Lordstown OH: GM plans to slash 14,000 jobs, including more than 1,400 here as it ends production of the Chevrolet Cruze (Cleveland: how much, homes)

[reioh]

How much impact would this have on Cleveland?

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2018/...ng-valley.html

[beach43ofus]

Supply and demand, but hopefully, the plant will re-tool to build another GM model soon and life will go on as usual. I feel for those families that will be impacted by this. I lived in Detroit as it came tumbling down, and it was painful to watch.

Auto makers are quietly shifting production away from Union states, and towards states that have fewer Union's and laws to protect unions...like Alabama for instance.

Boeing did the same thing moving production from Seattle to North Carolina.

Most manufacturing company's cannot compete globally and pay $36.00/hour in union wages+benefits. A few IT/software/Silicon Valley companies can afford it, but not car and plane manufactuers.

[Natural510]

I see that tax cut created jobs as promised.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Natural510

I see that tax cut created jobs as promised.

Are we pretending that GM has been a solvent company at any point in recent history?

[216facts]

Lordstown closing won't have too much impact on Cleveland, it is another nail in the coffin for Youngstown that's for sure. I've lived in NEOH for most of the last 50+ years and its been interesting (albeit unfortunate) to see the death of unionized manufacturing. Not sure how many of you were adults during the 70s and 80s but it was something to see back then. Just to get a feel for the magnitude of losses over the years:

Year: GM employment
1986: 876,000
2000: 390,000
2009: 235,000
2017: 180,000

The industrial midwest has pretty much bottomed out at this point, there are so few high paying union jobs left that taking away another 14k just isn't going to do much more damage, the damage has already been done. The 1400 jobs at Lordstown will essentially go unnoticed, but it will make great political fodder.

On a related note, the Cuyahoga County land bank demolishes roughly 100 homes per month, they're doing over 400 per month up in Detroit. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by reioh

How much impact would this have on Cleveland?

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2018/...ng-valley.html

Good question. I'm not really sure. Lordstown is about 60 miles E/SE of downtown Cleveland. My guess is only a relative handful of Cuyahoga County residents commute there, but then again I could be wrong because of the general isolation of Lordstown coupled with its location right on a Turnpike exit. I would think the greater impact would be on nearby Youngstown more which, of course, is already struggling mightily economically. However all of NEO is economically linked so it's not good for anybody, really. Every time I drive by the plant going to/from Pittsburgh or the East Coast I'm amazed it its ginormous size -- it literally is a city within a building. It hard to contemplate that huge complex being empty...

... the faint hope, and a sliver of good news, is although GM is discontinuing the Chevy Cruze, they could bring in, or start a whole new line, on the Lordstown/Cruze platform. We can only hope.

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by 216facts

Lordstown closing won't have too much impact on Cleveland, it is another nail in the coffin for Youngstown that's for sure.

Originally Posted by TheProf

Lordstown is about 60 miles E/SE of downtown Cleveland.

That's what I was thinking, I only know where the plant is because I drive by it every time I make a trip to Maine.

It's a shame that GM can pull the rug out from under their employees and leaving a town in shambles after getting a taxpayer funded bailout.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Are we pretending that GM has been a solvent company at any point in recent history?

What do you mean by that? GM returned to profitability in 2010.

I'm just sad that Penske didn't buy Saturn and keep that going. Saturns are funny little cars. Or that Saab didn't keep alive. Saabs were funny little cars, too.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Natural510

I see that tax cut created jobs as promised.

Beat me to it.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

What do you mean by that? GM returned to profitability in 2010.

I'm just sad that Penske didn't buy Saturn and keep that going. Saturns are funny little cars. Or that Saab didn't keep alive. Saabs were funny little cars, too.

I seem to remember some type of outside help around that time...