[2001 ZTS]

1/27/006 > 02:38 PM EST
Factory Parking Lot Reserved for Fords Only.

Dearborn Ford Truck Plant manager Rob Webber announced Monday that, starting Feb. 1, the parking lot may be used only by employees who drive vehicles built by Ford or one of its subsidiaries.

Webber's move came the same day Ford announced a restructuring plan under which it will cut up to 30,000 jobs and close 14 facilities by 2012. Ford said the plan is designed to make the company's North American division, which lost $1.6 billion last year, profitable by 2008.

"It was something this plant manager took upon himself. It's not a companywide policy," Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said, adding that Webber made the decision after consulting with local UAW leaders.

Jerry Sullivan, president of United Auto Workers Local 600, which represents about 2,600 workers at the plant, applauded Webber's move.

"Everybody's in this together. (We need) to buy the products we make and support the company," Sullivan said. "This is a good place to start."

The UAW in the past has banished Asian and European vehicles from its parking lots. The restriction at Dearborn Truck, however, may be the first to be sanctioned by an automaker, The Detroit News reported Friday.The ban applies to both salaried and hourly workers with permits to park on site. About 15 percent of Dearborn Truck employees have such permits. Employees who don't drive Ford products can still park in an employee lot across the street from the plant. A.P. newswire

[Flofocus]

I understand what hes trying to do, but its still fawkin retarded.

I mean, if the workers know their building s***, then of course they wont buy it. :ph34r: :lol:

[hardk0re]

Well if they have to drive them to work there, then maybe they will try harder to build it better :P

[meford4u]

Its not only that Flo. We have a local union mag they put out every other month. They have a section with a question and answer section in it and post members pics with their answer every month.

In October, they asked how the high gas prices were affecting you. This idiot answers that it's not that bad because he drives a Honda to and from work.

The next day the union office got blasted with complaints.

And then a union rep replied to this bonehead in the December newsletter stating how he should represent his fellows brothers and sisters and buy North American.

Problem is, my union rep just bought a brand new $50k+ Akura.

We made some adjustments to his car this week. And politely told him to send this car back with warranty issues.

I like the parking lot idea.

Force the issue.

[Casper]

hardk0re,Jan 27 2006, 02:44 PM Wrote:Well if they have to drive them to work there, then maybe they will try harder to build it better :P
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I talked to one of our customers who bought an import, even though he works for the Ford plant in Windsor.

[ZTWsquared]

2001 ZTS,Jan 27 2006, 04:58 PM Wrote:"Everybody's in this together. (We need) to buy the products we make and support the company," Sullivan said. "This is a good place to start."
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Isn't the special "A plan" employee pricing intended to entice Ford employees to purchase Ford product?

That pricing is pretty good IIRC and you can even sell your vehicle and get a new one every six months (again, going from memory) - I'm sure Meford or OAC will correct me if I'm wrong.

So, here's my point: if very beneficial pricing isn't good enough to solve the problem of "other" makes in the parking lots ... I seriously doubt that restricting said parking lots will be any more effective ... I think this is more about the bluster than the mustard.

Having said that, I do agree with the notion that you should support the company you work for by purchasing their product -- for the 15 years that Ford was a client I leased nothing but Fords.

So what exactly does this mean then; are there that many Ford employees driving "other" makes that this plant manager felt he had to do something about it?

Are there a lot of other makes at Ontario Assembly?

[meford4u]

I wouls say a good 65% of the cars in the lot are Fords. Another 25% NA built and the rest, well, they get the occasional bang up. Oopps, sorry!

And we can get a new vehicle once every 6 months, but I believe we must keep the vehicle in our name for no less than a year.

And I do agree with supporting the company you do busineess with. Especially when they put bread and butter and a half million dollar house on your table.

[ZTWsquared]

meford4u,Jan 27 2006, 06:11 PM Wrote:I wouls say a good 65% of the cars in the lot are Fords.  Another 25% NA built and the rest, well, they get the occasional bang up.  Oopps, sorry!
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This sounds more like supporting products made by CAW brothers and sisters (as opposed to supporting Ford) ... reading between the lines I think that Ford plant manager is focusing on Ford family only.

