Things I've learned from this: 1. The city's sole reliance on the auto-industry was always a bad thing for their economy. 2. Lack of research and development on the products they are selling. Japan left them behind on fuel-efficiency, Germany and Italy left them behind on overall car performance, And the rest of the world left them behind on manufacturing cost. All of them contributed to the decline of their auto-industry, 3. Education not being prioritized enough like half of the citizens are illiterate.
I commute to Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit everyday. I see a lot of things- and I see a lot of depressed people. Sometimes it makes me very sad. But it's my home- it's been my home for 18 years. I love Detroit and most of you will never understand why. But if you've never been here, you have no right to slander my home. Instead of leaving the 'pile of garbage' that most of you think Detroit is to fester, why don't you try helping out? How about praying for us?
They didnt get a good salary, they were getting 74 bucks an hour to do the bare minimum effort. If a toilet backed up, the employees would walk by and say get a plumber, because its not my job. The city set up lavish pensions for all their employees, spent the money and now 1/2 of the entire city budget is needed to support the pensions. There is no money for police or fire and the city has dropped into anarchy. Anybody with money left long ago. And now its a waste land.
They depended mostly on many car companies not just one! Obviously, they had plenty of other jobs like any other big city back in the day but all the auto related work was the largest employer.
Thank you for mentioning the unions in your response. Decades ago, they repeatedly protested for more and more generous pensions despite the city losing hundreds of thousands of people. And no politician can get elected in Detroit without their backing, so they did whatever the unions wanted. It was a vicious cycle.
I remember when I first came to Detroit I hate this city but as I got older I grew to love this city and I still love Detroit I just don't love what people do and say about the city. ...people just don't care about each other and they don't care about the city like they should....I hope things change soon I hope all the killing stop and love come back to the Motor City 💖💖💖💖💖💖
American cars look good but are unreliable and lose their value fast. Japanese cars are boring but reliable, efficient and hold their value. So I heard what my head said and bought a toyota Camry, even though my heart desired a Cadillac CTS. I wish american cars are better built.
Detroit stubbornly refused to start making smaller more fuel efficient cars. The Japanese got the jump on us. Plus the quality suffered. It's difficult for a city when its entire economy is primarily based on one industry. As a former Pittsburgher, and a proud American, I hope Detroit finds its way and can reinvent itself.
I'm an engineer with 0 benefits, no retirement $65k/yr. My uncle worked at Ford welding the rear gates on pickups in Lorain OH. Last five years at Ford he was on parking lot duty making $100,000 a year. Retired with incredible pension and benefits. A co-worker at a prior engineering job told me how at Ford, someone would sabatoge the line. If the line was down for more than two hours or so, workers were sent home with full pay thanks to the union.
Stop paying people 30$ per hour that just push a button. I have an actual skill trade of tig welding in aerospace industry and don't make that. I've seen how these union works at a gm plant and it was pathetic. Hidden beds for people to sleep, overtime was just a rotation with next shift rather than more production, no one ever got fired. Union killed Detroit.
over inflated corporate salaries are to blame not the unions. Giving their management 6 and 7 figure salaries, and bonuses is shameful when you have to take away a loyal employee's dental care away. Corporate greed is what busted the auto industry to unions.
What is scary is its not just the manufacturing industry it's all aspects of employment. My husband has a Ba and 20 yrs exp and he's been out of work for 2 years. It's scary
At 2:36 shows the Michigan Central Train Deport. It went out of business when AMTRAK stopped running trains there in 1987. People take planes instead of trains nowadays. At 2:41 shows the Brush Park neighborhood, with some home built in the 1870s. After WW2, many of these former mansions were converted in apartments, then evolved into flophouses. A few of these mansion have been restored, such as 97 Winder Street built in 1880, and having 11,000 sq. ft. Currently listed at 2.5 million.
Dave Cole talking out his a$$. Those workers paid into those pension plans, be it with lower wages or GM taking a portion of their wages. Until idiots like this realize, that middle to upper management to the CEO, are the reason these companies are failing, things will never change. But i would expect a response like that from him because he's fighting his own corner. CEO pay is up an astounding 725%. The average CEO used to be paid about 65 times the average worker, now it's 273 times the average worker. They get this even though the businesses they are running are failing. Rewarded for failure with bonuses etc and they wonder why things are going wrong.
Checkm8king2 Worker's built those cars. They earned those pensions. Who are you to say they didn't. Worker productivity in the US has gone up decade on decade since the 70's, yet inflation has out paced their pay rises. They are earning less than they did in the 70's when adjusted for inflation. On the other hand CEO's pay has gone up an astounding 273 times more. Debate me on those issues.
Checkm8king2 First off, i'm self employed. It was part of their agreement with GM. It does not matter if they paid into it or not, which my guess is that most probably did. So if i make a work agreement with you and i go back on that agreement then its ok with you? Nah didn't think so.
I paid for college on my own, graduated in 2008 and had the loans paid off by 2012. My parents didn't help at all. My mom's condo was foreclosed on and the company my dad worked for went under about 10 years ago so he was working free-lance and borrowing money from me. I went to community college the first two years and worked as many hours as I could to save money. I went to Northern Illinois where I got my Bachelors, I hope to get a masters one day. I have yet to surpass the 40K/year mark.
@@alundavies8402 I appreciate the sentiment; but in the interum between the previous comment and now, I was promoted, changed professions, and was promoted again, and my salary has increased by a good amount since this comment. I look at this old post and kinda laugh that I wanted to spend time, energy, and money on getting a masters degree.
The Union helped kill GM just as much as the executives and the in-ability to manage a brand properly. The Unions owned something like 20% of the shares. This should never be allowed. This gives leverage in decision making. When you have a company, you need to make cuts and re-structure to survive. If one type of car 'sucks'... you need to stop trying to sell it to the people. (or 15 types of the same SUV for that matter). Focus on what sells, and keep it simple. Don't keep dead weight either... this includes union bosses that extort. Put the Union bosses to work on the line for a while.
