A friend is being layed off from a ford plant, How did Ford get into such a mess?

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Just thinking out loud, My friend was making 65,000 a year, in a michigan plant. They are really scared, as that is the only big factory in town. Can you just amagine the trickle down affect this will have on the comunity.They live in a lg. house they bought a few years ago, and the house payment is 900 hundred a month.They one of thousands that are in a mess. How did Ford Motor co. get in such a mess. Course I always thought the wages would come home to bite them, and when there contracts came up, they always wanted more. What are they all going to do for jobs? Wouldn"t surprize me if the ford motors pops up in Mexico. God Bless Irene

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), January 12, 2002

Answers

Lack of any foresight, putting profits first, and accountability second, Ford deserves to fail in my opinion!!!

What happened to their 4 BILLION dollar profits they were showing every quarter back in 2000??? Do you know they still make and clear $20,000 profit on every Expedition sold??? Where did it go???

How they handled the tire blowout problem was the straw that broke their back and finished them off. They were so cheap and saved 30 dollars a tire on those Ford Explorers tires that blew out because the tires weren't rated high enough for the weight they were carrying!!! Any truck driver knows you have to have a tire rating high enough to do the job, or the tire will fail repeatedly, with often fatal results. The lies they kept telling folks was reprehensible and irresponsible!!!

Ford does not get any pity from me, they made their bed long ago.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 12, 2002.


American manufacturing has been in deep water for years and years. The union folks always wanted more $$$ for less work and the owners of the companies always wanted cheaper labor and sky-high profits..I think that most Americans really have no clue as to how little manufacturing is still done in this country..even the things "Made in America" often are only ASSEMBLED here, with the components coming from overseas. Ford, IMHO, is only one of many, many companies on the brink of economic disaster..this has been building in this country for a long time like a tower built out of a deck of cards...the first strong wind that comes along blows it away. I do feel very sorry for the folks who have lost their jobs..they are not the union leadership, nor are they the executives making 6 figure incomes..they are the ones caught in the middle of a nightmare which is just now beginning...I am glad we live where we can be self-sufficient for our own needs as well as those of our families when the proverbial mess really hits the fan.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 12, 2002.

I always feel so badly for people who are laid off when these massive closings occur. Most people are only one paycheck away from homelessness. The children really suffer too. While I know many of them should have made better choices all along, I still have compassion for them.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 12, 2002.

Oh my goodness! $65,000 a year!!!!! $900.00 house payments!!!! I can't imagine!

-- Ardie /WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), January 12, 2002.

FORD is not in any kind of trouble here, it is the guy that used to make $65,000 a year who is in trouble. All is not lost he can probably find work for $6 an hour. He will just have to make do...

While ford is not going out of business they are just moving to where the work force will work for a lot less. Someone mentioned Mexico, they have been there for more than 20 years. Some workers there are probably making over $1.50 per hour by now, benefits soon (perhaps). Who knows likely there will be some kind ov vehicle developed for the third world market that they can eventually afford to buy (with the help of Ford Motor Crecit Co.). Ford has lost nothing, they have just started to move. It is called take the money and run.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), January 12, 2002.



65,000.00 per year after 30% for taxes still equals almost $22.00 per hour, I have no pity for these people. My pension equals $.87 per hour and I survive on it. Those poor babies might have to change their life style.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), January 12, 2002.

$900 is nothing for a house payment, depending upon where you live. In San Francisco, that won't even get you a studio apartment to rent. You can't even qualify to buy a house in San Francisco on $65,000 a year. Wealth is relative.

One survival tactic (since Irene said it was a large house) would be to move the family in together (the children that might have had separate rooms doubling or tripling up, and rent out 1 or 2 of the bedrooms, preferably with their own (unshared with the family) bathroom, which would bring in some money. They might even think of taking in an older person who can't do for themselves anymore, but isn't quite ready for a nursing home.

People need to plan--and that means thinking always of the next job, and NOT depending upon social security and pensions to take care of your future needs. Even while you are in a "secure" job, you always need to improve your skills, because you never know....

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 12, 2002.


You know, it's just not the Ford employees making $65,000 a year that are the only people affected. The people who work at the parts plants will probably be layed off too. And they did not make $65,000 a year. Also, the retail workers, carpenters, medical,(from losing insurance) and it goes on and on. It's time for some prayers, and maybe let's plant extra garden this year, or yard sale for some good used clothing for those affected. Or maybe, volunteer to babysit while someone you know is looking for a new job.

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), January 13, 2002.

Good points Vicki, the trickledown effects from these big lay-offs are also enormous. Everyone from truck-drivers, restaurant owners, plus the others you mentioned. It will certainly have an enormous impact on the local economies where these plants are shutting down. I read that one of them is in the Cleveland area so it is hitting here in Ohio as well.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 13, 2002.

The trickle down affect is already happening. As soon as Fords & Chryslers problems hit the news last week, my hubby's company starting cutting hours drastically. We've already been cut in hours and in $$.

-- Lisa in WI (llehman16@hotmail.com), January 13, 2002.


Sorry to hear that Lisa, hope everything works out for you.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 14, 2002.

Oddly enough, I was working the Ford Press Event at the Auto Show in Detroit last week (where they unveil their new models for the media). Imagine my surprise when the day after the show ended we read about the forthcoming layoffs. Now I wonder whether I will be working the Ford Press Event NEXT year, or for that matter, if there will even BE one!

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), January 16, 2002.

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