- Rick Wagoner, capo GM ha annunciato piano per
tagliare 30 mila posti in Nordamerica, con chiusura di 9 stabilimenti e
riduzione a un solo turno in altri o chiusura di una linea di assemblaggio in
altri 3. - Vi sarà un ulteriore taglio del 7% degli impiegati, la
cui riduzione sul 2000 salirà al 40%. - Obiettivo risparmiare 7 MD$/anno entro fine 2006.
- GM intende portare la capacità a 4,2m veicoli, pari
alle vendite di quest’anno, senza ridurre la produzione effettiva. - Le riduzioni di personale verranno ottenute soprattutto
mediante mancato rimpiazzo del turnover. - GM e sindacato UAW cercheranno modi (incentivi) per
indurre gli altri esuberi a licenziarsi, dato che in base a contratto in vigore
GM si impegna a non chiudere stabilimenti, e garantisce il salario a chi rimane
senza lavoro. - Sindacato canadese intende lottare contro la chiusura
di stabilimento di Oshawa, all’avanguardia per produttività e qualità. - A spingere sui tagli sono gli azionisti, e in
particolare il finanziere Kerkorian che ha acquisito il 9% della GM, le cui
azioni sono cadute del 41% in un anno.
Storia di due industrie
Editoriale WSJ:
- ultimo atto della lunga ritirata di Detroit non
significa il declino dell’industria automobilistica in America: - nel Sud e nell’Alto Midwest il settore è in forte
espansione, ad opera di Toyota, Honda, Nissan, oltre che di BMW e Mercedes. Ora
assembla oltre 3 milioni di auto pari al 26% delle auto costruite in USA, e
occupa 60 mila lavoratori ben pagati (costo $64.000 contro $69.500 medio del
settore) anche se scarsamente sindacalizzati. Toyota ha 11 stabilimenti di
produzione in Nordamerica, e ne ha in programma altri 3. - L’operaio americano è in grado di competere sul mercato
mondiale, mantenendo alti salari. - La quota di mercato delle 3 Grandi di Detroit (GM,
Ford, + Chrysler ora parte di Daimler) è scesa a un minimo storico del 50%,
contro il 40% delle giapponesi. - E’ vero che le Tre Grandi pagano $1.500 per auto in
assistenza sanitaria, ma offrono anche $3.500 per veicolo come incentivi
all’acquisto, contro i $1.000 dei jap. - Ciò indica incapacità delle 3 Grandi ad offrire ciò che
vuole il mercato – a parte il segmento SUV e pickup, dove però i produttori USA
sono protetti da tariffe del 25%, vecchie di 40 anni. - Tesi che i contratti che assicurano sicurezza del posto
di lavoro creano insicurezza a lungo termine rendendo le aziende non
competitive.
Operations at Nine Plants
Will Be Shut as Wagoner
Seeks $7 Billion in Savings
By JOSEPH B. WHITE and LEE HAWKINS JR.
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 22, 2005; Page A3
DETROIT — General Motors Corp., expanding its previously announced
North American cost-cutting plans, raised its job-cut target by about
5,000 to a total of 30,000 and said it will close operations at nine
North American factories — moves Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Rick Wagoner said should help the auto maker save as much as $7 billion
by the end of next year (Read GM’s statement1 and see a map of affected
locations2).
Mr. Wagoner said during a news conference yesterday that it will
take a significant restructuring charge to cover the costs of the
shutdowns, and he signaled that GM and its main U.S. union, the United
Auto Workers, are discussing a possible program to buy out workers who
otherwise could choose to remain on the payroll earning close to full
pay even after their jobs are eliminated. Most of the 30,000 jobs will
probably be lost through attrition, Mr. Wagoner said. He added that GM
plans to cut its North American salaried staff by another 7% in 2006,
for a cumulative 40% cut in white-collar staff since 2000.
