Archive for June, 2008

Ford Planning to Retool Truck Plants to Build Cars

Ford Motor Co., long dependent on profits from pickups and sport utility vehicles, is assembling a plan to shift entire truck plants to car production in a bid to keep up with changing consumer demand in the United States, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.

Plant managers and local union leaders from around the country have been summoned to Ford’s Dearborn headquarters Friday.

They’ll discuss the challenges facing the automaker and the broader U.S. automobile industry as the price of gasoline continues to set record highs and consumers flee pickups and big SUVs for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

In what would be one of the most dramatic manufacturing transformations in Detroit’s history, Ford would retool some of its North American plants to produce vehicles being built in Europe, where it is a leader in the small-car segment. Ford also is conducting a thorough review of its entire product pipeline in North America, hoping to accelerate the introduction of new, more fuel-efficient cars and to build more vehicles on fewer platforms.

“This is very doable,” Cole said. “Labor is scared to death right now and willing to do things that wouldn’t have been possible before. You can’t not do it. Alan is ready to bite the bullet. The old Ford is gone.”

Unemployment Jumps to New High

8.5 Million Out of Work in May as Jobless Rate Soars

by Frank Langfitt

Morning Edition, June 6, 2008 · The unemployment rate jumped by half a percentage point in May, with 8.5 million people out of work last month. The jump from 5 to 5.5 percent is the largest monthly increase since February of 1986.

The Labor Department numbers are also further evidence that the country may be in a recession.

The U.S. economy lost nearly 50,000 jobs last month; May was the fifth straight month in a row in which the job market has shrunk.

The last time the U.S. job market shrank for five consecutive months was in 2001 and 2002, when the nation was in recession.

Sixth Worker Killed at Las Vegas Casino

Less than 24 hours after it started, a safety picket at two major Las Vegas Strip construction projects is over and construction work on the projects will resume Wednesday morning.

Perini Building company management and union leaders met this afternoon to address safety concerns at the two construction sites.

Union workers on MGM Mirage Inc.’s multibillion dollar CityCenter project struck late Monday after talks broke down between the Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, casino giant MGM Mirage and project general contractor Perini Building Co. Construction workers also walked off of the Cosmopolitan Resort project, another Perini run project.

The strike follows the deaths of six men on the CityCenter project, the latest death occurred Saturday when 39-year-old Dustin Tarter, a crane worker, was killed. Two workers have died on the Cosmopolitan project.

In a 11 a.m. news conference, Steve Ross with the Southern Nevada Building & Construction Trades Council said every property on the Las Vegas Strip has a safety issue.

“This is the sixth death since the start of the construction of the CityCenter project and this is unacceptable,” said Ross.