Germany has a highly profitable auto-industry and strong labor unions. But they (indursty and unions) call themselfs "social partners", which means: everybody gets it fair share of the cake. But 2 thing: a) reluctant leadership is suicid, b) never ever have your pensions at a/your company
What if you bought the LAND RIGHTS and all the buildings on a city block in detroit? Could you turn that into farmland or would the soil be unable to sustain it?
I am young (late twenties)but not naïve. I realize a companies number 1 priority is profit, or in the case of a non-profit, efficiency. I've worked for a large faceless sort of organization and I've also worked for a smaller company where they are loyal to employees that have worked there for 30 years but even then I know the main interest of the business is to remain in business. I believe a strong work ethic and willingness to adapt ensures you will be an important tool in the company shed.
no bailout... not if its going to cost the country al that money... instead, lets get rid of the criminals who still have survived hiding in Detroit and put them in jail or process them via the criminal justice system.... then, lets have private industry come to Detroit and further expand.... finally, lets BRING THE ILLEGAL ALIENS TO THIS CITY AND STRUCTURE DETROIT BRICK - PER - BRICK.... HAVE A HARD WORKING CLASS COME TO DETROIT TO STRUCTURE IT AGAIN... AND THE CHEAPEST HAND OF LABOR ARE THE MEXICANS.... SO ... IN OTHER WORDS, HOLMES, THIS COULD BECOME A LATINIZED CITY.... ARRIBA... AMIGO.
GM couldn't compete with Toyota, Honda, VW etc. The later are low cost producers, always innovate for consumers benefit & reliable after sales service.
How do you figure, out sourcing of jobs ruined the American economy. Toyota manufactures more vehicles and parts in north America then all the big three combined.
bob suruncle Oh sure, now Toyota does employ a lot of Americans, but the Big 3 used to employ a lot more Americans. Hiring some Americans is the least Toyota can do after having wrecked the American economy from the 70s to 2008.
Sending our entire manufacturing industry to China ruined the American economy. Printing money like there's no tomorrow ruined the economy. Some guy driving a Toyota had basically nothing to do with it.
Jerry Garner The decline began before they moved to China and massive layoffs happened. All those young baby boomers buying Corollas and Civics instead of Fords and Chevys in the 1970s got the ball rolling.
Poor old Detroit. I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario and a large amount of the steel we produced there went to the automotive industry in Michigan and the rest of North America. We, as a blue collar industrial city always looked on the situation in Detroit with empathy. I hope that better days come for Detroit. They've endured enough.
This video is from 2009. It's even worse now because GM doesn't make too many vehicles here in the US and the demand for GM vehicles in general has not recovered.
You’re correct, cities can break down but only those individuals who feel entitlement after the break down will fail, those who pick themselves up by the bootstraps and move to find work to support their families win. People spend more time and energy waiting for the actions of others when they should be focusing on making things happen for themselves and their families. Self preservations has been the way of the American, since our beginning.
You're both right. I always thought joining a Union would help us, the non-union workers fared better. Pay union dues and not getting represented properly. Your job is at risk because the union wages and benefits are too high to compete again non-union employers. The companies can't handle the pressure either. Corporate big-wigs and union leaders are on the same side.
It pisses me off that you have all the auto workers unions pushing harder and harder and pummeling GM for more and more benefits, higher wages, more generous pensions and when GM is on its knees for these exact reasons, the unions just go but, but, but, but...GM promised us all this money. They turn it around and try and blame GM for all of the problems
I realized I was a conservative years before I got a white collar job. while in college when a friend was explaining the ideals of the Republican party. I worked service, retail, labor, carrying around drywall and toting a drill. I had a lot of blue collar neighbors growing up, I respect anyone who works for a living. I have always tested well in mathematics, top 1% in all those standardized tests back in school. I figured I'd try to maximize my ability. Good debate. Take care Lou.
That room full of people you see at 12:20, they are part of the problem. Listen to them "my city is dying, people are dying, thousands of children suffer in the city but I want all my money!" This was the attitude that helped lead Detroit to hell, take all you can take and ignore the end result of taking more than production can provide. It does not matter your age or your condition, you can be a bad person at any age. A smart person knows NEVER to pool all your money in one spot.
I grew up in Detroit and saw what happened to it after the riot in the summer of 1967. It took a city that was racially divided and made it worse. Instead of people working together, blacks became angrier, whites moved from the central city to the suburbs. Few wanted to sit down and work out the problems from the riots, most wanted to just leave. For blacks, Coleman Young became their symbol of hope and for whites, he was a racist that didn't care if they stayed or left.
I'm a welder in kalamazoo mi im 21yrs old and i will tell you how hard it is to find production jobs in michigan you are damn lucky if you can find a skilled job at $15/hr.
That Gold toy Corvette he holds at 10:42 is one of the Made In China ERTL series classic cars. The originals were made in Detroit by Jo-Han and then X-L plastics. Good luck finding any toy made in the USA.
From 3,000 people to produce to 50 to produce. If industry is eliminated there is no opportunity to have a viable town anywhere whether its Detroit or West Virginia. If a solution is not figured out for our nation in terms of jobs and industries with living wages, we will sadly no longer have a nation. And this applies to every nation around the world.
I've read up on it quite a bit, listened to the radio, watched the news, talked to people that work in hospitals. The ACA is already damaging the economy and has the potential to be detrimental to it long term and that truly concerns me. Come on Lou, any change is not good change. That's like saying trading in your 2013 Ford F150 for a 1991 Ford F150 with slipping transmission is good because its a change. Congress and their staff have been exempted from it, even Unions are now opposing it.
