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Coffee Shop Talk - US car industry to congress: $52 billion</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">BadNews0 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">4:48 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>15311.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>FINANCIAL CRASH
US car industry to congress: For cash infusion of $52 billion...
We'll give up perks, say bosses
# We'll cut our wages, say unions
# We'll think about it, says govt
December 06, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
THE head of America's largest car maker took perhaps the most important car ride of his life Wednesday, travelling about 800km, mostly over highway through four states, to Washington.
There, the General Motors (GM) chairman Rick Wagoner will ask Congress for a second time to save his slumping company.
He made a very bad mistake two weeks ago.
He and other car bosses from Ford and Chrysler flew in to Washington in private jets to beg for more than US$25 billion ($38b) to save their companies after the financial crash spread to car making companies.
More than one in 10 jobs in the US are at stake, they said.
But Congress would have none of it as they did not have a clear plan. They were also criticised by president-elect Barack Obama. And when word got out that they came in private jets, the situation went from bad to worse.
Now they are back in Washington but with even more desperate plea - lend us US$34b.
But this time, Mr Wagoner drove his company's black hybrid Chevrolet Malibus.
He and his group made two stops, one at about 1 pm to get a sandwich lunch.
Another two and half hours later, another stop, for fuel and for Mr Wagoner to have coffee.
Wagoner's group arrived in Washington during rush hour in heavy traffic and made their way to the JW Marriott Hotel, just blocks from the White House.
When asked if the bad experience two weeks ago was the motivation for driving, GM spokesman Edd Snyder, who travelled with Mr Wagoner, said making cars 'is what we do for a living and people should see them', reported AP.
CEOs Alan Mulally of Ford and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler also drove to Washington in fuel efficient hybrid cars.
Mr Mulally, in an interview on Tuesday, had acknowledged the symbolism of driving.
'We need to demonstrate that we heard their concerns and show we are willing to change,' he said in an e-mail. 'This is a small way of showing that.'
Mr Snyder said Mr Wagoner plans to drive back to Michigan, though he didn't say when. Driving round-trip costs about US$100 per car, including gas and tolls.
Even unions compromise
If that was not shocking enough, the car workers' union did something very rarely seen in the US. They said workers would make concessions to keep jobs.
The United Automobile Workers union president, Mr Ron Gettelfinger, said the union would suspend its jobs bank, which requires carmakers to keep paying laid-off employees, and would consider changes to its labour contracts.
The union has also agreed, Mr Gettelfinger said, to delay the payments that the car makers must make on a new retiree health care fund, reported the International Herald Tribune.
Mr Gettelfinger said that the UAW would be open to modifying the four-year contracts that it signed in 2007 but not to completely restarting negotiations.
Changes could include cuts to wages, health care or other benefits, though he did not give details, and would require approval from union members.
The cuts will help.
GM said it needed US$4b this month merely to survive into 2009 and another US$14b after that.
The company plan calls for more plant closures and job cuts, along with the sale or elimination of four brands.
Chrysler, which is asking for $7b, also said it could collapse soon without aid.
Ford asked for a $9b line of credit but said it did not expect to access that money unless the economy worsens or a rival fails.
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US car industry to congress: For cash infusion of $52 billion...
We'll give up perks, say bosses
# We'll cut our wages, say unions
# We'll think about it, says govt
December 06, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
THE head of America's largest car maker took perhaps the most important car ride of his life Wednesday, travelling about 800km, mostly over highway through four states, to Washington.
There, the General Motors (GM) chairman Rick Wagoner will ask Congress for a second time to save his slumping company.
He made a very bad mistake two weeks ago.
He and other car bosses from Ford and Chrysler flew in to Washington in private jets to beg for more than US$25 billion ($38b) to save their companies after the financial crash spread to car making companies.
More than one in 10 jobs in the US are at stake, they said.
But Congress would have none of it as they did not have a clear plan. They were also criticised by president-elect Barack Obama. And when word got out that they came in private jets, the situation went from bad to worse.
Now they are back in Washington but with even more desperate plea - lend us US$34b.
But this time, Mr Wagoner drove his company's black hybrid Chevrolet Malibus.
He and his group made two stops, one at about 1 pm to get a sandwich lunch.
Another two and half hours later, another stop, for fuel and for Mr Wagoner to have coffee.
Wagoner's group arrived in Washington during rush hour in heavy traffic and made their way to the JW Marriott Hotel, just blocks from the White House.
When asked if the bad experience two weeks ago was the motivation for driving, GM spokesman Edd Snyder, who travelled with Mr Wagoner, said making cars 'is what we do for a living and people should see them', reported AP.
CEOs Alan Mulally of Ford and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler also drove to Washington in fuel efficient hybrid cars.
Mr Mulally, in an interview on Tuesday, had acknowledged the symbolism of driving.
'We need to demonstrate that we heard their concerns and show we are willing to change,' he said in an e-mail. 'This is a small way of showing that.'
Mr Snyder said Mr Wagoner plans to drive back to Michigan, though he didn't say when. Driving round-trip costs about US$100 per car, including gas and tolls.
Even unions compromise
If that was not shocking enough, the car workers' union did something very rarely seen in the US. They said workers would make concessions to keep jobs.
The United Automobile Workers union president, Mr Ron Gettelfinger, said the union would suspend its jobs bank, which requires carmakers to keep paying laid-off employees, and would consider changes to its labour contracts.
The union has also agreed, Mr Gettelfinger said, to delay the payments that the car makers must make on a new retiree health care fund, reported the International Herald Tribune.
Mr Gettelfinger said that the UAW would be open to modifying the four-year contracts that it signed in 2007 but not to completely restarting negotiations.
Changes could include cuts to wages, health care or other benefits, though he did not give details, and would require approval from union members.
The cuts will help.
GM said it needed US$4b this month merely to survive into 2009 and another US$14b after that.
The company plan calls for more plant closures and job cuts, along with the sale or elimination of four brands.
Chrysler, which is asking for $7b, also said it could collapse soon without aid.
Ford asked for a $9b line of credit but said it did not expect to access that money unless the economy worsens or a rival fails.
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