General Motors Janesville, Wisconsin Plant Slated To Close Permanently
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Along with the latest General Motors and United Auto Workers union agreement, some darker news was uncovered. Automotive News reports GM’s Janesville, Wisconsin plant has been scheduled to close for good.
The Janesville plant, which was once home to full-size SUV production, has been idle since 2008, before GM declared bankruptcy. The last vehicle to roll off the assembly line was a previous-generation Chevrolet Tahoe on December 23, 2008.
The decision to formally close the plant was disclosed in a memo within new UAW-GM labor agreement documents, which detailed the tentative contract. The plant once employed 7,000 workers during its peak in the 1970s.
The agreement does not specify a concrete date for closure, but notes the Janesville assembly will be shuttered at some point during the new four-year agreement between the UAW and GM.
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The Janesville closure is not good news, but neither is it surprising. If it hasn’t turned out a product since calendar-year 2008, it’s probably best just to shutter it. The world has moved on in the meantime, and it would probably cost more to retrofit Janesville than to upgrade a plant currently in use. Besides, with companies needing to shift production in response to often-fickle consumer tastes, flexible assembly lines will be the future more often than not. An old, archaic single-use plant like Janesville has no place in that world. Let it go.
As long as GM maintains at least 1 plant in Mexico I do not want to see any American plant close. I am not interested in creating jobs in Mexico, or China, at the sake of American jobs. The average assembly line worker in Mexico makes about $3.50 an hour, little or no benefits, and can’t begin to afford the product he assembles.
There is a reason why MB, Audi, BMW, Mazda , and just about every other auto maker wants to , and is , building assembly plants in Mexico,…..slave labor. When those vehicles, land back here in the US are they any cheaper due to reduced labor costs….NO! At onre time Escalade’s were assembled in Mexico, were they cheaper than the ones made in Arlington, Texas……No! All SRX’s are assembled in Mexico, LIncoln’s MKZ was assembled in Mexico, and soo poorly that each one had to be shipped to Flat Rock, Michigan to be inspected before going on to the dealer…..
Keep American jobs in America!
The closing of any plant is sad for the local community as we have seen it here way to much ourselves.
The fact is this is an old plant and one that really is not needed.
This is a competitive industry and newer or more flexible plants will move on into the future. GM has too much capacity right now and I expect a few more may close at some point or are replaced with new models. Much of who lives and who dies lies with the UAW and CAW. IF they negotiate well at these plants for new product they will be rewarded if not they will be cut.
As for the plants in Mexico they are here and they will never go away as long as the Mexican government is stable. The fact is they do serve several purposes. One they supply the Central American and even some South American markets as well as Mexico along with some in our market. Two they are leverage against the UAW.
Finally much of what is made there is made with American parts. The vehicle I own has a high American part content and was just assembled there. I laughed when I saw the Horn on my car was made in America by an Italian company and installed in Mexico.
To be honest it is not slave labor if not for these companies there would be no work. Yes they pay a lower wage but the cost of living in Mexico is also much cheaper too. What we call middle class here can live with maids, gardeners and cooks that live in.
The truth is these vehicles do not go up in price and provide more profits to companies that are in business to make money.
As for made poorly stop right there as that has been one of the biggest UAW lies there are. The good and bad of every vehicle has more to do with the fact the car is either poor quality or the plant is an older less reliable line. It has nothing to do with where it is. GM has plants in Mexico that are as good as any they have and the people there are just as well trained as any other plant.
I am pro American and would like to see more work here too but I will not lie about it like so many union people do.
Companies are here to make money and profits. No profits low stock prices no jobs. Yes it is that simple. As it is now GM is just now showing good profits and putting much of the money back into new product to help build for a profitable future for all involved the share holders and the employees.
As for the other issues in Mexico that is up to their government. While things are well off closer to the capital the outer regions are still struggling. Many of the plants America has put there was to try to stem the flow of people into this country by providing work there. The fact is so many Americans think Mexico is just Cobo or Cancun when the majority is much more worse off. It really is a third world country for many living there. Many areas with no work lack water and even the most basics we enjoy. It is no wonder many leave.
As for China that is a whole different deal. They are not crossing the boarder looking for work here.
It is time to see the big picture and not just the UAW rhetoric.
So let’s just keep shrugging our shoulders at third world imports as we race to the bottom. Is that all we can do?
Stop shrugging.
We need to let the UAW that they need to compete globally from here on out or someone will take their lunch and eat it.
The cars built else where are built to the same plant standard in GM plants no matter where they are built. The skill to assemble a car is not like it used to be a craft. Today it is a process that starts with production line planning here at GM. It matters little where it is built as the plan, layout and machinery are often similar and only differ based on the time the plant was made.
The days of skill craftsmen is over for the most part and just about anyone with the fundamental coordination can work an assembly line. Hell most of us can tear one down and put it back together in our garages anymore. The days of skilled welding are nearly gone, Paint is all computer controlled and even the torque on bolts is done buy a computer so the worker just zings it on till it stops and give him a signal.
Now that is not to say there are not a lot of good people working the line. They are the back bone that still get the job done. But the market is even more competitive as we are now competing globally. Price is king with the consumer on vehicles that all tend to cost too much anymore.
The game is all about volume and profits and it is getting tougher all the time.
The fact is GM and Ford would build them all here if people would pay the prices they would have to pay. But that is not going to happen. Everyone complains about Walmart but yet they all shop there anyways.
There is no cheap and free ride to riches. We all still have to work for what we get and pay for or it some where down the line.
Even Walmart raised wages now they are pressuring the suppliers to cut cost to cover the decline in profits that have impacted their stock. It is all cause and effect. You get paid more you pay for it some where.
You want to make a lot of money with no collage debt get a skill. My father In Law was one of the top welders around and made into the six figures because of what he could do with a welder. No collage and no degrees just certifications. The problem with many today is no skills and then even if they do they do not show up. He has had to be called out of retirement to do things no one else that they have found can do.
Also I have friends with Accounting degrees making much less still paying off student loans. Go figure.
Life is what you make of it. Plan smart, show up everyday, pass a drug test and put in a fair days work and you too can succeed.
I would expect that GM will not simply lock the doors and leave this old eyesore in place . GM must remove all structures , clean up the site , leave it levelled and unscarred . If the surrounding fenceline is decrepit , replace it or remove it and landscape the borders . Cities must hold manufacturers responsible for not only standards of initial building /site quality but also of land reclamation when eventually the old structures are closed .