@SeanP7195 Here's another funny bit. Toyota makes cars in the US, and at a good profit. They refuse to allow unions in any factory they run, and will close shop and move elsewhere if the workers do decide to unionize. They did have one factory that was unionized - the NUMMI plant in California, which had a union because the plant was run in partnership with GM. When GM went bankrupt, the union DEMANDED that Toyota pick up GM's obligation. Toyota immediately shut the factory down.
@Mathias3710 the suburbs are as much of detroit as downtown is, sure the population of detroit is down, but there is still a huge number of people in the suburbs
At 7:15 tells that GIFT grew up on the "infamous" Joy Rd. What is so infamous about Joy Rd? I have never heard it called that until I saw this video. Henry Ford is buried on Joy about 3/4 mile from this McDonalds shown. I have never had any problems on Joy either day or night. "shot out and crazy shit"? I live near Detroit and watch Detroit TV news daily, and never hear of this. He hang out with the wrong crowd. I have never had anyone pull a gun on me, and I am not a street wise as him.
He is and that's probably why he acts confused about what really caused Detroit to collapse. Detroit had fallen apart before the auto companies left en masse.
@1800MRROOF I to have lived in Detroit all my life and still have yet to see these "vibrant communities" you speak of. Also, if Detroits problems are all related to the Big 3 struggling, then why was Detroit so dangerous and troubled in the late 60's and 70's when the Auto industry was humming along?
I can't relate to that. I'm from the Gulf Region of Texas and living expenses are incredibly cheap. Average petroleum refinery operator is getting paid around $27 an hour, and they are risking their lives in amongst highly flammable chemicals and oil. Considering cost of living in Detroit is below the national average, it doesn't stand to reason that these people are getting 30-40 bucks an hour for a relatively safe job. Not for me at least. However, I do respect your opinion.
"more generous pensions and when GM is on its knees for these exact reasons" == That's funny. Any data to back it up? Union member peaked in 1960s, so did the economic boom. After that, union had no choice but being defensive. Detroit started declining in 1980s when the management already had upper hand over union thanks to the help from Reagan. In 1920s, Calvin Coolidge was famous anti-union. the economy went down and car companies nearly lost their business. Coincidence?
@awm4151 well, depends on what youre looking for. I think midtown, downtown, new center in addition to the places u mentioned are all cool plus new upscale places along the river. Royal Oak has always been virbant, and Ferndale is following suit. What I like the most is the variety of places to go at night and events happening on the weekends. nothing is over commercialized overpriced or cookie cutter.
Wouldn't it make sense to station the National Guard in Detroit and to put the city under martial law to get it under control again? From several documentaries I've seen it looks like the police is not capable of ensuring safety.
i am from one of the other GM towns in michigan (saginaw) and that town got nailed very badly as well. the numbers of the jobless and crime rate literaly hit the roof!!! it is such an ugly time to be living in here in america, especialy in michigan where the economy is at its worst out of all 50 states :(
@TAFKA0 The amount paid to a handful of CEOs is a miniscule fraction of the costs of paying a million UAW workers the equivilant of $70 or $80 per hour while working and almost as much in retirement. $2000. of the cost of every GM car does not go into the car. It goes to pay UAW wages and retirement benefits. How can GM or any other car company compete against other car companies whose employee wages and benefits are 1/4 of GM's? The problem is not corporate greed. Its UAW greed.
If I can speculate over what might have happened: the decline in the auto industry. I'm OS, but the auto industry has declined here as well what with cheap imports being so plentiful our local industry didn't stand a chance. However, because of the generous Government allowances and pensions paid in this country to the unemployed, no one felt the need to turn to crime in order to survive as it seems that those who were desperate and despairing might have in Detroit. Paying allowances to those who are unemployed, rather than increasing taxes and draining the economy, this actually circulates the money straight back into the economy - as the poor need to spend most everything of what they receive to live. This providing of everyone without work or means to live with a Government allowance also help to eliminate crime as everyone has enough to live on. This system also provides more volunteers to help with charity work as the Government insists that the younger people must do a certain amount of volunteer work per month to be eligible for their fortnightly allowance. Education and medical expenses are mostly free as well for those receiving Government pensions and allowances. This system works well for this country. Even back when the economies of many European countries were collapsing, the Federal Government -instead of reducing pensions- they decided to give all on pensions an extra bonus of about $1400 so that more money would be recycled into the economy. This boost to the economy meant that this country pretty much sailed through the depression-like conditions of 4-6 years ago which affected most of the rest of the world. EDIT: On re-reading what I've just posted, I've noticed that the words after '...the Federal Government...' have been crossed out. This wasn't done by me and I've no idea why this has happened. YT censorship of comments regarding the Federal Government?
Randy Sanduski speaking at 13:00 must have had his eyes closed. The miracle was that GM made it as long as it did before falling into government hands.
It's annoying that people always blame poverty for crime and gangsters. In the places where people's are the poorest, most people arent criminals. They just do with what they have. Wanting to live the big life isnt an excuse to be a criminal. There's so many things I'd want I cant afford and I dont sell drugs or steal from people because of that...
I live in a city with the largest rail yard west of the Mississippi, there used to be thousands that worked there, but now with computers, they don't even need half of the people they used to use. There are people in Omaha NE, on a computer and can tell people in California , Utah etc where a BoxCar is , and where to take it, everything is being done with fewer employees, doesn't matter if your talking Car manufacturing, Phone Company or the Rail Roads its all being done with less workers
"General Motors is clinging to survival with a little help from the US government and bankruptcy court. Yet many of GM's union members feel uneasy." No doubt. GM is on life support. Certainly the workers will band together to save their company (?) "Will GM use bankruptcy to shed union commitments?" Oh God. There's no hope.
The city of Detroit has been locked in a downward spiral for 40+ years. To think that the negotiations of a UAW contract will make a difference either way is completely laughable. Thank goodness Sanduski didn't lose his pension though. Pity the thought.
