scourge
02-23-2004, 02:27 PM
The Tennessean newspaper (http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/04/02/47128828.shtml?Element_ID=47128828)
Saturn plant melding into GM's culture
By BUSH BERNARD
Staff Writer
Saturn Corp. is taking another step toward blending with its parent, General Motors Corp.
Telephone operators at the automaker's Tennessee assembly plant, who used to greet callers with ''Saturn Corp.,'' have begun answering the phone ''Spring Hill Manufacturing.''
There's been no formal name change for the plant, which has been producing Saturn vehicles since 1990. But after members of United Auto Workers Local 1853 overwhelmingly approved a contract in December that calls for talks on a transition to the standard GM labor contract, there's been an effort to make the plant more like other GM facilities.
''We are trying to get into the mindset of building more than just Saturns for GM,'' Sue Rehmus, head of corporate communications for the Spring Hill plant, said yesterday.
''It's more a mindset right now,'' she said. ''It's something that we need to do as we transition here.''
Talks are scheduled to begin this month between the union and GM management on changing from a contract that calls for no layoffs in slack times to one that allows layoffs but offers more guaranteed pay and better retirement benefits for workers.
Local 1853 Chairman Mike Herron was in Detroit yesterday and President Rick Martinez was unavailable for comment.
Most GM plants are named for the city in which they are located.
For example, the Kentucky plant that produces Corvettes for Chevrolet is called the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. It began producing a Cadillac sports car last fall.
Spring Hill would also like to be able to produce more than Saturn vehicles in an effort to keep the plant operating near its capacity.
''Nobody from Detroit told us we had to do this,'' Rehmus said. ''It's something we realized we need to do.''
I remember when Saturn had reunions over in Spring Hill and that Saturn truly was a different kind of car company. However, the more it blends into GM, the more its sales go down. We here in Tennessee can see it getting murdered by GM and yet people in Detroit don't know why Saturn isn't attractive to young people like it once was. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif
Hell, Saturn was once naturally what Toyota is trying so hard to do with SCION.
Saturn plant melding into GM's culture
By BUSH BERNARD
Staff Writer
Saturn Corp. is taking another step toward blending with its parent, General Motors Corp.
Telephone operators at the automaker's Tennessee assembly plant, who used to greet callers with ''Saturn Corp.,'' have begun answering the phone ''Spring Hill Manufacturing.''
There's been no formal name change for the plant, which has been producing Saturn vehicles since 1990. But after members of United Auto Workers Local 1853 overwhelmingly approved a contract in December that calls for talks on a transition to the standard GM labor contract, there's been an effort to make the plant more like other GM facilities.
''We are trying to get into the mindset of building more than just Saturns for GM,'' Sue Rehmus, head of corporate communications for the Spring Hill plant, said yesterday.
''It's more a mindset right now,'' she said. ''It's something that we need to do as we transition here.''
Talks are scheduled to begin this month between the union and GM management on changing from a contract that calls for no layoffs in slack times to one that allows layoffs but offers more guaranteed pay and better retirement benefits for workers.
Local 1853 Chairman Mike Herron was in Detroit yesterday and President Rick Martinez was unavailable for comment.
Most GM plants are named for the city in which they are located.
For example, the Kentucky plant that produces Corvettes for Chevrolet is called the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. It began producing a Cadillac sports car last fall.
Spring Hill would also like to be able to produce more than Saturn vehicles in an effort to keep the plant operating near its capacity.
''Nobody from Detroit told us we had to do this,'' Rehmus said. ''It's something we realized we need to do.''
I remember when Saturn had reunions over in Spring Hill and that Saturn truly was a different kind of car company. However, the more it blends into GM, the more its sales go down. We here in Tennessee can see it getting murdered by GM and yet people in Detroit don't know why Saturn isn't attractive to young people like it once was. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/rolleyes1.gif
Hell, Saturn was once naturally what Toyota is trying so hard to do with SCION.