Holden cuts a shift...

marty1000cc · 03-04-2009, 02:32 AM

My wage drops by 42%!.....still got a job though..........

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/

EXCLUSIVE: HOLDEN is moving car assembly to a single shift and halving production at its Elizabeth plant in an effort to survive the global financial crisis.

Hundreds of workers at the Elizabeth plant last night were told the afternoon shift would be axed in favour of a single shift worked by two teams, operating on different days.

The arrangement, which takes effect on May 4, will involve the two teams working a five-day week on a one week on, one week off basis.

In a series of meetings across the plant at 10pm last night, workers said they were also told there would be no retrenchments and that the measures would be in place until Christmas.

It is understood the workers' pay will be the same as what they now receive for the current "down day" arrangement, under which the company pays half their wage on the days they are'nt working

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary John Camillo said a lot of questions from both workers andf the union remained unanswered.

"It's going to be a very emotional, hard time ahead," he said.

"And there's going to be hard decisions made over the next few weeks."

He was unsure of the impact of the cuts on second-tier component suppliers.

Holden told staff the reason no voluntary redudnacies were offered was because the skilled workers would be required for the future.

Leaving the plant last night, production worker Craig Oxenham: "They say no retrenchments.... they'd be hopeful people will leave."

The current production of 600 cars a day would be scaled back to 300 cars a day.

In addition to the new measures, staff were told there would also be more production "down days".

Many staff leaving the plant last night said they were disillusioned because they didn't get a chance to ask questions after the announcement was made. They were only told of the meeting at 9pm.

Other staff said they believed job losses were inevitable in spite of the action being taken.

"They are running out of money like nothing else," one worker leaving the factory last night said.

Holden will make a statement this morning detailing the strategy.

Treasurer Kevin Foley last night said the "simple reality" was Holden needed to manage its workforce to adjust to a severe global downturn in the automotive manufacturing industry, caused by a sales slump.

"The future of Holden is still very bright and very strong with the new vehicle coming on line," he told The Advertiser.

Mr Foley said he had been briefed on the announcement but declined to comment further.

Have the latest breaking news sent straight to your inbox.
Subscribe to the free AdelaideNow e-Edition. Click here.

In the U.S. yesterday, Fritz Henderson, the new chief executive of Holden's parent company, GM said it would close more U.S. plants and cut more jobs, but still faces a higher probability of bankruptcy to shed debt.

"The expectation is that we need to go deeper and faster," Mr Henderson said in describing GM's restructuring after its previous plan was rejected as insufficient by U.S. officials.

It was his first statement since taking over as chief executive of the embattled automaker on Monday after his predecessor, Rick Wagoner, was forced out by the Obama administration.

It has given GM 60 days to reach deeper concessions with bondholders and the United Auto Workers union and said it would finance a court-supervised bankruptcy if the process failed to deliver deep enough savings.

Henderson said GM could decide to file for bankruptcy within its 60-day deadline if it became "quite clear" that it would be unable to reach the deals it is seeking.

GK · 03-04-2009, 07:26 AM

Wow!

As much as I dislike Holden, I would hate to see them go under in Aus. Glad you still have your job though.

GK

**Fordman1** · 03-04-2009, 07:43 AM

I've been saying for a while this would happen.

Holden haven't been as aggressive in down-balancing as FoA. Which cut has about 50% off it's "line rate "over the last 18 months.

Holden look like they've done this over-night. PLUS they've still got MANY downdays in their program.

Ouch !!

This doesn't go well for the future of the industry here.

I dare say that the reason for this solution to their 'downbalance', (ie: no job losses), is their inability to fund redundancy packages.

XplosiveR6 · 03-04-2009, 09:46 AM

mmm so instead of giving your employees a decent redundancy package, they just cut their pay so much they have to no choice but to leave on their own accord and get nothing. What a disgrace. No point in keeping your job when it doesn’t pay the bills.

Ghiadude · 03-04-2009, 10:24 AM

_well that was unexpected, what the bloody hell took holden so long to realise?

imugli · 03-04-2009, 11:00 AM

Whilst this is bad news, I have to agree with tx3dude.

The writing for this one has been on the wall for a very long time now...