Try as hard as you may, you can NEVER compare Michigan to California! I am from California and moved to Michigan and moved back to California within 90 days. Michigan is living in a serious time warp, economically and socially. California does not have the same problems as Michigan because they do not attempt to tax their way out of defits, property values and property taxes are commensurate and California has multiple industries, not just focused on aerospace, manufacturing, etc.
there are many factors to this. 1- real estate has inflated a lot, one has much less money for a car. 2- oil has dramatically increased, so every good s costs went up as well. 3- cars became overly sophisticated instead of simple, they are more expensive to do that way. 4- the market needs a Chevette, no electric package, for a very low cost reliable car that can be bought new. 5- there also needs to be an electric equivalent available, with minimum accessories. 6- Detroit needs to manage goods for homeless - poor in exchange for work - services. 7- salvaging the safe buildings should be a priority, it could be done by homeless people to live in temporally. 8- once cleaned up, wind turbines and solar panels can be installed to save on power in growing food. 9- social services could manage this structure to salvage citizens and buildings together. 10- the city will get safer as people will not be as desperate, and gain hope for improvement quickly. university projects by students could help for the technical process of green food and energy. Detroit needs new ideas to get back up, the economy is so different now, do the math.
Most of that was shed after they declared bankruptcy. I don't think you've been paying close enough attention to what's happened to GM. I'm not kidding, most of those contracts simply evaporated when they reorganized. What this man said about the factories only needing 50 people now rather than 3000 then is basically the story. Labor is not needed anymore and nobody has any illusions about it.
The main cause of the decline in the auto industry in Detroit is their inability to adapt, and they still haven't done it much. Some American manufacturers have made smaller models that are selling in Europe, but continuing to make big gas guzzeling cars are like a death sentence to GM and other American car manufacturers.
She was condemned because the kids were not eating what the schools were offering. My little sister would take her lunch money and put it in the vending machines for chips and pop. Its parents that need to take responsibility. As far as corruption in insurance companies, I haven't read anything on it so I won't argue you on that one.
@awm4151 I lived there all through highschool and college both in Hamtramck and Detroit neighborghoods and never encountered places like the ones shown in the video unless I went looking for them. Yes, they do exist and theyre not small, but I enjoyed the good parts of the city none of which are shown. After traveling everywhere in the country I realized that the city actually had more interesting experiences to offer than many other places in the US considered far superior.
The lack of a national health program in the US put the auto industry into a hopeless competetive situation, It cost about $2000 LESS to build a car in Canada than in the USA. The same said for Europe and Asia. The same applied to all manufacturing in the US. That plus the greed of owners who moved plants to Mexico and China and elsewhere killed the USA. Not even a light bulb or a TV is made in the US anymore. Sad!
German auto-workers get paid over $67.00 per hour. A stationary economy, corporate and union greed, technological advancements, and a global automotive market. When you go all in on one hand(the auto industry) and it losses, well you're screwed.
when i see those people walking out these plants in danger of loosing their jobs and livelihoods i find it hard to joke about their suffering... in fact, i find it a tad bit sickening.
so sad to see a once thriving city in ruins.i am G.M.till i die.i always had one,always will.i still believe in G.M. even though some may say i am crazy to do so.feel very,very sad for Detroit.i hope things get better.later.
Poor old Detroit. I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario and a large amount of the steel we produced there went to the automotive industry in Michigan and the rest of North America. We, as a blue collar industrial city always looked on the situation in Detroit with empathy. I hope that better days come for Detroit. They've endured enough.
@MrSirPhase3 The reason we're going bankrupt is because for example GM has to pay for the health care and retirement of their workers. That is insane. In Germany and Japan government takes care of it, that's why you dont' see them going bankrupt but GM and USA are. And that has nothing to do with unions.
The problems in Detroit go way beyond GM.
Things I've learned from this:
1. The city's sole reliance on the auto-industry was always a bad thing for their economy.
2. Lack of research and development on the products they are selling. Japan left them behind on fuel-efficiency, Germany and Italy left them behind on overall car performance, And the rest of the world left them behind on manufacturing cost. All of them contributed to the decline of their auto-industry,
3. Education not being prioritized enough like half of the citizens are illiterate.
Thanks democrats
I commute to Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit everyday. I see a lot of things- and I see a lot of depressed people. Sometimes it makes me very sad. But it's my home- it's been my home for 18 years. I love Detroit and most of you will never understand why. But if you've never been here, you have no right to slander my home. Instead of leaving the 'pile of garbage' that most of you think Detroit is to fester, why don't you try helping out? How about praying for us?
They didnt get a good salary, they were getting 74 bucks an hour to do the bare minimum effort. If a toilet backed up, the employees would walk by and say get a plumber, because its not my job. The city set up lavish pensions for all their employees, spent the money and now 1/2 of the entire city budget is needed to support the pensions. There is no money for police or fire and the city has dropped into anarchy. Anybody with money left long ago. And now its a waste land.
"Thats who gave me the opportunity to dress the way I like to dress, drive the cars I like to dress, wear the jewelery I like to wear."
the whole city depends upon one big company to survive ? its the biggest problem right there.
stop making so much sense.
They depended mostly on many car companies not just one! Obviously, they had plenty of other jobs like any other big city back in the day but all the auto related work was the largest employer.
Thank you for mentioning the unions in your response. Decades ago, they repeatedly protested for more and more generous pensions despite the city losing hundreds of thousands of people. And no politician can get elected in Detroit without their backing, so they did whatever the unions wanted. It was a vicious cycle.
"In the U.S. employers typically pay for they're employees Healthcare and Pension" Lol, wish I worked for one of those 'typical employers'
I remember when I first came to Detroit I hate this city but as I got older I grew to love this city and I still love Detroit I just don't love what people do and say about the city. ...people just don't care about each other and they don't care about the city like they should....I hope things change soon I hope all the killing stop and love come back to the Motor City 💖💖💖💖💖💖
American cars look good but are unreliable and lose their value fast. Japanese cars are boring but reliable, efficient and hold their value. So I heard what my head said and bought a toyota Camry, even though my heart desired a Cadillac CTS. I wish american cars are better built.
