BREAKING NEWS: All Chrysler Plants To Be Idled Dec. 19 - Jan. 19

[Bozita]

Source: WDIV-TV Detroit

BREAKING NEWS: All Chrysler Plants To Be Idled Dec. 19 - Jan. 19
POSTED: Wednesday, December 17, 2008

All Chrysler manufacturing operations will be idled starting Friday, and all employees will not return to work "any sooner than Monday Jan. 19, 2009, according to the company's Web site.
The employees will leave at the end of their shifts Dec. 19.

Chrysler said the decision to idle all production is due to the lack of consumer credit for the American car buyer and the dramatic decline of U.S. industry sales.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/18301612/detail.html

[babylonsister]

1. Here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRa0jVzM922w&refer=home

Chrysler to Halt Production at All Plants for 1 Month (Update1)
Email | Print | A A A

By Mike Ramsey

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker, will close all 30 of its plants for at least a month at the end of shifts on Dec. 19 as it combats plummeting demand for vehicles.

The earliest the operations will come back on line is Jan. 19, the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company said in a statement today.

Chrysler’s decision to suspend production comes after a 47 percent decline in U.S. sales in November. The automaker has asked for emergency bridge financing from the U.S. government to avoid collapse.

Two factories in Toledo, Ohio, that make the Jeep Liberty, Dodge Nitro and Jeep Wrangler will be closed until Jan. 26. The minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario and the Dodge Viper operations in Detroit will shut until Feb. 2, said Shawn Morgan, a Chrysler spokeswoman.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I wonder if that's without pay? If so, that's going to ruin a lot of Christmases

even if they still have a job after shutdown.

[yodoobo]

4. unlikely. UAW is pretty good about covering these sorts of things

They might be reduced to 90% pay though, which is pretty close to full pay after factoring in no commuting expenses during that time.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Fuck... Merry Christmas.

:(

Recommended.

Of course, this also means the suppliers will shut down as well.:(

[sandnsea]

6. If the supplier employees aren't union

Maybe they'll finally figure out why they should be.

The coming year is going to SUCK.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. That's it - they're probably not...

:(

[crim son]

18. Yes. I know somebody who works for a supplier.

He got notice last week that the plant was going to be closed from December 15th, for four weeks or something. It's really rough.

[Dennis Donovan]

19. It's only going to get worse. I worked at an automotive parts factory in the 80's...

...it was unionized, but shutdowns due to lack-of-work were non-paid.:(

[crim son]

25. I'm pretty sure my friend isn't being paid during the shutdown.

It's the Maine way. :sarcasm:

[Doremus]

5. A friend of mine who works at Ford usually has a 2-3 week layoff every Christmas. n/t

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

8. Well fuck.

Thank you, Republican 12 and President Bush for undermining the economy even more.

[skeewee08]

9. Nothing like loosing your job days before Christmas.

My husband lost his job of 12 1/2 years to plant closure(plant moved to Mexico) on 12-23-06 my prayers go out to all those affected.

[gizmo1979]

10. This must be in some memo.

Both I and my wife,both factory workers non-automaker,are also idled between these dates.I find it strange that 3 different companys all have the same plan.Different states also,.

[madrchsod]

11. they get about 85% and health care

everyone is waiting for jan.20,2009. i figured chrysler was going to shut down till jan 20th. most of the auto industry suppliers shut down for two weeks during christmas.

[liberal N proud]

12. All auto workers should go and sit on the lawns of those southern Senators

For Christmas day.

Merry fucking Christmas you bastards.

[Psephos]

28. or maybe on the lawns of all the Toyota and Honda owners that post here

What do you drive, by the way?

[liberal N proud]

30. Chrysler

for 35 years - 15 cars
I had one Chevy when I was in high school

[Psephos]

43. Then you have every right to speak your piece n/t

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

37. I don't own a car. Does that make me bad?

Am I obligated to buy a car now?