Nonetheless, my thoughts are with you and your fam, Marty...

sgt_doofey · 03-04-2009, 11:43 AM

Sorry to take the thread a bit off topic, but are the same sort of things happening over at the Ford plant in Geelong? Being in Adelaide we hear about what happens out at Elizabeth, but never anything about what happens over at Geelong.

Back on topic, it's not good to hear these things happening during these times, but it's great that they have managed to retain the staff.

csv8 · 03-04-2009, 12:15 PM

More people will HAVE to buy FORD !!! Thats a good thing. Maybe the Mondeo can be built on the HOLDEN line !!!!!!!

LeadFoot81 · 03-04-2009, 01:06 PM

Hopefully our arch nemesis Holden will make some smart moves and pull through these tough times!

Paxton · 03-04-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XplosiveR6

mmm so instead of giving your employees a decent redundancy package, they just cut their pay so much they have to no choice but to leave on their own accord and get nothing. What a disgrace. No point in keeping your job when it doesn’t pay the bills.

Barraxr8 is right. There is no money to fund redundancies. Holden is in a world of hurt at the moment, which is no fault of their own, which is a shame.

Don't think this is good for Ford, either. If Holden fail, Ford won't be far behind.

**Fordman1** · 03-04-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paxton

Barraxr8 is right. There is no money to fund redundancies. Holden is in a world of hurt at the moment, which is no fault of their own, which is a shame.

And the Holden "Spin" is:

"We want to keep our skills for the second car line".

I call BS on that.....BIG TIME.

They need to get through this ,or the whole industry here is gone.....

marty1000cc · 03-04-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barraxr8

"We want to keep our skills for the second car line".
I call BS on that.....BIG TIME.

100% SPOT ON.

Starve your employees off, "McDonalds" style, until they leave.....
then you acheive your goal headcount thru natural attrition. Hey Presto! No Redundacy required

:

**Fordman1** · 03-04-2009, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marty1000cc

100% SPOT ON.

Starve your employees off, "McDonalds" style, until they leave.....
then you acheive your goal headcount thru natural attrition. Hey Presto! No Redundacy required

:

It's a shame mate, I wish you the best.

Holden haven't made a profit since 2004 I believe - lets see if they announce the numbers for last year.......

They just won't have the money (nor will they get a package approved by the parent - like Ford did) to pay out half of their employees.

I saw a lot of smart comments on LS1 about my predictions late last year on this...it's a shame I was close to the mark..

vztrt · 03-04-2009, 04:02 PM

I hope we get out of the GFC by the end of the year. Losing either Holden or Ford will not be good for the country. But I don't see either company holding out if we go into a depression.

Its gonna be hard for the workers as they just took a 50% pay cut really.

ourfoz · 03-04-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paxton

Holden is in a world of hurt at the moment, which is no fault of their own, which is a shame.

That's a joke right? Holden and just about everyone else have cars that people don't want to buy. Anyone with any common sense saw this coming 10 - 20 years ago. Unfortunately the decision makers were making their profits with huge behemoths the yanks couldn't get enough of. Funny how buying patterns in the US changed when petrol got expensive. They dug their own graves over a long period of time by shutting down programs like the EV1.

You can't buy a Tesla, wonder why. Watch the waiting list of orders blow out when the electrics land.

73gscoupe · 03-04-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vztrt

Its gonna be hard for the workers as they just took a 50% pay cut really.

Not 50%, they are working one week at 100% pay, then having a week off at 50% of their pay. So more like 75% with a week off every two week. I am suprised Holden have opted for this, I would think it an expensive option compared to redundancy.

vztrt · 03-04-2009, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfoz

You can't buy a Tesla, wonder why. Watch the waiting list of orders blow out when the electrics land.

They'll sell as well as the prius, when they see the price tag.

Redmund · 03-04-2009, 04:40 PM

If it weren't so expensive to employ people in this country, the effects of this crisis wouldn't be as hard felt.

Soon there will be no manufacturing in this country because of the high costs to employ workers. Thank the unions for that. That will probably upset a few of you here, but the fact remains - it's cheaper to produce a good in China or India than it is here.

Those relying on manufacturing jobs should upgrade their skills portfolio.

Redmund · 03-04-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfoz

That's a joke right? Holden and just about everyone else have cars that people don't want to buy. Anyone with any common sense saw this coming 10 - 20 years ago.