GMC = Gotta Mechanic Comin'
There re 2500 Mercedes on Craigs list Phoenix Better, guess so but at twice the cost.
Hahaha gay
Detroit stubbornly refused to start making smaller more fuel efficient cars. The Japanese got the jump on us. Plus the quality suffered. It's difficult for a city when its entire economy is primarily based on one industry. As a former Pittsburgher, and a proud American, I hope Detroit finds its way and can reinvent itself.
don,t blame the g m company blame the dam unions strike strike and the riots in the 60,s and 70,s
I'm an engineer with 0 benefits, no retirement $65k/yr. My uncle worked at Ford welding the rear gates on pickups in Lorain OH. Last five years at Ford he was on parking lot duty making $100,000 a year. Retired with incredible pension and benefits. A co-worker at a prior engineering job told me how at Ford, someone would sabatoge the line. If the line was down for more than two hours or so, workers were sent home with full pay thanks to the union.
Just fyi the guys piece was a glock chambered in .357 SIG, not '.357 magnum' as idiot narrator said. You're not dirty harry.
+AssadNizam Relax nerd, not everyone is a gun expert.
+AssadNizam Relax nerd, not everyone is a gun expert.
Dirty Harry used a Smith and Wesson Model 29 chambered in a .44 Magnum, not a .357 Magnum. Just sayin'.
Do the sight shoot 357?.
Stop paying people 30$ per hour that just push a button. I have an actual skill trade of tig welding in aerospace industry and don't make that. I've seen how these union works at a gm plant and it was pathetic. Hidden beds for people to sleep, overtime was just a rotation with next shift rather than more production, no one ever got fired. Union killed Detroit.
over inflated corporate salaries are to blame not the unions. Giving their management 6 and 7 figure salaries, and bonuses is shameful when you have to take away a loyal employee's dental care away. Corporate greed is what busted the auto industry to unions.
That’s a great comment still today true.
What is scary is its not just the manufacturing industry it's all aspects of employment. My husband has a Ba and 20 yrs exp and he's been out of work for 2 years. It's scary
Robocop is returning. Maybe Alex Murphy can decrease the crime as he did in the 80's.
At 2:36 shows the Michigan Central Train Deport. It went out of business when AMTRAK stopped running trains there in 1987. People take planes instead of trains nowadays. At 2:41 shows the Brush Park neighborhood, with some home built in the 1870s. After WW2, many of these former mansions were converted in apartments, then evolved into flophouses. A few of these mansion have been restored, such as 97 Winder Street built in 1880, and having 11,000 sq. ft. Currently listed at 2.5 million.
Dave Cole talking out his a$$. Those workers paid into those pension plans, be it with lower wages or GM taking a portion of their wages. Until idiots like this realize, that middle to upper management to the CEO, are the reason these companies are failing, things will never change. But i would expect a response like that from him because he's fighting his own corner. CEO pay is up an astounding 725%. The average CEO used to be paid about 65 times the average worker, now it's 273 times the average worker. They get this even though the businesses they are running are failing. Rewarded for failure with bonuses etc and they wonder why things are going wrong.
Bullshit! Workers never contributed one penny to those pensions. They were 100% funded by GM.
Checkm8king2
Worker's built those cars. They earned those pensions. Who are you to say they didn't. Worker productivity in the US has gone up decade on decade since the 70's, yet inflation has out paced their pay rises. They are earning less than they did in the 70's when adjusted for inflation. On the other hand CEO's pay has gone up an astounding 273 times more. Debate me on those issues.
Simple. Look at your paystub. Where does it say "contribution to pension".
Checkm8king2
First off, i'm self employed. It was part of their agreement with GM. It does not matter if they paid into it or not, which my guess is that most probably did. So if i make a work agreement with you and i go back on that agreement then its ok with you? Nah didn't think so.
I paid for college on my own, graduated in 2008 and had the loans paid off by 2012. My parents didn't help at all. My mom's condo was foreclosed on and the company my dad worked for went under about 10 years ago so he was working free-lance and borrowing money from me. I went to community college the first two years and worked as many hours as I could to save money. I went to Northern Illinois where I got my Bachelors, I hope to get a masters one day. I have yet to surpass the 40K/year mark.
Well done what you achieved in studying but my heart is sore that you can’t get a really good salary
@@alundavies8402 I appreciate the sentiment; but in the interum between the previous comment and now, I was promoted, changed professions, and was promoted again, and my salary has increased by a good amount since this comment. I look at this old post and kinda laugh that I wanted to spend time, energy, and money on getting a masters degree.
The Union helped kill GM just as much as the executives and the in-ability to manage a brand properly.
The Unions owned something like 20% of the shares. This should never be allowed. This gives leverage in decision making.
When you have a company, you need to make cuts and re-structure to survive. If one type of car 'sucks'... you need to stop trying to sell it to the people. (or 15 types of the same SUV for that matter).
Focus on what sells, and keep it simple. Don't keep dead weight either... this includes union bosses that extort. Put the Union bosses to work on the line for a while.
Germany has a highly profitable auto-industry and strong labor unions. But they (indursty and unions) call themselfs "social partners", which means: everybody gets it fair share of the cake. But 2 thing: a) reluctant leadership is suicid, b) never ever have your pensions at a/your company
What if you bought the LAND RIGHTS and all the buildings on a city block in detroit? Could you turn that into farmland or would the soil be unable to sustain it?
Wow nice to see this for myself all truth my family worked hard being that they were born in 1935
How sad. Good luck everyone in Detroit. God bless them
Thanks democrats
This is really well made, good job.
357 magnum Glock? lol
Glock only has a 357 sig. The guy on here said 357 magnum, but its a Glock. He doesn't even know what he has. Mossberg all the way!
