Re:How Did GM Pay Back Its Bailout So Fast? Well, It Didn't...
by spamizbad on Wednesday May 05, 2010 @03:54PM
(#1322326)
I agree.
It's not the union's fault the American auto industry failed to adopt using more universal/standard parts across their range of vehicles, as opposed to favoring proprietary parts for each specific model (with the exception of engines). Only now, post-gov take-over, are they implementing these practices that should have been in place 20 years ago.
Their board also structured union benefits that favored short-term cuts over long-term costs.
And when times were good, GM placed its engineering efforts on Trucks and SUVs, and when gas was cheap. Unfortunately, they let everything from compacts to their luxury sedan lines decay.
GM's failure, to me, is more of a case of rotten corporate culture than a lesson against unions.
It's not the union's fault the American auto industry failed to adopt using more universal/standard parts across their range of vehicles, as opposed to favoring proprietary parts for each specific model (with the exception of engines). Only now, post-gov take-over, are they implementing these practices that should have been in place 20 years ago.
Their board also structured union benefits that favored short-term cuts over long-term costs.
And when times were good, GM placed its engineering efforts on Trucks and SUVs, and when gas was cheap. Unfortunately, they let everything from compacts to their luxury sedan lines decay.
GM's failure, to me, is more of a case of rotten corporate culture than a lesson against unions.