Chrysler: Death of an American Automaker in Ohio
When my father left the army back in the early 1960's, my grandfather advised him to apply for a position at the Chrylser stamping plant in Twinsburg, Ohio.
Although the plant was an hour away from Akron, my grandfather knew my father eventually would like to start a family and Chrsyler gave him economic stability and a strong union.
40 plus years later, after watching Chyrsler becoming a shell of its former self, my father took Chrysler's buyout in 2008 and retired.
My father made the right decision. A year later, his fellow co-workers who decided to stay learned that the Twinsburg will be closing.
This came right after Chrysler officials allegedly told the Obama administration and local Twinsburg officials that the plant would stay open.
Following this tragedy, word came that 798 Chrysler dealerships across the United States would be forced close their show rooms.
How did this happen?
This is not the American dream my father and many other blue collar/middle class workers embraced. These folks should be planning their vacations or retirements , not trying to figure out what is Twitter and how can it help them find a job.
But Chrysler's financial ineptness and lacked of foresight created this corporate time bomb.
While obsessive greed created a greater pay divide between the executives and their workers, arrogance kept these same executives from making hybrid cars like Ford and not taking Japanese auto makers like Honda and Toyota seriously when U.S. automakers buyers started buying more foreign brands than American, (by the end of 2009 , Toyota is projected to sell 60% more cars than Chrysler in America).
The irony is, most of these execs will go virtually unscathed for their incompetence.
They will leave with their golden parachutes and tee times intact.
The real losers are the families.
The families of auto makers.
The families of car dealers.
The families who are now forced to find work, in a weak economy.
The families who might face bankruptcy, foreclosures or even divorce because they could not pay their bills.
The families of middle class Americans who saw the auto industry as their dream car
but when the drove home, all they received was a lemon.
Chrysler Dealer Closing List http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/14/chrysler-dealer-closing-l_n_203549.html
Ohio Green Jobs
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Tags: Chrysler , Ford , Gm , Toyota , Obama , Honda , Bankruptcy , Detroit , Cars , Automobiles
