensation.
As GM market share, stock perf & revenue fell like a rock, Wagnr made $15M in '07 as he demanded wage concessions from workers.
Go to this web site and look at this chart to see what has happened to GM since he took over the company in 2001.. that may explain part of it. You also have to remember, some of the banks have changed CEO's, just not under Obama.. Fannie, Freddie and AIG all have new managers, So it isn't like GM is the only one that has been replaced.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090330/MULTI/90330008/1118/RSS
Annette::
I have two different concerns/ or angles that I am watching this story unfold....
(1) How much do the Workers have to sacrifice or give up....Do read the post below about Pension Plans suffering....( and maybe the Pensioners don't even know it yet....)
I think that Workers, and the American People are bearing the Brunt of alot of Bad Decisions and Gambles made with their Jobs, Futures, Benefits and Pensions etc...by yes, Greedy CEO"s....like Wagoner...
(2) Are the Auto CEO's Sacrificing or just the Workers ?
I know that GM is not the only one that has made changes in Leadership...I am and was more curious about Wagoner- and has he been lining his pockets on the way out the door...ie a 20 Million Retirement Package ? ( and yes, I do remember the Hearings in the fall, with the Car Kings arriving on their private planes and 4000 dollar suits...)
And yes, Wagoner has not helped the company- it has lost billions on his watch....
What confuses me is the rush to make sure the CEO"s from Wallstreet get their bonuses - and how their Contracts need to be "honored", yet the Auto Workers have been having their contracts rewritten over and over....and unknowingly their pensions might have already suffered, and yet Wagoner gets a 20 Million "retirement " plan????
always way more questions than answers...
I don't get why our side Obama, hates the blue collar workers more than the banks and investment bankers?
What did the auto workers do?
The world is upside down
truly
tom..
I am as confused as you....I don't know what is going on...my first thought was that Wagoner and the Car CEO Dudes made some really hideous decisions- and that Obama is cleaning house ( and remembering how they showed up in their Private Planes....) but I am concerned what is going on ? and yeah...are the auto workers getting screwed in this deal ? because it looks like they are ....I was very confused today watching the presser by Obama, talking about buying cars- I didn't want to hear about "buying cars"- I wanted to hear what was being done to protect jobs and the workers contracts and pensions- and I did not hear that...
and then today I read the Pensions story below- and it got me thinking is there more to this story that we don't know about ? did the auto workers already lose part of their pensions this fall ? when the stocks dumped ? and if they did- shouldn't we talk about that ?
and on another level I am still confused what is really being done to help Joe Q.Public....there are no loans here for anything- people are still losing their homes and jobs- and I still don't see that issue being addressed...
Example: here in Ohio - supposedly we have not lost enough jobs to qualify for extended un employement beni's---- yes, really....and there still are no loans for anything.....and federal road projects are scehduled for 2010 ( that won't help much now...)
so every nite I go to bed with more questions than answers....
hang in there tom....sooner or later this has to start to make some kind of sense...
I too wonder why the workers are asked to make sacrifices in the auto industry.... but not Wall Street- when Wall Street is taking bigger pieces of the pie & in AIG's case- triple dipping bailout $.
DK & I were having this discussion- she did mention some of the original benefits packages were "for lifetime" health insurance coverage & fat pensions....
So many companies dumped the pension programs-- it is all 401k now.
Back in the hey day, those programs may have been feasible... but under current circumstances...
they are not happening.
So I guess that is the sacrifices workers will be asked to make.
Wall Street can just do business as usual?
It makes sense Wagoner would step down-- he can walk away with 20M & not have to deal with this mess.
Thing is if they HAVE to file for bankruptcy.... we should let them & stop pouring in billions.
I have heard a few experts say bankruptcy forces a formal restructuring.... exactly what GM needs.
But remember in the first round of bailout $, GM got permission to declare itself as a bank..... and now has a whole new set of rules to play by,
Anyway.... we shall see how all this plays out.
That robot commercial was haunting.
thanks fran...
I guess we will have to keep watching...and see what happens next- I just wish it all made more sense....
and yeah- the commercial made me cry...really haunting...
Post a Comment