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The Big 3 and the domestic issues that will affect them
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Look around enough on the internet, and you'll find that it's loaded with consumer complaints about EVERYTHING! It's just the nature of the 'net. 80 percent of it is pornography, 18 percent of it griping and mudslinging, and that leaves like 2 percent of it for everything else! :P
FWIW, the Intrepid usually got rated around average to a bit better by Consumer Reports. I have a buying guide around here somewhere but can't find it right now. IIRC though, the only year that the Intrepid really looked bad was 1999. That can change from year to year, though, as cars deteriorate at different rates. So yeah, there are more reliable cars out there, but you could also do a lot worse.
The Intrepid was also generally rated pretty highly by Consumer Guide, so it must've had something going for it! And BTW, the a/c components for the 'Trep were outsourced. Came from the same place that supplies Honda a/c components. So if they're failing on Intrepids, chances are they are on Hondas, too! :P
You mean the Japanese government was pouring money into Toyota and Honda when they were the Kia and Hyundai of the 1970's?
The Japanese gov't told Toyota to hire then-unknown J.P.Power to analyze their cars quality relative to their competition, and make the necessary adjustments.
The Japanese gov't wrote Toyota and Honda a blank check for the Rav4, Acura Legend, RX300, Lexus LS, Honda's CVCC engine, two different Hybrid technology engine designs, and the Toyota Production System?
Now Toyota can build a car in Brazil with better quality than Americans can in Detroit, and use people making $4-5 an hour to do it! That's all thanks to the vaunted Japanese Gov't?
Is there a trade imbalance? Yeah!
Is that why the US can't build cutting edge cars? Hell no!
The reasons are many why the Big 3 reek, but the leading suspects are:
1. Decades of arrogance.
2. Decades of poor management.
3. Decades of slouth.
4. Decades of bad investments
5. Decades of ignoring their customers and the market they create.
GM making 6 different brands of cut-rate vanilla ice cream. With holes in the carton!
Ford can be heard resting on their laurels. Times were good when Ranger was selling, when Escort was big, Taurus.
What did they do with all the profit? Their cars have gotten worse! What's selling now? They can't even sell the Exploder anymore.
Chrysler's mismanagement brought Germany to our doorstep!
If WE were taking care of bydnis, IT WOULDN'T MATTER WHAT Japan's automakers or gov't did!
They invested wisely, ran their compnaies like the Wharton School, and reaped what they'd sown.
And we've reaped....
I mean we reek what we've sown! :mad:
Drfill
"We take your jobs, American gangstas!"
You're not totally correct on this one.
The japanese government didn't necessarily write a blank check, but it did fill the gaps in R&D spending for years, and, though at lower level now, still is. And yes, all of the current product, no matter where it's built is partially from the governments money.
Don't disagree that the Big 3 made tons of mistakes. But there is not a level playing field in the automobile business. Hasn't been for a couple of decades. And it will only guess worse for the domestics if something can't be done about it.
And do really not care about your fellow "Americans" who will lose their jobs, retirement, homes, etc. You know, some of these people may be neighbors, relatives of people you work with, or people you go to church with.
Do you mean good riddance to them too?
Truer words have never been said .... now, look at Kia/Hyundai .. Kia has gone BK twice in the last 10 years, then carried out on a satin pillow and their millions in debts washed away like chalk on a chalkboard and Hyundai got them for free ....
Terry.
Heck, it might be his job in danger, too, and he doesn't even realize it. GM and Ford support a vast web of suppliers, and those suppliers and their combined employees support a lot of service industries. So if GM and Ford go under, a lot of naive consultants on the right and left coasts might suddenly find a marked drop in their customer base, lol. Quite frankly, and this is of course my humble opinion, anyone who lives and works in this country and actively wishes for the death of GM, Ford, and/or Chrysler is an idiot. You can disparage them all you want, and you are certainly not required to buy their product, but to actively hope for their demise is just plain dumb.
