‘The Last Truck’: HBO Looks at Plant Closing Through Workers’ Eyes

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/08/29/the-last-truck-hbo-looks-at-plant-closing-through-workers-eyes/

by James Parks, Aug 29, 2009

Just two days before Christmas 2008, workers at the General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio, watched their livelihood and the lifeblood of their town dry up as their plant shut its doors for good. A new HBO documentary, “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” which first airs on Labor Day, offers poignant personal testimony about the impact of the decline of American auto manufacturing on this tight-knit Ohio community.



While the layoffs of the 2,500 workers and 200 management staff was bad enough, thousands more of their friends, neighbors and family would lose their jobs as businesses that serviced the plant—suppliers, restaurants, retail stores—were forced to close for lack of business.

In the documentary, “Popeye,” a toolmaker, simply states what the decline of manufacturing means to him and to the American Dream:

My grandson will have a worse life than I had.

HBO’s press release about the documentary points out the real extent of the damage from the closing:

…the GM workers lost much more than jobs, including the pride they share in their work and the camaraderie built through the years. To the natives of Moraine and the greater Dayton area, General Motors wasn’t just a car company—it was the lifeblood of the community.

The plant’s closing reflects the collapse of the U.S. manufacturing and the loss of a nation’s middle class. Over the past few decades, policymakers have systematically dismantled our nation’s manufacturing base through bad tax policies and short-sighted trade agreements that encourage consumption of cheap foreign imports and provide incentives for U.S.-based companies to export jobs.

FULL story at link.

I will tell you why I disagree - and this OP being, on its face, about a GM plant where trucks were built being shut down, I will keep my comment to just that.

When I bought my last truck, the one I have now, I wanted a Chevy truck. Specifically I wanted a 3/4 ton four-wheel-drive single rear wheel Diesel and I wanted it with a strong automatic transmission. I was doing a lot of heavy towing back then (2004). So I went to my Chevy dealer and got one of the worst cases of sticker-shock of my lifetime. They wanted very close to forty thousand dollars for the truck with a minimum of other options. So I knew immediately I'd have to look in the used market.

When you buy used you have one great advantage, there will be information on how well the models available have held up and just a few minutes on the internet will let you find what problems are common for each model. It didn't take me long at all to learn that both the engines and transmission Chevy was putting out were having problems and there were many reports of the factory not backing up what appeared to be legitimate warranty claims. The transmissions were particularly troubling. The repairs or replacements were very very expensive.

So much for buying a Chevy truck. It had nothing at all to do with NAFTA, it had everything to do with pricing and my perception that their products were not reliable or well supported by the manufacturer.

By the way, I ended up with a 3-year-old Ford Superduty (made in Canada) with Powerstroke. It gets close to 20 mpg on the highway and with nearly 200,000 miles on it the thing hasn't needed any more than routine maintenance. I guess I should thank NAFTA for that one.

These plant closings and small town ravagings are just part of the bigger, bigger picture! Globalization is so yip-skippity GREAT for not just CEOs, but the economy in general! You wouldn't want big bad old PROTECTIONISM, would you??? Because you're either FOR Globalization or FOR Protectionism. There IS no grey area. :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x69094

The absolute GALL of people who call themselves "Democrats" amazes even ME sometimes. This crap practice affects ALL of us. Anyone who still doesn't believe it's true and ignorantly chooses to bury their head in the sand (like Mr. Ignored in the above linked thread) about how badly corporatists are screwing us with this needs to travel to Ohio sometime before making their way OUT of the "big tent".

Foot shootin' was popular everywhere at the start of the new Millennium, apparently.

Reagan's brainwashing team really has worked wonders these past 30 years.