GM chairman said they need to shed about 25000 more workers by 2008 but for what? They won't save any money! The only hope is to renegotiate this boondoggle with the UAW in 2007, and that ought to be a comedy of errors.
.But then you probably already knew all this, didn't you.
My husband was in the job bank 15 yrs ago. He did volunteer work and collected his full pay. I admit it's poor business. The union wanted to protect the worker and keep the employment figure at the top.
When my husband hurt his knee for the final time, they put him on a medical work program. Then harrassed him every single day.
A young foreman straight from the Marine Corp made him stay in a small room and told him since he couldn't do any of the jobs, he was to stay there all night (3rd shift) and not leave the room except for potty breaks. He couldn't read or do anything but sit. After 1 night of this, the REAL foreman told him it was a tremendous loss of work production.He could have sat down and done many jobs. After that, the medical dept told him it was time to go. He was more of a liability at that point.
He was in the Marines during the Viet Nam war. What a way to treat someone. He says he was just a cog in a wheel that didn't work anymore.
There are guys on lay off now who will not be called back that have exhausted all benefits. This is no longer true. Also, GM is firing people for very minor offences. GM is not the same company. The layoff rules were put in place to keep experienced workers during cyclical downturns which happened every few years in the car business. GM wanted to be able to call such worker back when needed. Believe it or not this saved money because training is very expensive. The car industry need skilled workers; There is a learning curve of at lease a year (basic) and several years (true experience). Globalization which eliminated many American jobs has disrupted the balance.