GM Reinvention, I’ll believe it when I see it

This is the American version of the GM Reinvention commercial; for the Canadian version which the transcript below is taken from, go to the gm.ca website.

I’ve seen the new GM Reinvention campaign far too many times on the TV lately, most of the time during sports games. I guess this is GM’s attempt at appealing to their target demographic, yet every time I see it I feel that GM is just slapping the Canadian taxpayer in the face. They were irresponsible in their R&D and they are now irresponsible in their PR stunts, and that’s what this is, a stunt. American cars have been regarded as worthless pieces of shit for the last ten years, but now they’re trying to convince us to buy American, or in this case, Canadian-made American? Please.

From the Canadian GM Reinvention video (only slight differences, mainly not mentioning the word American):

This is a defining moment in General Motors history

We’re not witnessing the end, we are witnessing a reinvention

General Motors needs to start over in order to get stronger

There was a time when eight different brands made sense

Not anymore

Reinvention is the only way we can fix this

And fix it, we will

So here’s what the new GM is going to be

Stronger brands

Stronger models

Greater efficiencies

Even better fuel economy

And new technologies

Leaner, greener, faster, stronger

This is not about going out of business

This is about getting down to business

We invite you to see, follow, and join the reinvention of General Motors at GM.ca

Well I’m glad that it took only a bankruptcy and subsequent multi-national governmental bailout for it to realize that eight different brands in a slowing economy wasn’t cutting it, and it took a bankruptcy and a bailout for it to realize that better fuel economy was on everyone’s minds which is why Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, and other Japanese car companies were destroying them on the markets.

It’s absolutely pathetic how they are only now realizing that they have to get their shit in shape and I do not have faith in their abilities to turn around their company now that they are being funded with public money. If they couldn’t do it when their paycheques were on the line, how can we expect them to do so when they are guaranteed a paycheque?

An argument in favour of bailing out GM is that it is too big to fail and that if it were to go bankrupt, the system would be inundated with the unemployed. So the lesson to teach our children is that just build up a huge corporation and then run it into the ground, because you’ll be too big to fail. But if you’re small enough, no one will bat an eyelash at you when you’re boarding your windows up. I say let those people go unemployed, because they’re half the problem.

The United Auto Workers and the Canadian Auto Workers are, in my mind, just as equally as responsible in the downfall of their company they supposedly support. According to Wolfram Alpha (so cool), GM has not made a lick of net income from the past 10 years, yet the unions never make concessions and reduce wages to reflect the insignificant or negative income of the company.

Auto workers do not deserve to get paid $29 per hour – $70+ per hour when benefits and legacy benefits are factored in – when their company is failing. They are being paid for what amounts to as glorified manual labour. I’m being overly general here and I would love for someone to put me in my place. I’m assuming the majority of workers are on the assembly line and really, screwing in a bolt is no more skilled than flipping a burger in my opinion, especially when your company is struggling to make ends meet.

And that’s the kicker – GM was losing money, yet its employees were still being paid a paycheque. You see this problem all the time in Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares where the owner is absorbing the losses and the absentminded employees are just collecting their paycheques. It just can’t happen that way. The employees should have taken some ownership!

The way that GM’s pension was setup must have also rang some alarm bells in the accounting department. When I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that for every hour worked, $40+ was being allotted for benefits and legacy benefits, I just couldn’t make sense of it. How is that a sound business practice? Apparently it wasn’t. And besides, if the GM pension system falls through, can’t the pensioners apply for the government pension? Sure, it won’t be cushy at all, but you were supposed to save for your future and not live off the government (though I’d love to recoup my EI expenses when I’m older).

What pisses me off is the fact that auto workers are all like, “What do we do now? All I’ve ever done was work in the auto industry?” Well you should’ve woken up a little sooner and gotten out, or at least gotten trained for something else while working at the auto plants. I have no sympathy for people that choose to just coast through their jobs and never have to face challenges, yet get a third-party to negotiate salary increases for them. And if they can’t do any other job than their auto job, then they don’t deserve that ~$60,000 annual salary – when the company is losing money. I’m not attacking them for earning what they earn – I’ve got bigger beef with city “construction workers” picking weeds for ~$20 per hour – but GM was losing money and you shouldn’t be milking your dying company for all it’s worth!

By propping up this failing company and this failing and soon-to-be-obsolete industry, the government is just prolonging the inevitable. I don’t buy the fact that it is too big to fail. A reinvention will earn us nothing but bigger headaches. A revolution has to occur and that has to begin with letting go of the old. I guess I just need someone to tell me this is a good move on the part of the government. That it is a good idea to save these jobs, yet take an 18% stake in the company. Best of all, I’d love to know that I won’t be paying for this mistake 20- or 30-years down the road.