Gotta make up our minds. Are we going to help our companies with government dollars like every other country ON THE PLANET, bail them out, and help our industries, or are we going to blindly hold to the antiquated idea that Socialism in any form is so bad anarchy is a better option?
Europe and Japan are kicking our butts because they understand how to balance the two. Freeing businesses from healthcare costs alone would be half the battle. Sure, nationalized healthcare would suck - see Canada. Then again, who are these people that they think that (nearly)free healthcare should be anything OTHER than cheap and minimally effective? Education is a simmilar problem - it's virtually free for most people - so what do you expect for nothing? At least we don't have 30-50% of our population that can't read or write. So it should also be with healthcare.
Socialism in any form is bad and they'd take anarchy as an option? Heck there might just be anarchy in the U.S. if things keep digressing the way they are.
I imagine we will see the domestic auto manufactors join the farmers in voting democrat next go around, since current admin turned it back on american buisness. He flat out said he isn't going to do a darn thing on the trade policy's. :mad:
Rocky
I agree that we need some takeover/direction from the government when it comes to catastrophic healthcare, but I don't believe that Norway's example can be successfully applied to us.
Rocky
Another interesting point is that according to this almost 3/4 of Norway's jobs are the same "service jobs" that so many of the doom and gloom crowd here are saying are horrible jobs, and not sufficient to support an economy.
My Cousin Steig works at a Audi dealership, which of course is a service job.
Rocky
Rocky
My god, let's not pay a retirement to the good middle and lower management folks. :confuse:
It's another sad demand. Wagoner and the board won't suspend their bonuses, retirement packages, etc for the good of the company.:mad:
It's always the small guy that takes the hit !
Rocky
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) is suspending contributions to its 401(k) retirement savings plan for salaried workers, a spokesman said on Thursday.
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"We continue to monitor the business in determining when to reinstate the matching contributions," GM spokesman Robert Herta said.
The world's largest automaker was also dropping the requirement that up to 3 percent of worker's contributions and 100 percent of the automaker's contribution be invested in GM shares.
This was done to give employees more flexibility to choose their stocks and mutual funds, Herta said, adding that the changes take effect January 1.
GM now contributes 20 cents for each $1 that workers invest in the 401(k) plan up to 6 percent of an employee's base salary, Herta said. GM last year reduced its 401(k) match from 50 cents on the dollar to 20 cents.
GM's financial woes, combined with the bankruptcy filing of Delphi Corp., its biggest suppler, have taken a toll on its once-robust stock price. GM shares have fallen 44 percent this year.
GM, which has lost nearly $4 billion this year, is struggling with high health-care and commodity costs, loss of U.S. market share to foreign rivals and slumping sales of its once-profitable sport utility vehicles.
To compound matters, GM's borrowing costs have soared since its credit rating was first cut to junk status in May. Standard & Poor's cut GM's ratings deeper into junk territory this week.
Rocky
For the aformentioned middle and lower management, it must be a dirty gray with splotches of mildew, full of moth holes, and covered with questionable yellow and brown stains.
For the lineworkers, its an anvil in a backpack.
"everything" this spoiled driver would want in an automobile !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The brochure reads:
HIGH-DEFINITION
The All-New 2007 Cadillac Escalade
. Chromed from top to bottom
. Factory-installed 22 inch rims
. 6.2L 403 hp. Vortec V8
. 6-speed transmission with Driver Shift Control
. Bose 5.1 Digital Surround Sound System
. Power liftgate; remote start
. DVD navigation with VOICE RECOGNITION
. DVD Rear-Seat Entertainment with 8"- wide screen
. Heated and cooled front seats; heated steering wheel
. Head curtain side air bags for all three rows
And if you know anything else about this vehicle, their are plenty of other "state of the art features" left out !
Now I am waiting for my Cadillac personal assistant, to give me word of how much it will set me back.
Rocky
I blame the government for not protecting american buisness's from currency manipulations, trade treaties that are unfair and unjust. The government could do a heck of alot more,is what I'm saying. Remember most of the worlds economy revolves around us, not vis versa !
