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GM CLOSING IN OSHAWA -----N F


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35 minutes ago, misfish said:

I bought my Truck not cuz it was a Dodge, I bought it because the ticket price out the door at end of year ,was $18 grand brand new. It was a deal IMO. Now I am dealing with what I had no idea was an issue with them. Pulsing rear brakes. Seems this has been a prob for awhile. Brake maintenance every 6 months so I have been told. If that's all I have to deal with, $18 grand for a truck for my needs, is a bargain. TOUCHES WOOD.

I hear you Brian. A pal bought is very 1st new out of the showroom truck at 65. He went with the Ram with Hemi. I have no idea why he bought new as he has a heated quansit building complete with a hydraulic lift. All I will say because this isn't the Dodge/Ford/Chevy which is best thread, he said he made a huge mistake, especially when he had to pay a 100 bucks for an oil service he could do in his sleep to maintain his warranty. 

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Shut downs and people loosing their employment en mass is absolutely nothing new guys. I'll try to keep this to 1000 words or less. Mom is from North Tonawanda NY. When we were very little there was a huge Pulp and Paper mill as well as an old Bethlehem Steel plant that we had to pass on the Niagara River to get into town. I always wished the road was blocked when the Switchman would spread their arms holding the coal lamp to stop traffic. A drag of 100 ton Cling ladles filled with molten iron would cross the road, often sparks would fly up when the Hogger stopped the train, cool to see for a 7 year old. Fast forward to 1977 when I was asked if I would be interested in going into Blast Furnace operations and eventually working at the new Nanticoke plant on Lake Erie. The General Foreman then, Mr. Bill Taylor said to me "Son if you choose to work in the Blast Furnaces you will have a job for life." Not wanting to be a wise ass I carefully told Mr. Taylor that wasn't true. In the early 70's they knocked down those WW1 and a WW2 era furnaces and turned the brownfield into a park and Marina. over 30,000 good paying jobs were gone in a blink in Western NY when Bethlehem and several smaller steel plants just simply vanished by 1974. The greenfield site where Bethlehem stood in Lackawanna NY west of Buffalo will soon be the largest manufacturer of Solar panels in the World. That's the plan anyway.

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Most of the guys my age always say we were born at the right time, 1950's. If you went down Burlington St. on a bus in Steeltown and got off at the wrong stop one could walk to the wrong front office of any plant and get a shift job for 30 to 40 years with benefits and a pension. That time was the closest one could say " I have a permanent job." Even then though many were severed off in the 90's a few years or less short of pensions. Many of the guys I worked with that had no plans of retiring that had more than 30 years in would get a tap on the shoulder from someone out of the Pittsburg office and were asked "What do you do here?" If they didn't have a good answer the bean counter would congratulate them on their retirement if they qualified. I had never reached into my pocket to pay for anything health related in my entire life until a few years ago. US Steel Canada cut medical benefits by 100%. Thankfully we got most of them back when Bedrock Industries bought us from US Steel. I got a small taste of what it is like to have to pay for major medical, Rx drugs and dental like both my brothers and their families. A sobering experience to say the least and a new empathy for those that don't get good if any medical benefits from their employers. I am sure there are many on this board today with young families that must pay for medical benefits out of their net earnings. It has to be a tough go of it for certain. 

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2 hours ago, Old Ironmaker said:

 I had never reached into my pocket to pay for anything health related in my entire life until a few years ago. US Steel Canada cut medical benefits by 100%. Thankfully we got most of them back when Bedrock Industries bought us from US Steel. I got a small taste of what it is like to have to pay for major medical, Rx drugs and dental like both my brothers and their families. A sobering experience to say the least and a new empathy for those that don't get good if any medical benefits from their employers. I am sure there are many on this board today with young families that must pay for medical benefits out of their net earnings. It has to be a tough go of it for certain. 

Until I got my current job I had never had medical benefits.

Or really any benefits at all.

Now I have a job with medical, dental and prescription coverage and most important a pension!!!!

I lived for the day my entire life and never saved a penny. The pension offered from my employer will actually allow me to retire.

Just wish I found the position 10 years earlier as I would be able to retire with a full pension, but I can live quite comfortably on the amount I will earn from it. Especially when combined with CPP & OAS.

