gmcp car scheme (Elsemere Port)

I think the government is to blame for everything!

My boyfriend works for GM at E/Port and I work in accountancy so I get quite a lot of exposure to what’s happening at GM and from other Companies / Tax Payers.

Whose foolish idea was it to cut the VAT rate; it’s the most ridiculous piece of legislation I have come across since the beginning of my career. Although the VAT cut may help big companies like GM it isn’t helping the individual Tax payer who is the person most likely to go out and buy a new car. Why not cut income tax by a few percent give the money straight in to the Tax payers hand where they can then return the money in to the economy! They can compensate the short fall in money by creating more Jobs and then finding people who con the tax system and claim benefits where they are not necessary. I think its ridiculous paying 20% / 40% Tax from our hard earned work and what do we as the tax payer get out of it, situations like this bad management from the government not controlling/regulating the banks and then bailing them out when the going gets tuff! Apparently “we” own 40% of some banks so I wonder when we as the Tax Payer will start to receive our dividends from our Tax money invested?!

I was interested in buying a new car from Vauxhall recently when I approached Barclays (the bank I have banked with for 6 years and have paid a regular salary into for 2 and a half years since I was 16) they refused me for a loan since I had been overdrawn twice in those 6 years!

Unless the Government acts quickly I don’t see this recession ending for a number of years it is a very vicious circle. Cut income Tax increase lending problem solved!

Gents,
from a financial point of view it is a bad decision granting new Astra volume to UK plants since all exports to continental Europe create a loss of 1000€/ car and this is getting worse this year.(59 % of UK vehicle are export.)
E.Port Mgm. tries now to (over-) compensate that by increasing efficiency e.g. reducing build time, structural cost etc. which is perceived on shop floor as ‘draconic measures’.
If I had something to say in GM the new Astra would be built in Bochum and Antwerp for the company goal is to make money and not to lose.
Blame your government that insists not to join the Euro rather than lamenting about tightenend work conditions which in fact help to secure your jobs at least medium-term.

I think the original poster needs to wake up and get real. Loose your angry rhetoric and realise the gravity of the current situation. There is no money, thats why the heating is turned down and the lights go off! The parent company is verging on bankrupcy and most people at E/Port have now had around 6 weeks layoff in total, people are simply not buying cars from any manufacturer. Famous names from the high street such as Woolworths are collapsing with the loss of 30,000 jobs. That is the reality. While there is no suggestion of plant closures in GME, we know that there is a "strategic review" of SAAB and our solidarity must go to them!
2009 will no doubt bring some pain to all the GME workers, it is the job of the trade unions to limit this pain as much as possible, I think the former Griffin car plan should be the least of peoples worries. Participation in a car scheme has, since the launch of the Flexx scheme in 1992 been entirely optional, it is a benefit, not part of our terms and conditions. If it is taken away people will have to go back to what they did pre 1992, buy a car, or get a lift. The main concern for people should be the protection of their hourly rates, shift patterns, and number of hours worked, which is what puts the money in their pockets to take part in optional car lease schemes.

To the question, where are you posting from and what is your estimate?

What plant do you work in anonymous, this is not the place to start your rumours,- SOLIDARITY is the key not this rubbish !!

One question ? What will be the first plant closing in europe ?