The product planners and engineers along with upper management should be the ones you should put the blame on. Aren't they the ones WHO MANAGE and PLAN the Products rolling off the assembly line.
Your statement of including Big Labor doesn't make any sense when you step back and look at it as a whole. The cost of Labor on cars is roughly $1500 which includes wages, health benfits, retirements. The asians are able to amplify that by undercutting the Big 3 roughly $5K with their currency manipulation Yen vs. Dollar. Watch Lou Dobbs on CNN for a perfect detailed explanation of how the foreigners are under cutting American buisness's. Big Red China has perfected this tatic. :mad:
However I guess some of you would be happy if good folks like my dad were making $5 an hour and on social programs, so you can still pay the same price as now. Look at some of the cars being built in foreign country's.....Are they any cheaper ??????.....Didn't think so !!!!!!
Rocky
Through the UAW - which I presume speaks for the blue-collar workers, as they seem quite happy to partake the pay and benefits negotiated by UAW leadership on their behalf - they are hurting their employers by refusing to bend on health care costs and the jobs bank.
Sorry, but paying for a portion of health care benefits is not the end of the world. And while I hate to see anyone lose his or her job, I'm running out of patience as to why UAW members should be permitted to indefinitely collect pay and benefits for not working when there is plainly no work for them. Very few other workers enjoy this protection.
Is the UAW solely responsible for the plight of GM and Ford? Of course not. But have they played a part in worsening their troubles by refusing to recognize the "economic facts of life."
rockylee: I blame the government for not protecting american buisness's from currency manipulations, trade treaties that are unfair and unjust. The government could do a heck of alot more,is what I'm saying. Remember most of the worlds economy revolves around us, not vis versa !
Sorry, but as a consumer I don't want to be "protected" from German and Japanese vehicles so that UAW members and fat-cat executives can continue to recieve pay and benefits far out of line with market rates while peddling more of the same old stuff. The simple fact is that Toyota and Honda have shown GM, Ford and the UAW a better way to build and engineer vehicles. Customers, voting with their dollars, are increasingly choosing Toyotas, Lexuses, Hondas and Acuras. If the domestics can't adapt, that is their fault.
If the domestic market were protected, we'd be driving heavily facelifted 1975 Novas and Granadas built by strike-happy UAW members making $200,000 annually. Thanks, but no thanks.
Incidentally, you drive an Acura TL, which, the last time I checked, wasn't assembled by the UAW or CAW. Apparently, you didn't want government "protection" when it came time to spend your own money on a vehicle...
rockylee: The product planners and engineers along with upper management should be the ones you should put the blame on. Aren't they the ones WHO MANAGE and PLAN the Products rolling off the assembly line.
They are hindered by a cost disadvantage, and must contend with a recalcitrant workforce that still thinks it's 1965. Yes, management has made some boneheaded decisions, but some of those decisions are driven by labor costs and the workforce.
rockylee: Your statement of including Big Labor doesn't make any sense when you step back and look at it as a whole. The cost of Labor on cars is roughly $1500 which includes wages, health benfits, retirements. The asians are able to amplify that by undercutting the Big 3 roughly $5K with their currency manipulation Yen vs. Dollar. Watch Lou Dobbs on CNN for a perfect detailed explanation of how the foreigners are under cutting American buisness's. Big Red China has perfected this tatic.
First, Red China is a red herring, as the last time I checked, no Chinese-made automobiles are sold in the American market. Second, Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas and Hyundais are built here, in the good old USA, partially because those companies want PROTECTION from currency fluctuations.
The domestic's disadvantage comes from healt-care costs, as they have structured their benefits in an uncompetitive manner, and can't unilaterally change them because of the UAW contract. Second, according to author Micheline Maynard, Toyota can build the same number of vehicles as GM with 1/3 the number of workers, thanks to more efficient production techniques. If you don't think that is a big advantage, you are kidding yourself.
rockylee: However I guess some of you would be happy if good folks like my dad were making $5 an hour and on social programs, so you can still pay the same price as now. Look at some of the cars being built in foreign country's.....Are they any cheaper ??????.....Didn't think so !!!!!!
