End of SUV production came 204 days after announcement
JANESVILLE — General Motors announced June 3 that it would end sport utility production in Janesville by the end of 2010 at the latest.
The end of 2010 was 942 days and more than 130 paychecks down the road.
But the pessimists—some would say the realists—could see the potholes in the pavement: Sales of the big SUVs were sinking, and GM already had announced plans to cut one of the two SUV production shifts in Janesville.
The end, the pessimists said, would come sooner rather than later for the Janesville plant.
The end came this morning when the last Chevrolet Tahoe rolled off the assembly line in Janesville, just 204 days after GM's June announcement.
So ends—at least for the foreseeable future—a production run that started in Janesville in 1919, when the first Samson tractor came off the line. The first Chevy built in Janesville followed nearly four years later.
Altogether, the cuts of both shifts and the ultimate end of GM production have eliminated nearly 2,200 GM jobs and at least 1,150 jobs at supplier companies in Janesville.
The optimists still have hope for future production at the massive plant on Janesville's south side
In response to GM's cessation announcement in June, Gov. Jim Doyle formed a task force and asked it to try to maintain a GM presence in Janesville.
The group developed a plan to help GM stay in Janesville and eventually presented it to executives in Detroit. A key element is a highly competitive contract agreement that local union members ratified in August.
The task force still is awaiting word from GM execs, who learned Friday that GM would share in a $17.4 billion emergency loan package from the federal government.
The pessimists, however, argue that any chance the Janesville plant had at future production was slim when the coalition formed last summer. It's even slimmer now, they say, as GM's future hangs in the balance.
But if GM is able to survive and the local plant is awarded future production, even the optimists acknowledge that it will be much longer than a matter of days before workers again make their way down General Motors Drive in Janesville.
Dec 31, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
Janesville take your factory and your skills and put them back to work WITHOUT GM. Get back to work on your own this time.
As an outsider, I see Janesville as one of the first dominoes in a series of dominoes which will begin to tumble throughout the land.
1) In short, we are on the brink of an energy crisis unparalleled in all of human history. The SUV should have never been built in the first place.
2)American debt to the rest of the world, mainly Asia, is going up 1 trillion dollars every 15 months!
The US only produces 20% of what it consumes, that means 80% of what we consume is imported.
Combine the two above factors along with a whole bunch of other crap, and what America is faced with will most likely be much worse than the GREAT DEPRESSION.
So where does this leave the people of Janesville? The whole nation will soon look just like Janesville looks now, only worse.
Firstly, forget GM. Secondly, don't trust politicians, thirdly don't rely on the unions. Big daddy and big brother got you here. They don't have a clue how to get you out. This is YOUR lives and your problem, not theirs. And that factory for all intents and purposes should be yours too. So start manufacturing something on your own; preferably something very green and even exportable? Who knows what's out there? Do the research; what patents are waiting to find a manufacturer which can get made in your factory with your skills and labor? You can't seriously believe your factory is ONLY suited to build a couple types of of gas guzzling SUVs? Tell that to a Chinese or Indian entrepreneur. They would find a way to make it work. You can retool if you put your minds and muscle to it. You have absolutely nothing to lose. Necessity is the mother of invention. You now have an amazing opportunity to own your own factory and employ yourselves at making something positive while keeping the profits locally. Of course it's a dream, but you are already dreaming if you think GM or the government will come save you, so you might as well dream a different way.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.