2 letters!

[Teresa]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/knox.asp

There are two letters below:
One from General Motors President to all employees and all of
their suppliers.
The other from the President of a supplier to the auto industry.
His letter is an awesome letter that tells it like it is.

Every manager in Detroit and ALL politicians should read this,
along with the union members. It's a bit long, but well worth the read.

This is one of the greatest responses to the requests for bailout
money I have seen thus far. As a supplier for the Big 3 this man
received a letter from the President of GM North America
requesting support for the bail out program. His response is
classic, and has to make you proud of a local guy who tells it like it really is.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First the letter from GM:


Dear Employees & Suppliers,
Congress and the current Administration will soon determine
whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry
to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our
nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us
now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress
we began prior to the global financial crisis.............
As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue
to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM
can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President General Motors North America

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now the response from one of GM's suppliers:

Gregory Knox, Pres.
Knox Machinery Company
Franklin , Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a
bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the
following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clarke,
President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the
same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in
UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now
sweeping this nation, awaiting our new , Pres-Obama, to wave his
magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same
time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream."
Believe me folks, the dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while
management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at
the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds
most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded
"laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities this
dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our
products for ever and ever.

Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of
not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler,
TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other
automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years
and what I've seen over those years in these union shops can only
be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states:
"There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our
government, and especially via the news media, that the current
crisis is completely the result of bad management which it
certainly is not." You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST
management. How about the union electricians who walk around the
plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for
countless hours while they drag ass, so they can come in on the
weekend and make double and triple time for a job they easily
could have done within their normal 40 hour work week.

How about the union line workers who threaten newbies with all
kinds of scare tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift
and for being too productive (We certainly must not expose those
lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their
horrific underproduction, must we??!)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff? How about this
great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the
last few years we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with
our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the
last 40 years?! Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality
and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the
United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit .

I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist,
Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research , surprised
the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny
of "bailout money". "Yes, he said, this would cause short term
problems", but despite what people like politicians and corporate
magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the
next day and the following very important thing would happen.
Where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones
would pop up. That is how a free market system works. It does
work, if we would only let it work".

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest
of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we
need the government to step in and "save us" Save us my ass.
Hell - we're nationalizing and unfortunately too many of our once
fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is
really happening. But, they sure can tell you the stats on their
favorite sports teams.yeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it?!

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been
producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this
country?... How can that be??? Let's see. Fuel efficient.
Listening to customers..Investing in the proper tooling and
automation for the long haul.. Not being too complacent or
arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when
he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management,
organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce
costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and
intelligent planning. Treating vendors like strategic partners,
rather than like "the enemy".Efficient front and back offices..
Non union environment..!

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling
anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their
hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of
wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten
yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily
basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my
parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I
make them stand  on their own two feet and accept the consequences

of their actions  and work through it.

Radical concept, huh? Am I there for them in the wings? Of
course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on
their own as adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there
certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role
of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need
to pay for their sins. Bad news people - it's coming whether we
like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a
magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I
heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the
final vote count was tallied. "we really might not do it in a year
or in four" Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was
RUNNING for office?

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks! That house in
Florida really isn't worth $750,000. People who illegally jump
across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits!
That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth
$85,000 a year. We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their
shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly
manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights
infractions on the face of the globe..!

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really
shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home..! Let the market
correct itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's
gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal
is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates
what it has and doesn't live beyond its means and gets back to
basics, and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the
greatest nation in the history of the world.

Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with
you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President
Knox Machinery, Inc.

Franklin, Ohio 45005

[larryJ]

Thanks, Teresa, for posting this.  I have never been a big fan of unions, but tolerated them.  When I first read this I thought I was reading a post by Warph.  This guy must be related to him!!