GM shares slid as some analysts questioned whether his beefed-up plan
is robust enough. In 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock
Exchange, GM shares were off 47 cents at $23.58. They have fallen 42%
from their high point just within the past 12 months. (Track GM’s share
price3 over the past year.)
Mr. Wagoner faces pressure from investors, especially Las Vegas
investor Kirk Kerkorian, who owns 9.9% of GM’s stock. A spokeswoman for
Mr. Kerkorian’s company, Tracinda Corp., declined to comment on GM’s
plan. (See related article4.)
GM’s plan, which would cut North American capacity by one million
vehicles, comes as Toyota Motor Corp. is gearing up plans to expand and
possibly challenge GM as the world’s No. 1 auto maker next year. Asked
about Toyota, Mr. Wagoner said, "We’re not ceding anything to anybody."
GM has "a lot of production capacity around the world," he said. GM has
been expanding factory capacity outside the U.S., particularly in
China. He said GM isn’t necessarily planning to cut production in North
America; rather, it wants to eliminate unneeded plants and the jobs
that go with them.
GM’s announcement positions Mr. Wagoner and the UAW for a tough
round of bargaining in 2007, when the UAW’s contract with GM expires.
Under the current agreement, GM is technically prohibited from
permanently shutting down a factory. Workers who lose their jobs
because a plant is idled go into what GM and the UAW call a JOBS Bank
and are paid full wages and benefits. (See UAW’s statement5)
"Our plans do not include anything radical like eliminating the
JOBS bank," Mr. Wagoner said. "We’d like to do that, but I don’t think
that’s a realistic assumption."
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and the UAW’s top GM negotiator,
Richard Shoemaker, in a statement yesterday, called GM’s action
"extremely disappointing, unfair and unfortunate. While GM’s continuing
decline in market share isn’t the fault of workers or our communities,
it is these groups that will suffer." The union leaders vowed to defend
job and income protections.
Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove vowed to fight GM’s
decision to close a car factory in Oshawa, Ontario, which has been one
of GM’s top-ranked plants for productivity and quality.
Mr. Wagoner has tried to avoid confrontation with the UAW since a
costly 1998 strike. But Wall Street is increasingly worried that GM
faces a heightened risk that labor unrest could disrupt its operations.
GM declined to indicate how much of the $7 billion in projected
savings would flow to its bottom line. GM spokesman Jerry Dubrowski
said the savings include $3 billion from a previous deal GM reached
with the UAW on health care, $1.5 billion related to savings achieved
by GM’s manufacturing operations, including the plant closings and
cost-cutting initiatives at the plant level, $1 billion in material
cost savings and $1.5 billion in "savings we haven’t been specific on."
The job cuts and factory closings mark the latest step in a long
retreat by GM in its home market, where the auto maker’s market share
has dwindled to 26.4% so far this year from more than 40% in the early
1980s.
GM said it will close four assembly plants by 2008. They are a
midsize-sport-utility-vehicle factory in Oklahoma City; a minivan plant
in Doraville, Ga.; a small plant in Lansing, Mich., that builds
specialty vehicles; and its Oshawa Car Plant No. 2 in Oshawa. GM also
plans to idle one of two assembly lines at the Saturn plant in Spring
Hill, Tenn., by the end of 2006. Next year, GM will cut a production
shift at its Oshawa No. 1 car plant and its Moraine, Ohio, SUV plant.
Two metal-stamping plants and two engine/transmission facilities also
will close by 2008.
Altogether, GM said, the actions will cut North American assembly
capacity about 19%, to 4.2 million vehicles. In addition, GM said it
will close three parts-distribution facilities. GM is on track to build
about 4.2 million vehicles in North America this year.
GM had a loss of $4.8 billion in North America through the first
nine months of this year. The company’s overall net loss for the
January-through-September period was $3.81 billion. Mr. Wagoner
declined to say yesterday when GM or its North American auto business
will return to profitability.