357 Sig maybe? lol
I am young (late twenties)but not naïve. I realize a companies number 1 priority is profit, or in the case of a non-profit, efficiency. I've worked for a large faceless sort of organization and I've also worked for a smaller company where they are loyal to employees that have worked there for 30 years but even then I know the main interest of the business is to remain in business. I believe a strong work ethic and willingness to adapt ensures you will be an important tool in the company shed.
50 billion dollars aint shit compared to a 800 billion dollar BANK BAILOUT!
no bailout... not if its going to cost the country al that money... instead, lets get rid of the criminals who still have survived hiding in Detroit and put them in jail or process them via the criminal justice system.... then, lets have private industry come to Detroit and further expand.... finally, lets BRING THE ILLEGAL ALIENS TO THIS CITY AND STRUCTURE DETROIT BRICK - PER - BRICK.... HAVE A HARD WORKING CLASS COME TO DETROIT TO STRUCTURE IT AGAIN... AND THE CHEAPEST HAND OF LABOR ARE THE MEXICANS.... SO ... IN OTHER WORDS, HOLMES, THIS COULD BECOME A LATINIZED CITY.... ARRIBA... AMIGO.
Welcome to the death of the (former) dominant paradigm, folks.
Another great documentary by Journeyman. Keep 'em coming!
Slash taxes and let the unions fail. Detroit is fixed.
Completely false.......Detroit failed because it could not be competitive in a world market.
GM couldn't compete with Toyota, Honda, VW etc. The later are low cost producers, always innovate for consumers benefit & reliable after sales service.
Overpay ? U must be Republican
@plaguex1
It looks to be due north from Renaissance Center?
"all races are equal"
hahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhaaaaaa
just a thought: when a corporation promises you something for a lifetime of work, don't assume they will uphold their end of the bargain.
unions did that to motor city.
Susanne Sheffer that and GM never evolved thir product to keep up with Japan.
I’ve never heard of black gangs being referred to as “unions.”
Journeyman Pictures: In the description, "Detroit is becoming more famous for its murder rate", not it's.
"Drive the cars I like to dress" oops lol
Thu Phat, again, how do profits go UP for companies that need bailouts? What do you use to count with?
It really is a shame, people that wanted to buy a Toyota instead of a GM vehicle ruined the American economy.
How do you figure, out sourcing of jobs ruined the American economy. Toyota manufactures more vehicles and parts in north America then all the big three combined.
Toyota just make better cars ,full stop ,G.M shit
bob suruncle Oh sure, now Toyota does employ a lot of Americans, but the Big 3 used to employ a lot more Americans. Hiring some Americans is the least Toyota can do after having wrecked the American economy from the 70s to 2008.
Sending our entire manufacturing industry to China ruined the American economy. Printing money like there's no tomorrow ruined the economy. Some guy driving a Toyota had basically nothing to do with it.
Jerry Garner The decline began before they moved to China and massive layoffs happened. All those young baby boomers buying Corollas and Civics instead of Fords and Chevys in the 1970s got the ball rolling.
hey Journeyman why don't you show some of the new construction in Detroit ?
4 years ago.....
Anyone know where 09:02 is? I can't figure out through Google Earth where it is.
Poor old Detroit. I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario and a large amount of the steel we produced there went to the automotive industry in Michigan and the rest of North America. We, as a blue collar industrial city always looked on the situation in Detroit with empathy. I hope that better days come for Detroit. They've endured enough.
This video is from 2009. It's even worse now because GM doesn't make too many vehicles here in the US and the demand for GM vehicles in general has not recovered.
The American way, "me me me" no concern about the community or the people next door. That's why U.S is in a drown spiral..
You’re correct, cities can break down but only those individuals who feel entitlement after the break down will fail, those who pick themselves up by the bootstraps and move to find work to support their families win. People spend more time and energy waiting for the actions of others when they should be focusing on making things happen for themselves and their families. Self preservations has been the way of the American, since our beginning.
So can someone please tell me what the bloated executives, boardmembers and shareholders have given up?? GM's boss looks pretty smug and well fed.
You're both right. I always thought joining a Union would help us, the non-union workers fared better. Pay union dues and not getting represented properly. Your job is at risk because the union wages and benefits are too high to compete again non-union employers. The companies can't handle the pressure either. Corporate big-wigs and union leaders are on the same side.
American dream has turned into American nightmare.
It pisses me off that you have all the auto workers unions pushing harder and harder and pummeling GM for more and more benefits, higher wages, more generous pensions and when GM is on its knees for these exact reasons, the unions just go but, but, but, but...GM promised us all this money. They turn it around and try and blame GM for all of the problems
on an intellectual note - NYC was declining at a rapid rate in the 70s but managed to turn itself around... Can Detroit follow NYC?
I realized I was a conservative years before I got a white collar job. while in college when a friend was explaining the ideals of the Republican party. I worked service, retail, labor, carrying around drywall and toting a drill. I had a lot of blue collar neighbors growing up, I respect anyone who works for a living. I have always tested well in mathematics, top 1% in all those standardized tests back in school. I figured I'd try to maximize my ability. Good debate. Take care Lou.
That room full of people you see at 12:20, they are part of the problem. Listen to them "my city is dying, people are dying, thousands of children suffer in the city but I want all my money!" This was the attitude that helped lead Detroit to hell, take all you can take and ignore the end result of taking more than production can provide. It does not matter your age or your condition, you can be a bad person at any age. A smart person knows NEVER to pool all your money in one spot.
I grew up in Detroit and saw what happened to it after the riot in the summer of 1967. It took a city that was racially divided and made it worse. Instead of people working together, blacks became angrier, whites moved from the central city to the suburbs. Few wanted to sit down and work out the problems from the riots, most wanted to just leave. For blacks, Coleman Young became their symbol of hope and for whites, he was a racist that didn't care if they stayed or left.
I'm a welder in kalamazoo mi im 21yrs old and i will tell you how hard it is to find production jobs in michigan you are damn lucky if you can find a skilled job at $15/hr.
