On June 3, 2008, Rick Wagoner, then chairman and CEO of General Motors, announced that, in response to lagging sales, the Moraine Assembly Plant would close sometime before the end of 2010. The plant’s only product was the GM mid-size SUV and the recent spike in gasoline prices resulted in a huge decline in sales. The company had already reduced the number of employees in the plant by almost half in 2006 when production was reduced by one shift from three to two. This news was not shocking to many at the plant. With the high gas prices, most knew it was only a matter of time and began to make plans for the closing.
The shock for workers at the plant came when, only four months later on October 3, 2008, GM announced the plant would close for good on December 23, 2008. Not only was it a shock to the employees but also to the city and county governments. Local officials had hoped that GM would consider retooling the plant for a new product. Employees who had made plans based on having two years to prepare for a job loss were disappointed. Two months was not enough time to save and prepare to be unemployed.
The final day of production was difficult for many. The majority of the workers that were left after the year-long production cuts had been at the Moraine Assembly Plant since, at least, 1995. Some employees had forged friendships within the plant that would be difficult to maintain after the plant closed. Employees came from all over the Miami Valley and as from far away as Kentucky and Indiana to work there and it would be hard to keep up friendships with people that lived an hour or two away.
To read more about the final months of the Moraine Assembly Plant and the reactions of workers visit:
It is a sad thing when people lose there jobs. The lost of jobs in this economic has caused ppl to lose their house, and even their family, because the hard times are just to hard.
ReplyDeleteI see why people stop buy SUV'S though. The gas prices are so high that people can not afford a big car like that, because all it is going to do is suck up gas. I hope that all of these people make it through this hard time.
I agree that the closing of the GM plant was a sad occasion. I feel that the closing was the beginning of Dayton's downfall. Working in a restaurant at the time, we lost 80% of our clientele. It wasn't just the GM workers that have suffered, it is also the community. I think that the closing of GM has left us all felling the lasting effects, that we will feel for years to come.
ReplyDeleteWow I never really knew a whole lot about the shut down. I can only imagine what it has done ot the families that count on that plant to make a living. I believe it was a mistake to shut it down and really has hurt not only Dayton but anyone else who has anything to do with this kind of business.
ReplyDeleteGM's problems are directly related to the Union. Unions create complacency in the work place. No one feels they have to work hard to compete with their fellow worker, and no one feels like they have to put out a good product, because they are secure in their next paycheck, and secure in their retirement. Lazy people make sub-standard products, and complacent management results in less productivity. Less productivity results in higher ALL around costs, and the snow ball continues... Yes, it is a shame that it has come to this, and I am also a victim of recent unemployment, but I know business, and it's about competition and quality control. To be satisfied in ones place is to NEVER excel. When your competition excels, you go bankrupt. Period.
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