No, I want the good folks like your dad to stop listening to union rhetoric (not to mention the nonsense spewed by Lou Dobbs) and realize what must be done to save the company so that it will be around in the future.
What you want is for everyone else to make a sacrifice - in terms of the quality, price and performance of new vehicles - so that a select few workers and management can ignore a changing world. Sorry, but that isn't going to happen, no matter how much Lou Dobbs rants this week.
Granted, because this directly impacts your father, you have a different view. But you are the one who needs to see the "big picture."
Grbeck, I baught a Acura TL because of the very poor service and run around I was getting from the GM dealerships down here. I baught the car out of anger, but shortly fell in love with it. Just because I like some of the Japanese cars, doesn't mean I don't care about the Big 3's. I demand upper management to quit lining their pockets and improve the product and invest in the future. The government like I said needs to tariff or make the playing field equal, so somebody like my father can make $60K a yr. Currently my retired UAW GM grandfather doesn't have to collect medicare or medicaid because he has company paid health insurance. That does save you tax money !
The Acura TL, has 65% American content and was one of the reasons WHY I baught it. The TL is made in Marysville, Ohio. I am not totaly against the Japanese auto manufactors, because they HAVE invested in this country and as the look of it will CONTINUE to do so. I have myself looked at a Lexus IS. I probably won't buy one, because it doesn't have enough american content.
I however am against all import products made by slave labor sweat shops in 3rd world country's. The German cars aren't third world automobiles yet ! They are trying to outsource jobs to cheap labor markets too from what I have read.
I being a human being and American, don't want slave labor products being braught into my country PERIOD !!!!! I know some of you don't give a rats [non-permissible content removed], but only care about price and the bottom line. I find this mentality very sad and lacking morale character. I guess I'm too compassionate for others.
I especially care about people in my country including Canada, and wish we could live a good life with a good standard of living. That standard is getting lowered each day because our officials won't change the laws on the books that only benefit big corporations. Cars if were made by a employee making slave wages, will cost the same and won't be reduced until no one can afford them. Anyone who believes different is a fool in my opinion !!!!
I am not asking for freebees, but believe the U.S. government should be responsible for education, healthcare, etc. It's sad when police, military, firefighters, etc, can barely afford a place to live, let alone a car. That is WRONG ! We as a people need to influence our government and the world, and demand change before it's too late.
I know it's wishful thinking grbeck, but I know I'm not alone in the belief of this.
I hope you can repect where I am coming from.
P.S. I gotta strongly disagree with you on Mr. Dobbs. I wish he would run for office, because he would have my vote locked ! :P
Rocky
I guess that means I shouldn't have bought a Suburban since mine was made in Mexico and the quality makes me think it was built after the workers drank to much tequila during their siesta .
This F'ing thing is back in the shop with more suspension troubles. I guess I'll have to take pride that thanks to GM's substandard products, I've contributed about $4K this year to the well being of my local mechanic. If I hear "this shouldn't break with only 50k miles" one more time, I'm going to puke.
I keep telling myself these repairs are cheaper than a new SUV. If I ever buy another GM product I will demand a 100k warranty if they want my money.
If someone has as many problems with a Honda or Toyota as I've had with my Suburban, then I agree they should seriously question the idea of buying another.
I ask if you give a 100K warranty at no cost, or at dealer cost, I will buy from you.
Hope you give the GMT-900 a chance pal. I have heard they are much better in quality.
Rocky
The GMT-900s look to be very nice and I will certainly look at them when time to upgrade. Like you mentioned, I did a lot of research before buying a Suburban. From all accounts my researched showed reliability to at least be on par with any other full size SUV on the road and while I new there were things about it I didn't like, reliability I thought, wouldn't be an issue. Well things just haven't turned out that way.