[Psephos]

42. lol of course not n/t

[No Elephants]

44. Sit on the lawns? I think you forgot the "h."

[dipsydoodle]

13. It's pretty much getting universal.

Honda and GM/Vauxhall in the UK are both closing for a few months as are BMW amd Mercedes in Germany - all are union shops including Honda.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

14. Okay, we know that the UAW can take care of its own, and the executives are sitting pretty, but

what about the engineers? They're middle class, non-union. The idling, while it will probably save Chrysler, will really hurt them. What recourse do they have?

[llmart]

48. A lot of the engineers.....

have already been laid off, including my husband.

[McCamy Taylor]

15. If you get no wage during a shut out like this can you draw unemployment?

[happyslug]

29. Depends on the state. Michigan requires you to be off two weeks or more

Most states only require one week off work, it depends on the state.

[edbermac]

16. No problem, they make about $80 an hour.

That will tide them over for the holidays. :sarcasm:

[XemaSab]

17. You want a serious eye-opener?

Go to realtor.com and look for houses in Detroit. :wow:

[lonestarnot]

20. I don't want to go there. Tell me what it says.

[XemaSab]

23. 900 PAGES of homes

Including page after page after page of ROCK BOTTOM foreclosures. Dozens of which are less than a thousand dollars.

[lonestarnot]

38. Damn!

[sarcasmo]

45. 42 pages of Foreclosure notices in the Ma comb Daily last weekend, that's the county north of the D.

[sarcasmo]

21. Watch how trickle down unemployment works. Trickle down doesn't work with cash but it will work with

plant closings, this is going to get ugly. All of Chrysler's and GM's part suppliers will no be idle for the month of January. Unemployment is going to be over ten percent for the month of January.

[Optimistic]

22. The coming Depression

We are now much closer to a permanent Depression, Unless extreme action is taken by President Elect Obama in the opening hours of his administration we will be looking at 75-90% Unemployment with 90-98% of the people losing their homes and living in a box on the sidewalk thanks to the policies of the Conservatives since 1980.

[NorCalDem]

26. Well, to be fair...

Those unemployment and homeless estimates seem unrealistically high, but you are correct that this is going to get worse before it gets better.

Welcome to DU btw :)

[BeatleBoot]

27. I agree about our generation's Depression

But I think your 75% - 90% unemployment is way off the mark.

The Great Depression saw around 20-30% unemployment. In a 75% to 90% scenario, the American people are walking the streets and eating each other - literally - no rule of law and loss of infrastructure (utilities, drinking water, electricity).

Michigan is already in a depression, which is simply a series of continuous recessions.

May 2000 is when auto volumes dropped off and the sector has been struggling and dying since then.

The problem is that the country has been following along now for some time (Bush Administration recently stated that the country has been in a recession for over a year now) and its going to get much worse.

Unemployment in Michigan is at close to 8% and California is close to that.

The last bad time we faced like this was late 1979 to early 1982. At that time the auto industry tanked and Detroit's unemployment pushed 20%.

Back then the prime rate was 19% (today, I don't know, but I would say around 5%). Mortgage rates were around 14%.

I think what makes this feel as bad - if not worse - than that, is the credit market meltdown.

Bush screwed this country up, but good. He was handed a $5 trillion surplus and spent it, then put us into the largest historical deficit our country ever faced.

Talk about sleeping at the switch.

[sarcasmo]

46. Michigan unemployment is 9.5 percent on the books, more like a twenty percent reality.

[deminks]

24. Here come the repercussions

Manhattan (KS) Plant To Lay Off 46 Workers

http://www.kctv5.com/money/18301666/detail.html?rss=kan&psp=news

Jim Cartwright, a spokesman for the Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin, said work force reductions at the plant will start Jan. 5. He said the Manhattan operation will still employ 139 people.

Cartwright said the number of employees cut could change after Jan. 5 with laid-off workers possibly being recalled. He said it depends on the market and possible changes during the global recession.

Parker Hannifin manufactures rubber hoses for various industries. Cartwright said the hydraulic hoses are used in several types of vehicles.