I bought a brand new VE SS with all the options late last year. It cost $57000 on the road.

The car had 2 paint issues the day I picked the car up which Holden still have not agreed to the quote to fix, 6 months on. The leather was marked which took 2 months to replace. The car bangs and knocks on gear changes, and there is an unbelievable rattle in the car, which Holden cannot diagnose.

When I dropped the car in for the 3000 km service, they didn't do anything they said they did on the list. I caught them out. They didn't check the bang/knock. To top it all off, they left the log books sprawled on the floor, not in the glove box where they were.

Holden make a terrible car I am sorry to say. Their quality control is absolutely disgraceful and I agree with what was posted above.

vztrt · 03-04-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73gscoupe

Not 50%, they are working one week at 100% pay, then having a week off at 50% of their pay. So more like 75% with a week off every two week. I am suprised Holden have opted for this, I would think it an expensive option compared to redundancy.

ahh ok, cool

ourfoz · 03-04-2009, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73gscoupe

I am suprised Holden have opted for this, I would think it an expensive option compared to redundancy.

Depends how long the people have worked there. I'm sure Holden have done their sums.

ourfoz · 03-04-2009, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vztrt

They'll sell as well as the prius, when they see the price tag.

People are paying 60 and 80 grand for petrol guzzling lemons. Price isn't the problem, the product is the problem. The next 5 years will amazing to watch.

vztrt · 03-04-2009, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfoz

People are paying 60 and 80 grand for petrol guzzling lemons. Price isn't the problem, the product is the problem. The next 5 years will amazing to watch.

Yes they are, yet the prius is still not selling all that well.

The next five years wont bring much. The 'petrol guzzlers' will become more efficient (like the I6 matching the camry 4cyl ADR figure) and LPG and diesel will be more popular.

marty1000cc · 03-04-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73gscoupe

Not 50%, they are working one week at 100% pay, then having a week off at 50% of their pay. So more like 75% with a week off every two week.

......Dont forget.....18% shift premium goes as well.

BENT_8 · 03-04-2009, 05:24 PM

'Holdens wont go all together, they'll just downsize as they did in the eighties.
I was told 4 months ago that by the end of March they'll be only running 1 shift at Elizabeth'.

From a post i made in early feb.

This has been coming for months.
I've also been told the reason for this decision is so they still have a good workforce when things pick up and wont need to recruit as many.
Dont forget they will still be making good money and a number of smaller businesses in the north are helping out via part time work to GMH employees.
The place my nephew works has half a dozen part timers who work around their GM shifts.

sgt_doofey · 03-04-2009, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfoz

You can't buy a Tesla, wonder why. Watch the waiting list of orders blow out when the electrics land.

With a current price tag of $190,000, it's no wonder people aren't buying them.
As vztrt said, people will shift to diesel and LPG first. You just have to look at the average age of cars on our roads to see that it'll be a while before people shift to a different car, be it electric, petrol or otherwise.

**Fordman1** · 03-04-2009, 05:33 PM

The spin has started in the media:

7 News at 4:30pm

Holden save jobs......

The penny hasn't dropped yet.

AND

They're NOT making Money ATM.

cool65 · 03-04-2009, 05:35 PM

Perception !
People will not buy an aussie built holden with the perception that their warranty & parts availability will not be honoured.

Toyota and other imported car makers t(hat stay out of the headlines with their troubles) are going to come through this much better.

Big question now is how will Holden get the startup money to go ahead with new 4cyl cruize when it's money is so tied up with saving it's parent company.

Me thinks $1,000,000,000+ will be given by kevin 24/7 to saves their automotive industry butts -and to use badly the name of an already ugly car (skoda roomster) - holden can build the holden RUDDSTER -it can come with a voucher for a hot meal

vztrt · 03-04-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barraxr8

The spin has started in the media:

7 News at 4:30pm

Holden save jobs......

The penny hasn't dropped yet.

AND

They're NOT making Money ATM.

Workers didn't seem happy, like if they lost their jobs unhappy.

**Fordman1** · 03-04-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vztrt

Workers didn't seem happy, like if they lost their jobs unhappy.

They know what is going on I think........

Ask any suppliers what dealing with Holden accounts-payable is like.

It's an understatement to say there isn't much money around.