I consider myself open minded and I don't like to say I'll never buy from a specific manufacturer. You might just miss out on something great. That said, I will look at the new Suburban along with the new redesigned Expedition for '07 which I've read will feature a 6+ liter engine. The one that fits my needs the best will be the one I buy. I might wait until either one is out for a full model year though. Unless my Suburban doesn't last that long.
I understand, and very suprised by your awful luck with the suburban. I've been cursed with reliability in cars. You either get a lemon :lemon: or you don't. I know people with imports that have griped about the same isues as domestic owners.
If I was going to shop a import, I'd stick with Toyota or Lexus. I guess like you said about the lotion and sweat thing, a plain jane SUV is probably best for you.
I do like the Toyota Sequoia and Toyota's 4.7 v8 is silky smooth and feels like it belongs in a Lexus, as it is with the LX470 etc. I looked at them, but I can get a two year old Suburban/Expedition used for the same price as a 4 year old Sequoia with 4x the miles. Just unbelievable how they hold their value.
The refreshed Explorer looks pretty impressive on paper. With the updated 4.6 and a 6speed it has a tow rating nearly identical to my Suburban, I also like the interior too. The main issue is whether Ford has remedied their quality issues and I don't know if an Explorer is big enough. We've been throwing the idea around of a bigger boat, thus a 3/4 ton Suburban may the way to go. An Excursion is just to damn big and useless w/o a diesel.
GM spends $2.7 billion for the steel for its vehicles but a whopping $5.6 billion for its employees healthcare! Isn't there something a little wrong with this picture?
This has been going on for 20 years!!
GM's problems are purely self-inflicted.
DrFill
I think with the low sulphur diesel coming, there will be more choices among suvs that will fit your needs better.
unless you get used, which i think should be the way to go if you are looking for an suv now.
Towing a 4500-5000lbs boat really doesn't classify as heavy towing. The current batch of 3/4 ton diesels are overkill for this weight. If I wanted a PU, I guess I would seriously consider a diesel, but the only diesel SUV that would fit my needs is an Excursion and I don't think I'll touch a 6.0L powerstroke anytime soon with all the problems that have been reported.
I think a v6 turbo diesel or smaller displacement v8 turbo diesel would be great for a 1/2 ton SUV and I would be very interested.
Rocky
GM needs to be concentrating on building cars, not negotiating contracts with hospitals and doctors offices all over the country for current employees and retirees. Aetna alone covers over 10 million people. How could GM compete with that?
Still the number of employees and retirees that GM has are a fraction of the number of total insured under a large insurance company.
If I was a corporation, I would pay my employees "X" amount which would be very generous to the point that they would have extra left over. Tell them this large sum of money is for you to provide your insurance and retirement and then some
The statics which are bogus, suggest that GM pays $75 an hour for wages and benefits. Well if I was GM, I'd pay my workers $50-60 an hour no benefits. They could pocket the
$15-25 dollars an hour extra and could eliminate one helluva alot of adminastration personel. The quick fix solution for North American manufactoring !!!
Rocky
$15-25 dollars an hour extra and could eliminate one helluva alot of adminastration personel. The quick fix solution for North American manufactoring !!!
(I was referring "they" as in GM)
Rocky
Would any of you take the money spent by your company in the form of a higher wage, and eliminate your benefits all togeather and provide your own ??????
I personally would rather take the upfront money and buy my insurance for my family, and fund my retirement. I would max out a Roth IRA, dump a large portion in a secure high interest investment, and invest the remaining in real estate, gold, or whatever else my gut told me.
I'm suprise still that more corporations aren't conducting buisness this way. It eliminates legacy costs, and overhead for a company.
Happy Holidays to all
Rocky
While that may work for you, how many people would actually have the discipline to find the best medical, disability, and retirement plans. I'm afraid we would have a national crisis at retirement time far greater than our current situation. Also, employers get to write off many of these benefits, not the case if they pay these benefits out as wages.
