[lbo-talk] Bankruptcy attack?

[Gary?]

On 10/28/05, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Steven L. Robinson wrote:
>
> >But don't the competitors in Germany and Japan have high labor costs
> >as well?  Isn't Mercedes owned Chrysler doing better than the big
> >two?
>
> More the other way around - Chrysler is dominated by Mercedes - and
> yes they're doing better than the other two. And the European and
> Japanese companies are doing better than Ford and GM. I don't know
> enough about the auto industry to explain why, but it sure looks like
> Ford & esp GM are fucked.

DaimlerChrysler has issued an ultimatum threatening massive job cuts
only weeks after the giant Siemens company successfully used the
threat of layoffs to blackmail workers involved in the production of
mobile telephones. DaimlerChrysler is threatening to switch production
of its new Mercedes C-class automobile from Sindelfingen to its plants
in Bremen in Northern Germany and East London in South Africa, unless
the unions agree to annual savings in production costs of 500 million
euros.

and

Cowger is expected to push through the measures which GM headquarters
announced at the beginning of the year, namely, reducing staff in
Germany by 20 to 30 percent and taking advantage of cheap
labour--preferably in Eastern Europe.

the squeeze is on for European auto workers and other workers, time
will tell if US practices translate well.

Gary?
ride si sapis