[pamsback]

this is for the second letter

I've had experience with arrogant union guys in construction AND plants, I've actually had people tell me to slow down cause I was workin too fast. On the other hand I've had experience with union guys who WORKED for their big pay and benefits, but they were USually the OLDER guys.
About a year and a half ago I decided to experiment and just SEE if I could only buy made in america and unfortunately it is damn near impossible and sometimes when you do find somethin made in America it's NOT very good quality which makes me mad and sad at the same time.
  I realize part of the reason they all moved overseas is cheap labor and looser environmental standards but that doesn't make it right. They COULD have spent the money to retool and meet our standards and STILL have made money in the long run but they were all too anxious to get their 14th home and bigger better whatever. The American laborer like me, my husband and millions of others, skilled AND unskilled, are not what got us here.....greedy CEOS and politicians who wanted to have their cake and eat it too at the EXPENSE of the REAL American worker and consumer are to blame for this.

[Varmit]

Okay, I will probably get booed for this one (like that is anything new) but I think that there is plenty of blame to go around on this one.  Yes, those greedy CEO's moved production overseas when they could have retooled or whatever, but my question is why?  Cheaper labor is a good answer.  Like the letter said $85,000 for a forklift driver, please.  If I were in charge of a company that demanded those types of wages, I would move to.  But all of that is beside the point.  In this country, we have a Free market economy.  Meaning, that as a business owner, you are free to run your business in the way you see fit.  And lets face it, people go into business to make money.  I think we should support this.  If they don't make money they can't expand, provide jobs, help the economy.  I know, by moving jobs overseas they aren't really helping our economy, but again why do they move those jobs?  Do you really think it is fair to have to pay somenone $22 dollars an hour to lugnuts on a car?  I think that both sides of the issuse share in the blame.  I am not going to fault someone for being successful and having the ability to purchase 14 houses, in fact good for them. If we don't like a certain business we are free to boycott them and not purchase their products. What we should not do is set so many rules and regulations on businesses that we discourage new growth. 

[greatguns]

If the CEO's worth the kind of money he gets because his company is doing well then why shouldn' the working stiff get $22 an hour?

[srkruzich]

The American laborer like me, my husband and millions of others, skilled AND unskilled, are not what got us here.....greedy CEOS and politicians who wanted to have their cake and eat it too at the EXPENSE of the REAL American worker and consumer are to blame for this.

Uhmm Wait a second.  Isn't it the CEO's/owners the ones who took the risk and put their money where their mouth is and made all the right decisions and got the funding to make that money to provide jobs to the "laborers"?  IF the laborers want as much money as the greedy CEO's/owners, then why don't they put their ideas up, go out, find the funding, start up the business, work 90 hour weeks til they get it to a point where it makes a profit, and to a point where they can hire laborers that demand more money cause now their the greedy CEOS and all.

I mean i know its a novel idea but CEO's and owners start companies to make money!!!!!!  IF they do a good enough job of leading and funding and doing all the hard work building a company, then they should be able to reap the rewards of their intellegence and efforts. 

Its a age old practice, if you go to work for a employer you get paid the agreed upon days wage for a days work.  IF you don't work you don't get paid. 

Personally i think anyone that works should get paid by the job not by the hour.  IF you complete the job in less time than the employer projects then you make more money.

[pamsback]

Uhmm Wait a second.  Isn't it the CEO's/owners the ones who took the risk and put their money where their mouth is and made all the right decisions and got the funding to make that money to provide jobs to the "laborers"?  IF the laborers want as much money as the greedy CEO's/owners, then why don't they put their ideas up, go out, find the funding, start up the business, work 90 hour weeks til they get it to a point where it makes a profit, and to a point where they can hire laborers that demand more money cause now their the greedy CEOS and all.

We did. We took what we had started our own siding company...worked our asses off. By the time we paid workers comp, materials ( which just KEPT goin up), wages for our one other employee there was barely enough left to live on. We went under and went back to work for another guy.

I know all about workin by the job....that is a BIG (*&^ery deal for the guy doin it. Joe was workin for one guy He wanted to pay percentage by the job. I had to go to work for Joe for NOTHIN basically to make the percentage work out to where we could make a living. So don't even tell me THAT is a good idea.