Another thing you need to remember, most employer sponsored health plans guarantee coverage. If you have a debilitating condition most insurance plans will not cover you, where employer plans do.
However good points dieselone
Rocky
**
While that may work for you, how many people would actually have the discipline to find the best medical, disability, and retirement plans. I'm afraid we would have a national crisis at retirement time far greater than our current situation.
**
FDR was one of the worst Presidents we've ever had when it came to domestic policy. The idea that we *owe* people a retirement is silly. They work, they invest, they save - or they keep working. They screw it up? Their own fault. All it has done is make what once was a huge bonus (company paid pension) like paid medical is now, and has turned it into an entitlement. Mandatory payments, employers getting crushed by unions and Social Security, and yet - have you seen the projected payouts if the proposed cuts go through?
$800 a month isn't going to pay the rent on a crackerbox in most of the country. Of the money we put into Social Security and pensions, maybe 20-25% actually gets to the individual. I pay thouisands every year into Social Security - it's taken out without my permission, yet, being 36, I know I'll never see a dime of it. It's wasted money. So are pensions. The chance of a pension being there in 30 years is roughly zero lately.
401Ks are ten times better by comparison, yet... yet we are still forced to pay into Social Security and the employers are forced to pay for pensions they can't afford. We pay almost as much total in taxes as most of Europe, yet get crumbs in return.
But the fact remains. Nobody owes you anything. Ever. Not now, and not when you "retire". I just wish there was a form I could sign to opt out of Social Security entirely and reinvest that lost money someplace better.
Rocky
I was mainly commenting on the current affairs of our country. In order to implement what Rock suggested, people need to be educated in regards to financial planning. It's scary how little the avg. person knows about managing money.
Just look at the average credit card debt per new college grad (not to mention school loan debt), and tell me we are teaching our children/citizens how to plan for the future.
I don't want to give anyone the impression I'm for entitlement programs, cause that is surely not the case.
(especially the upper) I guess we as a people gotta put the blame on someone, and unions are a easy target. Just because they make a good wage and have decent benefits, doesn't mean everyone who doesn't has to take a cheap shot at them. If you don't like your current job, then move on !!!!!! Try to get one of the few good union jobs left. It might take moving your family.
I can understand ones frustration when he or she goes to college for 4+ years and gets paid bread crumbs. I know it might not be fair, but instead of being mad at unions like the UAW, perhaps you need to look at personal choices like political elections. The way you vote, can greatly affect your future salary.
I do know alot of college grads whom are out in the workforce aren't getting a fair shake. The UAW, didn't do this to you and shouldn't be blamed. My father has said he feels sorry for a person who goes to college gets a degree or skill and comes into the workforce with a $20-35K salary. He said their won't be change until the average Joe revolts and says "no more" !!!! We want the trade treaty's changed and imports taxed like they do in other country's(Tariff)
Until then we will continue down the current path to destruction :mad:
Rocky
Article:
Lawyer Mark Cronmiller, left, talks to a client in court. Cronmiller hopes his law degree opens employment doors for him.
Disabled and Denied
High joblessness plagues disabled
Just 37% of those of working age are able to find and hold jobs in Michigan
Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News
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The series
Sunday: Many places remain inaccessible to the disabled.
Monday: Coping with a poor transit system and a lack of housing.
Today: Employment bias against the disabled remains strong.
Coming Thursday
Children practice the game of life.
More inside
Workers with disabilities put their federal benefits at risk. 4
A
Sunday's report
Parking, stairs, other barriers shut out Metro Detroit's disabled
66 businesses fail to meet federal test
Some cities fail to fill ADA coordinator post
More get disabled parking permits; why is Detroit's disability rate so high?
