Should workers buy the vehicles they make?

[PILOON]

I know that GM gives their employees a major discount to buy GM products that I wish I could have and I would guess that it is a standard industry practice.

Instead employees opt to support offshore manufacturers and then wonder why their jobs are gone.
But then there is no more 'pride in one's work'.
Sure, one can argue 'freedom of choice' - all the way to the unimployment lineup.

Soon it will be "Welcome to the US of China!"

But then there will be lots of support jobs maintaining and repairing offshore built vehicles.

For one, I think Ford's parking policy really cool, only thing the other lot should be across town and not across the street.
The walk would be good excercise.

 

[HGM]

I dont understand the oposition /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif...They didnt threaten to fire anyone who doesnt drive a Ford. They offered an incentive for an employee to support the company they work for by driving the product the contribute to building...

I like the tongue in cheek "across town" idea though/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I think one of the issues in this country is the negative perception of all American products that starts at an employee refusing to buy what he makes. If you go to a resturant and the cook refused to eat something he cooked, would you order it??

There's no conspiracy, just an incentive... Still dont understand why anyone would care...

 

[PitbullMidwest]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think Ford's parking policy really cool, only thing the other lot should be across town and not across the street.
)</font>

Showing favortism or preferential treatment to a certain group (Ford owners) is discrimination and should not be allowed in the workplace.

If the typical Ford is like my 1999 Taurus, I can understand why they would buy a different brand.

 

[JerryG]

It's like a bonus or perk for company supporting employees.

 

[rozett]

Favortism or preferential treatment permeates our lives in every aspect... including the workplace ... it's called choice! Sometimes you have it sometimes you don't. Your employer gives preferential treatment to one particular insurance carrier for your health insurance. You don't have a choice. Many employers give preferential treatment to veterans. There are only a very few forms of preferential treatment that are defined by law as discrimination.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Your employer gives preferential treatment to one particular insurance carrier for your health insurance. )</font>

But they don't offer Ford driving employees better coverage than non-Ford driving employees. All employees are treated equally.

 

[jmc]

I don't know about the workers but top management should definitely drive what they are responsible for.

A long time ago I rented a Chevette with less than 100 miles on it. When I was cut off in traffic by a VW beetle, I attempted to express my displeasure by crowding him a little from the rear. This Chevette couldn't keep up with the VW! Later, during a quick lane change, the car became unstable. I thought at the time that if the head of GM ever drove a Chevette, and knew what a 'S Box' he was condoning, he would be embarrassed.

'Turns out this week, in a Wall Street Journal article entitled, "Advice for Ford and GM", someone else agrees. Joe White suggested that top auto execs should be required to pay full price for their cars and pay to have them serviced and maintained like everyone else. He predicts that once the execs start seeing their products from a customer's view, improvements would be made.

 

[Jagmandave]

I worked for about a year at a GM sub assembly plant that supplied the main plant with sequenced subassemblies on a just in time basis. I was in management, but I noticed that there was a real dearth of GM products in the union employee parking lot, in fact, almost every single truck out there was a Ford. When I asked about it, one of the guys said that he could buy a Ford cheaper from a dealer than he could by a Chevy or GM truck via the employee plan!

There was a time when an import car would be damaged if driven to an ameican mfr's parking lot, but since so many "imports" are now built here, and so many "domestics" aren't, I think that practice has faded away. I don't have a problem with a company encouraging it's employees to support it, as long as there are no penalties for not doing so.....

 

[HGM]

I like the idea of big wigs having to buy and drive them for the same reasons. It's good bussiness.

I guess the issue I have with the naysayers claiming descrimination whenever things are not in their favor..That word has been used excessively over the years to support the cause of someone looking for a reason to complain. What if, this Sunday, one of the Steelers decides its his right to wear a different color jersey than the rest of the team? He will be suspended or released for not being a team player... Is he being descriminated against too? I guess so......

 

[BB_TX]

<font color="blue">Joe White suggested that top auto execs should be required to pay full price for their cars and pay to have them serviced and maintained like everyone else. </font>

That sounds good in theory. But in reality, the pay scale of top execs is such that they don't relate to everyone else.