I was workin 10 to 11 hours a day hangin siding all OVER this part of Missouri and northwest Arkansas. made what SOME people would consider small money but it was a livin. Bottom fell out got laid off. Joe got laid off. Joe went to work for about HALF of what I was makin on my own. Now he has a job works 80 to 90 hours a week 7 days a week. I'm not workin but at home tryin to figure out a way to make money on the place.

The whole point of this rant is............the CEOS would not be able to make those 7 and 8 figure incomes if it was not for people like US doin the everyday work that brings that money in in the first place...I see NO reason for us to get by on a couple three hundred a week when they piss off more than that on coffee and beer. Oh excuse me those kind of guys don't drink beer (unless it's imported that is). So cry me a river about the guys who most LIKELY inherited what they've got in the first place. I've worked every bit as many hours and a LOT harder than ANY of them sittin behind a desk.They need to remember that without US all their money and ideas ain't worth squat either.

[srkruzich]

The whole point of this rant is............the CEOS would not be able to make those 7 and 8 figure incomes if it was not for people like US doin the everyday work that brings that money in in the first place..

That isn't really the point you know.  They make it because they are smarter and take more risk than anyone else.   If anyone of those workers that was making them money was smarter, they would have done it themselves!   

.I see NO reason for us to get by on a couple three hundred a week when they piss off more than that on coffee and beer. Oh excuse me those kind of guys don't drink beer (unless it's imported that is).

Reason number 1, most important reason there is.  IF  you agreed to work for these guys for an agreed upon wage, you owe them a days work for a days pay. doesn't matter if they light cigars and piss away more than you make.  If you wanted more then make it worth their while to pay more. 
Its like this workers you can get a penny a dozen.  Hard workers a dime a dozen.  Smart hard workers are harder yet to find and worth 1.00 each.  I used to tic off the managers in most companies i worked at because they were over me, and i would make 2 times what they were worth. That is because i knew my stuff and educated myself to make myself worth more to the company than they were worth. 

I've done the siding business, sheetrock, ect, and made money at it.  If it goes away then you move on to another profitable area.  You can't rest on your laurels in jobs and expect it to float you through and increase in pay.  These same CEO/owners will pay top dollar for top talent.

So cry me a river about the guys who most LIKELY inherited what they've got in the first place. I've worked every bit as many hours and a LOT harder than ANY of them sittin behind a desk.They need to remember that without US all their money and ideas ain't worth squat either.

Theres very little inherited money out there!  MOST millionaires now are self made and done so in the last 20 years. You have to remember they pay more for folks that sit behind a desk because their the ones who either drive the sales so that the workers have a product to sell or they are the ones who risked their homes, lands, every dime they had to make that venture get up off the ground and work.

Now granted there are some CEO's that aren't worth a bullet to shoot them with but you usually know who they are cause their companies go belly up.  Look at GM, Ford, Chrysler for that example.

[srkruzich]

Ford? I thought Ford was doing alright.   

Ford is in hot water just like hte rest.  Their not in any better shape.

[pamsback]

Lol, I never gave a boss LESS than a FULL days work for a days pay in my life. I have the brains to be a pencil pusher but not the inclination. I despise being in an office, being inside period. I know my business. I used to listen to some gomer boss tell me you can't do it that way blah blah blah and then go and do it the way it needed to be done to be done right.
Never "rested on my laurels" in my life. I AM top talent and so is Joe. My big "failing" in life is I have never played the game, I never kissed anybodies ass to get ahead or threw anybody under the bus to get ahead. I was never willing to do what has to be done to "get ahead". I've run crews and that's about as far into management as I ever wanted to go. I am at a stage in my life that I have to move on, I'm not as young as I used to be..but I will not be a pencil pusher..I will figure out a way to work for myself and make it pay..

The fact remains in my opinion the scales are seriously weighted in favor of the "owners" same as it's been since the beginning of time. I don't care if you agree with me or not. The workers have always deserved more respect than they have gotten. In case nobody remembers that's why the unions started in the first place. They have just let money and power corrupt them into unrecognizable shape. Those guys may have the money but people like me have the muscle to make "their" dream happen. Try it without us. ( or the cheap ones overseas) All the money in the world ain't gonna build ANYthing with out the guy who uses the hammer or turns the wrench.