Monday's report
Few ride options for disabled
Vouchers could relieve transit crunch
Accessible homes hard to come by
Options for poor disabled are fewer
Lawsuits force cities to improve curbs
Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News
Andre Bryant of Detroit turns to the Web to find a job. Since earning a bachelor's degree last year, Bryant has had no luck in landing permanent work. "I want to be able to make my own way," he says. See full image
Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News
Damon Page, at left, uses a device with which he can move his wheelchair with sips and puffs in his data-entry job with Wayne State. Though technology has made the workplace more accommodating to people with disabilities, employers still hesitate to hire them for fear of the expense of doing so. See full image
Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News
Lawyer Mark Cronmiller, left, talks to a client in court. Cronmiller hopes his law degree opens employment doors for him. See full image
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ST. CLAIR SHORES-- In the legal world, the case wasn't a big one. A 62-year-old man faced larceny charges in 40th District Court for taking a few guest passes from his Bally's Total Fitness gym.
But to lawyer Mark Cronmiller, the recent case was monumental.
Cronmiller, paralyzed in a diving accident in 1986, passed the bar this year after graduating from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. This was his first real job: a court-appointed defense attorney.
"It's such a dramatic step forward for me," said Cronmiller, 50, of Harrison Township. Even though the job isn't permanent, he hopes it will create opportunities.
Fifteen years after the federal Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, employment remains the most glaring disparity between people with disabilities and those without -- even at a time when technology has fostered greater independence. In fact, employment rates for working-age people with disabilities have declined since passage of the ADA, which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities.
For men with disabilities, the employment rate fell by 22 percent from 1989 to 2000, while for men without disabilities the rate dropped only 1 percent, according to Cornell University research. During the same period, the rate for women with disabilities fell 13 percent, while it grew 6 percent for women without disabilities.
Lingering fears about hiring people with disabilities and barriers in transportation that make getting to work difficult, as well as disincentives to work, all contribute to the staggeringly low employment rate for people with disabilities, experts say.
"It appears that we are rolling backwards in the area of civil rights," said John Kemp, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and national advocate for the disabled. "We are certainly losing ground in the employment arena."
For working-age people with disabilities -- those between 21 and 64 -- the employment rate in Michigan was 37 percent in 2004, compared with 76 percent for people without disabilities. Nationally, the rate was 38 percent, compared with 77 percent for people without disabilities, according to research by Cornell.
Employment measures the number of people with jobs relative to the total population. Disability statisticians tend to focus on employment rather than unemployment, which focuses only on the number of active jobseekers and, in turn, doesn't capture those discouraged by the job market.The huge employment gap needs to be treated more seriously, said Kemp, who was born without arms below the elbows and without legs below the knees.
"There would be outrage if women, minorities or any other group had that high of an unemployment rate," said Kemp, who uses four prostheses and a wheelchair to live independently.
Myths about workers linger
Hiring someone with a disability may bring a string of negative perceptions to an employer's mind, said Louis Orslene of the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a government-funded free consulting service designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities.
"There are a number of myths that exist and that have existed for decades," said Orslene, manager of strategic partnerships for the organization. "Liability costs and workers compensation will increase, or people with disabilities will take more time off. All the studies over the decades show that these are just not true."
Orslene points to several surveys, including a 1999 Society for Human Resource Management survey of 813 human resource professionals. Three out of four respondents said costs didn't go up for insuring people with disabilities or their dependents.
And a National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of senior executives in 1995 found that two out of three corporate managers described the job performance of their employees with disabilities as "pretty good" or "excellent."
"We have been trying to debunk these myths for decades but it's so challenging," Orslene said.
Despite such surveys, people in wheelchairs say they often make employers uncomfortable.
Andre Robinson, 36, and an associate degree holder in business administration, may look good on paper to potential employers, but after 18 face-to-face job interviews, he still doesn't have a permanent position.
"Once they see I'm in a wheelchair, most of the time they never call back," said Robinson, who was born with cerebral palsy, a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and muscle coordination. The condition is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually around birth or infancy.
Jim Baker, spokesman for United Cerebral Palsy, based in Washington D.C., said the condition is associated largely with lack of mobility, not lack of cogniti
Ailing automaker fights for survival; deal amends union agreement, cuts health care costs by $1B.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051220/AUTO01/512200333/1148-