GM WORKERS MAKING BIG PLANS FOR EXTENDED SUMMER VACATION

April 23 2009

Detroit, MI – The life of an automobile worker has never been particularly easy. Long hours of repetitive manual labour are buffeted by high wages and top level benefits, something which many are blaming for the economic decline of the big three. Now with the announcement that General Motors will be shutting down for nine weeks critics are up in arms again at the automobile giant but workers are feeling otherwise as they start to prepare for an extended summer vacation.

Though not yet official, insiders indicate that the extended break will begin in the July timeframe, close to their normal break two week break. Already workers across the country are tearing up their previous summer plans to make way for what could be the greatest summer ever.

“I haven’t had that long a summer vacation since high school. I can’t even imagine what I’m going to do with all the extra time,” said one worker we spoke to in Detroit.

“I’ve heard they have this kind of vacation time in Sweden every year. If getting the whole summer off is what socialism gives us then I say bring it on,” said another.

Workers of course will not be paid for the shutdown, though any that are laid off in the process will receive full pay through a combination of wages and unemployment benefits. Despite the lack of money coming in, many are still excitedly drawing up plans for themselves and their families. 

“Things have been so up and down for workers in the auto industry that maybe an extended vacation is exactly what they need. Take time, relax, refresh, everyone needs downtime especially when they’ve been through such rough times,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “Luckily the extended time without pay won’t significantly affect a good chunk of the workers because so many of them have lost their houses and equity already. This could be a summer of refreshment and redemption, a kind of clean slate.”

For some though the summer won’t be all that sunny. It is expected that some of the plants will stay open to continue producing the handful of cars that are still selling and much of the additional workload will be passed onto them, possibly negating even the normal two week break many are used to having.

“This is the best of times worst of times kind of announcement. I can’t imagine those people who have to stick around are going to be particularly happy about imaging their co-workers off
in the Caribbean enjoying the summer of their lives, but those are the breaks sometimes,” continued Green. “The good news for them though is that if things keep going the way they have been all GM workers are going to have a long vacation ahead of them, and with the way the pay structure is set up you really couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”

Adding to the excitement of the summer, GM has until June 1 to complete a restructuring program or they will be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, adding a new level of anticipation for the workers.

“If the company does indeed go into bankruptcy a lot of people will be laid off and that would open up a whole new world of possibilities for so many of the workers. Sure the aggressive contracts, pay rates, and extraordinary benefits that they enjoy are at least a part of the reason for the company possibly going under, those seeds will protect the workers for the long term,” continued Green. “For a lot of GM employees this may be a very pink summer, a summer to remember forever.”

Detroit area travel agencies are reporting a record number of inquiries, mostly for one way tickets.      

William Ashford, Business Correspondent

 

LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/pages-2/GM-workers-making-big-plans-for-extended-summer-vacation-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html	TWEET IT! http://bit.ly/3ljZi2	BOOKMARK IT!