[liberal N proud]

31. With many more to do the same

I am sure.

[DogPoundPup]

32. Chrysler shuts down all production

Source: CNNMoney

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Chrysler LLC announced late Wednesday that it is stopping all vehicle production in the United States for at least a month.

All 30 of the carmaker's plants will close after the last shift on Friday, and employees will not be asked to return to work before Jan. 19.

Chrysler blamed the "continued lack of consumer credit for the American car buyer" for the slow-down in sales that forced the move.

The company ordinarily shuts down operations between Dec. 24 and Jan. 5. This closure would add roughly two weeks to that shutdown.

Chrysler is the third of the Big Three automakers to suspend operations for January. Last week, General Motors announced it was idling 30% of its North American manufacturing capacity during the first quarter of 2009 in response to deteriorating market conditions. That move will take 250,000 vehicles out of production. On Wednesday, a Ford spokeswoman confirmed for CNN that the automaker is adding a week to its normal two-week seasonal shutdown at a number of its plants.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/17/autos/chrysler_shutdown/

[Skink]

33. Toyota idled a tundra plant in Texas for 3 months this year.

Although they didn't lay anyone off and used the time for continued training.

[Ex Lurker]

34. they also put off indefinitely building a new plant in Miss

I saw an interesting story on my local TV news last week. They interviewed a foreign car dealer (think it was Toyota, not sure) talking about how the bailout should go through. He said the collapse of domestic US auto production would be bad for everybody.

[Blue_Tires]

47. i posted a similar story here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4666643

[bluecollarcharlie]

35. And your point is..... what?

That even when Toyota closes a plant they do better than the big three? We've had training at Chrysler for the past five years. I should know. I'm a Chrysler employee. I was in the job bank for a while. And this whole fallacy of people in job bank doing nothing is an out and out lie. I've had to go in to 3 different plants over the last five years doing quality training, team build training all sorts of training. All of this was done while in job bank. You go in to cover people, doing their jobs, while they take the training.
So if your point is that they could train people while they are laid off, sorry. Been there done that. Besides i don't know if you've noticed but the company is trying to save as much as it can while the Bush Admin. fiddles. I think they are going to wait until the bankruptcy filing is done and then say "Well we tried all we could. But it was too late. Sorry"
Typical Bush bullshit.

[du_grad]

36. Toledo will be hurting big time

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081217/BUSINESS07/812170248

"About 1,300 hourly workers at General Motors Toledo Powertrain plant were told Wednesday that the Alexis Road plant will be idled for two additional weeks after the traditional holiday shutdown this month, a spokesman for the plant said.

Workers will be laid off on Friday and won’t be called back to the plant until Jan. 20, plant spokesman Wanda Wellman said, citing slow sales of the products containing the plant’s six-speed, rear-wheel drive transmissions.

That news followed on the heels later Wednesday that Ford and Chrysler, including Jeep, will alter usual holiday shutdowns.

Chrysler will close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month starting Friday.

The troubled carmaker employs 2,700 people at its Jeep assembly complex in North Toledo and another 1,000 at a parts machining plant in Perrysburg Township..."

This is only the beginning of bad times here...

[BadgerKid]

39. It just hit me...this is just in time for Inauguration Day.

A huge drop in the market wouldn't surprise me on Jan. 20.

[JohnAB]

40. sounds like a smart move !

The Plants I work at has been Idled
starting Oct 24 2008

looking at a possible re-start date of 01-05-2009.

It would have been sooner
if we were not proactive
at on weight reduction,
parts,
speed,
and Quality!
and skills.

we ran our programs 2 years before the stop date .
in retro spec to a slow down.

I have been employed 18 years at this plant and this is the first ever work stop.of any kind.

The plant across the street 1000 + people
its been Idled for a lot longer then us .

( they were not proactive )in these areas listed above.

John

[Jack Rabbit]

41. Mission accomplished, Senator Shelby?

Stand still. I have a pair of old shoes I want to try out.