I died a little inside when the reporter said the man had a "357 magnum" and then showed his glock.
I think he meant .357 sig, but what would he know.
That Gold toy Corvette he holds at 10:42 is one of the Made In China ERTL series classic cars. The originals were made in Detroit by Jo-Han and then X-L plastics. Good luck finding any toy made in the USA.
From 3,000 people to produce to 50 to produce. If industry is eliminated there is no opportunity to have a viable town anywhere whether its Detroit or West Virginia. If a solution is not figured out for our nation in terms of jobs and industries with living wages, we will sadly no longer have a nation. And this applies to every nation around the world.
I've read up on it quite a bit, listened to the radio, watched the news, talked to people that work in hospitals. The ACA is already damaging the economy and has the potential to be detrimental to it long term and that truly concerns me. Come on Lou, any change is not good change. That's like saying trading in your 2013 Ford F150 for a 1991 Ford F150 with slipping transmission is good because its a change. Congress and their staff have been exempted from it, even Unions are now opposing it.
@SeanP7195 Here's another funny bit. Toyota makes cars in the US, and at a good profit. They refuse to allow unions in any factory they run, and will close shop and move elsewhere if the workers do decide to unionize.
They did have one factory that was unionized - the NUMMI plant in California, which had a union because the plant was run in partnership with GM. When GM went bankrupt, the union DEMANDED that Toyota pick up GM's obligation. Toyota immediately shut the factory down.
@ the 4:26 mark, the narrator said the pistol is a 357 magnum, he's incorrect, it's probably a Sub-compact Glock 33 that shoots 357 SIG .
@Mathias3710 the suburbs are as much of detroit as downtown is, sure the population of detroit is down, but there is still a huge number of people in the suburbs
At 7:15 tells that GIFT grew up on the "infamous" Joy Rd. What is so infamous about Joy Rd? I have never heard it called that until I saw this video. Henry Ford is buried on Joy about 3/4 mile from this McDonalds shown. I have never had any problems on Joy either day or night. "shot out and crazy shit"? I live near Detroit and watch Detroit TV news daily, and never hear of this. He hang out with the wrong crowd. I have never had anyone pull a gun on me, and I am not a street wise as him.
He is and that's probably why he acts confused about what really caused Detroit to collapse. Detroit had fallen apart before the auto companies left en masse.
@1800MRROOF
I to have lived in Detroit all my life and still have yet to see these "vibrant communities" you speak of. Also, if Detroits problems are all related to the Big 3 struggling, then why was Detroit so dangerous and troubled in the late 60's and 70's when the Auto industry was humming along?
I wasn't, I was saying "Japanese" and "Korean" brands to list the following brands: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia.
@EconCat88 If someone that knew what they are doing This city would come back
I can't relate to that. I'm from the Gulf Region of Texas and living expenses are incredibly cheap. Average petroleum refinery operator is getting paid around $27 an hour, and they are risking their lives in amongst highly flammable chemicals and oil. Considering cost of living in Detroit is below the national average, it doesn't stand to reason that these people are getting 30-40 bucks an hour for a relatively safe job. Not for me at least. However, I do respect your opinion.
"more generous pensions and when GM is on its knees for these exact reasons"
==
That's funny. Any data to back it up?
Union member peaked in 1960s, so did the economic boom. After that, union had no choice but being defensive.
Detroit started declining in 1980s when the management already had upper hand over union thanks to the help from Reagan.
In 1920s, Calvin Coolidge was famous anti-union. the economy went down and car companies nearly lost their business.
Coincidence?
@awm4151 well, depends on what youre looking for. I think midtown, downtown, new center in addition to the places u mentioned are all cool plus new upscale places along the river. Royal Oak has always been virbant, and Ferndale is following suit. What I like the most is the variety of places to go at night and events happening on the weekends. nothing is over commercialized overpriced or cookie cutter.
Wouldn't it make sense to station the National Guard in Detroit and to put the city under martial law to get it under control again? From several documentaries I've seen it looks like the police is not capable of ensuring safety.
The government would not do any other group of people like this.nor would any other group aloud this.
i am from one of the other GM towns in michigan (saginaw) and that town got nailed very badly as well.
the numbers of the jobless and crime rate literaly hit the roof!!!
it is such an ugly time to be living in here in america, especialy in michigan where the economy is at its worst out of all 50 states :(
A lot of us dont have any health care and retirement..I left Detroit in 63 and see that as the best thing I ever did
That "357 magnum" looks like an awful lot like a Glock. Just sayin.
@TAFKA0 The amount paid to a handful of CEOs is a miniscule fraction of the costs of paying a million UAW workers the equivilant of $70 or $80 per hour while working and almost as much in retirement. $2000. of the cost of every GM car does not go into the car. It goes to pay UAW wages and retirement benefits. How can GM or any other car company compete against other car companies whose employee wages and benefits are 1/4 of GM's? The problem is not corporate greed. Its UAW greed.
If I can speculate over what might have happened: the decline in the auto industry. I'm OS, but the auto industry has declined here as well what with cheap imports being so plentiful our local industry didn't stand a chance. However, because of the generous Government allowances and pensions paid in this country to the unemployed, no one felt the need to turn to crime in order to survive as it seems that those who were desperate and despairing might have in Detroit. Paying allowances to those who are unemployed, rather than increasing taxes and draining the economy, this actually circulates the money straight back into the economy - as the poor need to spend most everything of what they receive to live. This providing of everyone without work or means to live with a Government allowance also help to eliminate crime as everyone has enough to live on. This system also provides more volunteers to help with charity work as the Government insists that the younger people must do a certain amount of volunteer work per month to be eligible for their fortnightly allowance. Education and medical expenses are mostly free as well for those receiving Government pensions and allowances. This system works well for this country. Even back when the economies of many European countries were collapsing, the Federal Government -instead of reducing pensions- they decided to give all on pensions an extra bonus of about $1400 so that more money would be recycled into the economy. This boost to the economy meant that this country pretty much sailed through the depression-like conditions of 4-6 years ago which affected most of the rest of the world.
