Thread: FORD SHUT DOWN OF MANUFACTURING IN AUSTRALIA

Originally Posted by Eevo

holden called a staff meeting today, 130pm, with all staff.

closing?

There was a news article a couple of days ago that Holden were going to try to force a pay cut through to attempt to remain viable. Perhaps they didn't get any takers?

I watched the TV program Mega Factories last night. The series covers factories that build cars, planes, tractors, motor homes etc.

On the car factory episodes they have covered car makes such as Audi, BMW, Rolls, Lamborghini and others - last night it was the Chrysler Challenger and a couple of other models. Though a US manufacturer the 5.7 and 6.1 engines are made in Mexico and the cars in Canada - not actually made in the US.

I assume the building practices in the factory would be similar to those used in the Aussie Holden and Ford factories - if so I can see why costs would be high. Despite having robots doing much of the work an awful lot is still being done by hand - manual labour $$$$$$. Compared to the Audi and BMW factories the Chrysler factory had a much more manual input. Just an example is the panels in the Chrysler factory are either put on the car by hand (they do not trust machines) or the panels are put on the robot by hand. At other car factories this is all done by robots.

Now i am making an assumption that our factories are similar to the Chrysler one and if so then really we need to update equipment and automate as much as possible to minimise manual labour input and send offshore any heavy labour input components.

The difference between the Chrysler factory and the Audi and US BMW factories was like chalk and cheese.

Garry

Carmaker Holden is in discussions with staff and unions about cutting costs at its South Australian plant.

In a statement, the company says it plans to make "labour-related cost reductions and productivity improvements" at the Elizabeth site.

I would suggest GM to stop importing the Opel as well if they care for the OZ plants

Originally Posted by sheerluck

There was a news article a couple of days ago that Holden were going to try to force a pay cut through to attempt to remain viable. Perhaps they didn't get any takers?

Maybe they ought to....Better to have a job, than no job....I reckon the Ford guys, & many other workers the victims of our manufacturing going overseas, would probably agree.
I'm of the opinion that wages & conditions in Aus are totally unsustainable,....look, we've got it good, I know that,...NO argument from me at all.....except that IMHO, these conditions are unsustainable.
I've heard it said that with an aging population, the pension, at its current level, will also be unsustainable?
Cheers, Pickles.

It will be extremely hard to reduce personal incomes without reducing the cost of living, housing, etc.
Some countries that have done well after the war in South America like Uruguay and Argentina have try to reduce wages without reducing cost of living and within few years the poverty increased considerable together with social problems.
IMHO the only way is to have smart government and implement polices that are good to the country even if they are not popular with the international community.
At the very least we need to have the same protectionism that is in place in Europe and USA.
As an example if France and USA can protect their primary industry with tariffs and subsidies we should be able to do it as well.
Now the NSW is going to sell the Newcastle port, the biggest coal port in the world! Most probable the Arabs are going to get it like that majority of the ports in USA.
We never learn and keep selling the jewelry

They brought in a ten percent pay cut in my industry three or four years ago.
Didn't help.

Originally Posted by Pickles2

I've heard it said that with an aging population, the pension, at its current level, will also be unsustainable?

Old news. That's one of the reasons why they brought in the Superannuation Guarantee back in, when was it, 1992..