CEOs of Ford, GM Will Accept $1 Salaries in U.S. Bailout; UAW Leaders to Meet to Discuss Labor Pacts
The Big Three auto makers will submit recovery plans to Congress on Tuesday that emphasize cost-cutting, downsizing and renewed emphasis on higher-mileage cars in a bid to win support for a federal bailout.
Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally plans to tell Congress he is accelerating his company's development of hybrid and electric vehicles and is willing to cut his salary to $1 a year if Ford uses any federal funds.
General Motors Corp. is expected to focus on efforts to lighten the company's heavy debt load and consolidate or sell at least one of its eight automotive brands, most likely Saab, people familiar with the matter said. GM CEO Rick Wagoner also will take a $1 salary, those people said. Chrysler LLC is likely to emphasize its need for cash to stabilize the company and eventually join an alliance with one or more foreign auto makers, a person close to Chrysler said.
Meanwhile, top leaders and consultants for the United Auto Workers union, under pressure to deliver concessions, will meet Wednesday in Detroit to discuss potentially tweaking labor agreements, people familiar with the matter said Monday.
For the further article go on:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122817144031770385.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us#
Comment:
As in earlier comments discussed in this blog, the big three are struggling not only because of the bad economy but also because they missed the train to focus on highly fuel-efficient cars. Especially because they are focused on powerful cars like the huge pick-ups which a lot of Americans really like. But those trucks are not really competitive like in Europe where the focus is more on cars with alternative energy use. Finally, the big three have to realize it in a hurting way. At least, they are taking drastic measures now in order to get more competitive again and to lower the financial burden.
Oezguer (Oscar).
Thursday, December 4, 2008
China Fears Restive Migrants As Jobs Disappear in Cities
SHUANGFU VILLAGE, China -- Fan Junchao has spent most of the past five years living hundreds of miles from his small family farm here. Encouraged by the local government, he leased out his meager plot and worked on construction crews in big cities, making several times what he could have earned on crops.
Laid off migrant workers across China are returning home to villages like Shuangfu, above.
Now his construction project has been halted, and Mr. Fan has returned home. "Right now, I don't have a plan," he says. "I'm just taking it one step at a time."
Mr. Fan is among hundreds of thousands of China's 130 million migrant workers -- known as the "floating population" -- being cast out of urban jobs in factories and at construction sites.
China's roaring industrial economy has been abruptly quieted by the effects of the global financial crisis. Rural provinces that supplied much of China's factory manpower are watching the beginnings of a wave of reverse migration that has the potential to shake the stability of the world's most populous nation.
Fast-rising unemployment has led to an unusual series of strikes and protests. Normally cautious government officials have offered quick concessions and talk openly of their worries about social unrest. Laid-off factory workers in Dongguan overturned patrol cars and clashed with police last Tuesday, and hundreds of taxis parked in front of a government office in nearby Chaozhou over the weekend, one of a series of driver protests.
On Wednesday, workers let go from a liquor factory in northern China mounted a protest in Beijing, at the parent company's headquarters. In the latest sign of economic stress, China's currency fell Monday by its single largest margin on record against the dollar, on expectations the central bank might devalue it to prop up sagging growth.
As the government tries to calm tensions in the cities, it also fears that newly unemployed migrants returning home could upend the already-strained social system in the countryside.
For the rest of the article go on:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122816637753369999.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us#
Comment:
China was not the economically wealthiest country before the boom started. This boom mostly has happened in urban areas. Although rural areas have not directly profited from this boom, rural citizens saw the opportunities in the big cities and migrated. The result was that these citizens from rural areas also gained indirectly a piece of that big cake.
Since China is not immune to recession the bad economy also affects China. The former rural citizens migrate back to the their homes, which will have also have an affect on China's economy. It will be interesting to follow how China will hold up.
Oezguer (Oscar).
Laid off migrant workers across China are returning home to villages like Shuangfu, above.
Now his construction project has been halted, and Mr. Fan has returned home. "Right now, I don't have a plan," he says. "I'm just taking it one step at a time."
Mr. Fan is among hundreds of thousands of China's 130 million migrant workers -- known as the "floating population" -- being cast out of urban jobs in factories and at construction sites.
China's roaring industrial economy has been abruptly quieted by the effects of the global financial crisis. Rural provinces that supplied much of China's factory manpower are watching the beginnings of a wave of reverse migration that has the potential to shake the stability of the world's most populous nation.
Fast-rising unemployment has led to an unusual series of strikes and protests. Normally cautious government officials have offered quick concessions and talk openly of their worries about social unrest. Laid-off factory workers in Dongguan overturned patrol cars and clashed with police last Tuesday, and hundreds of taxis parked in front of a government office in nearby Chaozhou over the weekend, one of a series of driver protests.
On Wednesday, workers let go from a liquor factory in northern China mounted a protest in Beijing, at the parent company's headquarters. In the latest sign of economic stress, China's currency fell Monday by its single largest margin on record against the dollar, on expectations the central bank might devalue it to prop up sagging growth.
As the government tries to calm tensions in the cities, it also fears that newly unemployed migrants returning home could upend the already-strained social system in the countryside.
For the rest of the article go on:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122816637753369999.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us#
Comment:
China was not the economically wealthiest country before the boom started. This boom mostly has happened in urban areas. Although rural areas have not directly profited from this boom, rural citizens saw the opportunities in the big cities and migrated. The result was that these citizens from rural areas also gained indirectly a piece of that big cake.
Since China is not immune to recession the bad economy also affects China. The former rural citizens migrate back to the their homes, which will have also have an affect on China's economy. It will be interesting to follow how China will hold up.
Oezguer (Oscar).
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