EDIT: On re-reading what I've just posted, I've noticed that the words after '...the Federal Government...' have been crossed out. This wasn't done by me and I've no idea why this has happened. YT censorship of comments regarding the Federal Government?
Randy Sanduski speaking at 13:00 must have had his eyes closed. The miracle was that GM made it as long as it did before falling into government hands.
It's annoying that people always blame poverty for crime and gangsters. In the places where people's are the poorest, most people arent criminals. They just do with what they have. Wanting to live the big life isnt an excuse to be a criminal. There's so many things I'd want I cant afford and I dont sell drugs or steal from people because of that...
i live in detroit its really bad bro bankruptcy and a person that lived around the corney got her head cut off
I live in a city with the largest rail yard west of the Mississippi, there used to be thousands that worked there, but now with computers, they don't even need half of the people they used to use. There are people in Omaha NE, on a computer and can tell people in California , Utah etc where a BoxCar is , and where to take it, everything is being done with fewer employees, doesn't matter if your talking Car manufacturing, Phone Company or the Rail Roads its all being done with less workers
"General Motors is clinging to survival with a little help from the US government and bankruptcy court. Yet many of GM's union members feel uneasy."
No doubt. GM is on life support. Certainly the workers will band together to save their company (?)
"Will GM use bankruptcy to shed union commitments?"
Oh God. There's no hope.
UAW workers were paid $75/hr + benefits at one time. I don't know what they get now.
The city of Detroit has been locked in a downward spiral for 40+ years. To think that the negotiations of a UAW contract will make a difference either way is completely laughable. Thank goodness Sanduski didn't lose his pension though. Pity the thought.
Detroit got "Chocolate rain"
Shadow Valley
Try as hard as you may, you can NEVER compare Michigan to California! I am from California and moved to Michigan and moved back to California within 90 days. Michigan is living in a serious time warp, economically and socially. California does not have the same problems as Michigan because they do not attempt to tax their way out of defits, property values and property taxes are commensurate and California has multiple industries, not just focused on aerospace, manufacturing, etc.
there are many factors to this.
1- real estate has inflated a lot, one has much less money for a car.
2- oil has dramatically increased, so every good s costs went up as well.
3- cars became overly sophisticated instead of simple, they are more expensive to do that way.
4- the market needs a Chevette, no electric package, for a very low cost reliable car that can be bought new.
5- there also needs to be an electric equivalent available, with minimum accessories.
6- Detroit needs to manage goods for homeless - poor in exchange for work - services.
7- salvaging the safe buildings should be a priority, it could be done by homeless people to live in temporally.
8- once cleaned up, wind turbines and solar panels can be installed to save on power in growing food.
9- social services could manage this structure to salvage citizens and buildings together.
10- the city will get safer as people will not be as desperate, and gain hope for improvement quickly.
university projects by students could help for the technical process of green food and energy.
Detroit needs new ideas to get back up, the economy is so different now, do the math.
Most of that was shed after they declared bankruptcy. I don't think you've been paying close enough attention to what's happened to GM. I'm not kidding, most of those contracts simply evaporated when they reorganized. What this man said about the factories only needing 50 people now rather than 3000 then is basically the story. Labor is not needed anymore and nobody has any illusions about it.
So how much do they get for pension and what are they paying for health insurance?
The main cause of the decline in the auto industry in Detroit is their inability to adapt, and they still haven't done it much. Some American manufacturers have made smaller models that are selling in Europe, but continuing to make big gas guzzeling cars are like a death sentence to GM and other American car manufacturers.
Without competition, GM would be more profitable. A very intelligent observation.
She was condemned because the kids were not eating what the schools were offering. My little sister would take her lunch money and put it in the vending machines for chips and pop. Its parents that need to take responsibility. As far as corruption in insurance companies, I haven't read anything on it so I won't argue you on that one.
@awm4151 I lived there all through highschool and college both in Hamtramck and Detroit neighborghoods and never encountered places like the ones shown in the video unless I went looking for them. Yes, they do exist and theyre not small, but I enjoyed the good parts of the city none of which are shown. After traveling everywhere in the country I realized that the city actually had more interesting experiences to offer than many other places in the US considered far superior.
The lack of a national health program in the US put the auto industry into a hopeless competetive situation, It cost about $2000 LESS to build a car in Canada than in the USA. The same said for Europe and Asia.
The same applied to all manufacturing in the US. That plus the greed of owners who moved plants to Mexico and China and elsewhere killed the USA. Not even a light bulb or a TV is made in the US anymore. Sad!
German auto-workers get paid over $67.00 per hour. A stationary economy, corporate and union greed, technological advancements, and a global automotive market. When you go all in on one hand(the auto industry) and it losses, well you're screwed.
when i see those people walking out these plants in danger of loosing their jobs and livelihoods i find it hard to joke about their suffering... in fact, i find it a tad bit sickening.
Detroit has made a decent comeback. Crime is still rampant beyond the gentrified areas.
so sad to see a once thriving city in ruins.i am G.M.till i die.i always had one,always will.i still believe in G.M. even though some may say i am crazy to do so.feel very,very sad for Detroit.i hope things get better.later.
Poor old Detroit. I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario and a large amount of the steel we produced there went to the automotive industry in Michigan and the rest of North America. We, as a blue collar industrial city always looked on the situation in Detroit with empathy. I hope that better days come for Detroit. They've endured enough.
SuperSix Bravo Well said & totally true.
@MrSirPhase3 The reason we're going bankrupt is because for example GM has to pay for the health care and retirement of their workers. That is insane. In Germany and Japan government takes care of it, that's why you dont' see them going bankrupt but GM and USA are. And that has nothing to do with unions.