For most of my working life I found it more important to have a job I could take leave from to head to the Arctic to guide for 2 months a year. Being happy and chasing fish was more important the the all mighty dollar. Foolish, maybe but I have enjoyed my life and when all is said and done I won't be saying I wish I had done this or done that. Because I did them.  :)

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Since this topic  has moved into pensions I would strongly suggest anyone working and close to retirement look into the option of taking a commuted pension, especially if your companies pension fund is already in an underfunded state.  I did this and retired at the end of June. The first week of October I got my lump sum commuted pension in the form of 2 separate cheques. My employer of 36 years has been declining all over North America much the same as GM  and they even have a 5 year loan from our government right now to help pay their pensioners.  I was truly concerned that someday getting a pension from them would disappear.

The pros. I got my money. If the company goes under now it will have no effect on me. The amount I got was  the equivalent of 25 years of what I would have received as a monthly pension. I can invest it how I see fit. 

The cons. Lost all my benefits when I severed my ties with the company.  If you have no coverage elsewhere...like a spouse with benefits...or you have expensive medical/dental issues this could be a problem. Do your homework and figure out what is best for you because in my experience you will  always do better for yourself then somebody else will.

Edited by crappieperchhunter
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Perhaps something that Oshawa and our government should be pursuing? Saving jobs by promoting green technology? That's political dynamite! Not that our sitting Ontario government has the greatest of relations with Tesla, but they're growing and can't keep up with demand. Make it worth their while to set up shop in Ontario, promote a connection to the tech companies in Waterloo and the excellent work they might be able to contribute, and who knows where this could go?

https://business.financialpost.com/transportation/autos/elon-musk-says-tesla-may-consider-buying-idle-general-motors-plants

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4 hours ago, Tom S said:

Perhaps something that Oshawa and our government should be pursuing? Saving jobs by promoting green technology? That's political dynamite! Not that our sitting Ontario government has the greatest of relations with Tesla, but they're growing and can't keep up with demand. Make it worth their while to set up shop in Ontario, promote a connection to the tech companies in Waterloo and the excellent work they might be able to contribute, and who knows where this could go?

https://business.financialpost.com/transportation/autos/elon-musk-says-tesla-may-consider-buying-idle-general-motors-plants

Elon Musk was on 60 minutes last night. To keep up with demand, they build an assembly line under a tent in the parking lot! Yes, he was asked if he would consider buying any of the closing GM plants and he said he would consider it. He also mentioned that one thing he has learned in the process of building a company, is that humans are far more reliable than robots in most cases.

HH

Edited by Headhunter
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I'm sure they also said they are just starting to make a profit.  Until someone comes up with a really high capacity battery, I don't think I'll ever buy one.  At present you go on a trip more than there is capacity, then what, especially if you're not at a recharge station.  Run out of gas is one thing can be fixed by a jerry can, run out of electrons,  hmmm, never tried to get them to get in a jerry can and refill a battery.

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39 minutes ago, Fisherman said:

I'm sure they also said they are just starting to make a profit.  Until someone comes up with a really high capacity battery, I don't think I'll ever buy one.  At present you go on a trip more than there is capacity, then what, especially if you're not at a recharge station.  Run out of gas is one thing can be fixed by a jerry can, run out of electrons,  hmmm, never tried to get them to get in a jerry can and refill a battery.

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What is a "commuted" pension? My pension payments to date is over $600,000.00. Take it early and live a few years. Everyone thought I was nuts to take it very early at 45. If I stayed until 55 it would be around 100 bucks per month per year more. I've made up that 1000 bucks doing things I enjoyed doing not working 50 to 60 hours a week and on call 24/7 with zero overtime and zero bonuses. Companies under bankruptcy protection don't usually give out bonuses for middle management. 

As far as any vehicle that runs on anything all I want to know is how much $ per km. I don't care if it's horse manure if it's less than any other fuel and stays less I'll buy one if the ROI is worth it. Gas is 98.9 here in Cayuga On. today. I don't think Hydro is less per KM. Is it?

Edited by Old Ironmaker
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On ‎11‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 8:15 PM, Fisherman said:

Anyone relate this to that tune from way back In the year 2525 when man becomes useless, everything is done by machines.  It's coming early, so much done by robotics, robots teaching robots.  What do you do when there's no work.

Manufacture and repair robots. Robotics also serve as a safety appliance between a human and hazardous conditions. 

Edited by Old Ironmaker
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