[PerfectSaiyan]

support the damned company you work for.

if not, go back to Russia Komrade

[Kelowna_Focus]

if ya don't like it, take the bus.

[crazikev]

i would buy a John Deere if they payed me money when i work for them. But they only pay the gas money :P . Lawnboy lawnmower for me! i dont give a crap about supporting the company i work for.
oh and after you buy a Ford for your lot buy a John Deere to cut your grass too so i can work, i make good stuff, the stickers are alwasy on straight

[Euro Ford Fan]

I think it's a great plan it should have always been like this!! I sorry but if the company that pays your bills and puts food on your table etc doesn't make a good enough product for you to own one then get another job!!

I used to work near the Ford Pland in Blasdell NY and it always surprised me how many other makes of cars were parked in the lot.

[euro_zx5]

Well I can understand, first hand why Ford is doing this... it's really unfortunate the number of associates that drive non-Ford vehicles. Oakville seems to have the same issue.

But... if it's gonna stop employees from coming to work, they should really have a different parking lot. It's a hard decision to make, but I think employees, if they really wanna work there, should support their company.

[K_OS]

I know the feeling about getting calls from the locals when they don't drive and support the local car company, my brother and I drove down to Ann Harbor Michigan in his Hyundai Santa Fe a couple years ago to visit his inlaws and they're Denali was getting an oil change for the day so we parked in there driveway. The next day my brother gets a phone call from his father inlaw saying that from now on he wasn't allowed to park in the driveway because his father inlaw got a crap load of phonecalls asking him why he had a Hyundai in his driveway and not an American built car, the reason being up to last year he worked as the UAW liason at GM in Detroit and he had allot of explaining why he had a Hyundai Santa Fe in his driveway. :D

Laterz :)

[nass]

I don't know how far off I am with this one but aren't they in a way infringing on their "freedom" by telling them what to drive to work?

I totally agree that it only makes sense to support your company so you can have a job. If you work for Ford and buy a Honda and then find out you're getting laid off cause Honda is kicking Ford's ass in sales you should be mad at yourself :)

In the long run it's only a bandaid solution to try to save a money pit of a company. I wonder what the executives are driving to work?

[CanadaSVT]

meford4u,Jan 27 2006, 04:49 PM Wrote:Its not only that Flo.  We have a local union mag they put out every other month.  They have a section with a question and answer section in it and post members pics with their answer every month.

In October, they asked how the high gas prices were affecting you.  This idiot answers that it's not that bad because he drives a Honda to and from work.

The next day the union office got blasted with complaints.

And then a union rep replied to this bonehead in the December newsletter stating how he should represent his fellows brothers and sisters and buy North American.

Problem is, my union rep just bought a brand new $50k+ Akura.

We made some adjustments to his car this week.  And politely told him to send this car back with warranty issues.

I like the parking lot idea.

Force the issue.
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I've supported this on blueovalforums many times and whenever the topic comes up at work. It's funny how the import drivers hang their heads and don't say a word. On Black Monday I mentioned to the Citypulse crew at the gate to interview some of these scabs that don't drive Ford's. They asked me to be interviewed but I couldn't get the F word to stop coming out of my mouth. People at Ford are losing jobs and these idiots that don't drive a Ford just don't seem to get it!
Whenever the time comes for a new car, the wife knows it will never be anything but a Ford. That's why I got the SVTF instead of the MINI S, which at the time I really wanted.
P.S. I don't like the new plant manager driving a Volvo either.

[Drivesthebeast]

I totally agree with what everyone has to say about not "s***ting in their own backyard". It's certainly not tolerated in the Cdn army, and I sure as heck think that it's no different in the CAW and UAW sectors.

It's the same scenario with retail too...I only just learned last wkd that the HBC was bought by americans...I was in sheer disbeleif, and disgust...I had been shopping at Zellers more than Walmart, coz I like supporting Cdn business, but I can't beleive that the oldest business in Canada is owned by Americans. So now I just shop wherever. I am sick to death of Canadian companies being bought out because the american companies don't want them to outsell them, in their own fricken country. Pathetic.

Like I said, it's the same as working for the big 3 and driving a civic or some other asian car to work. Your gonna let some outside company shut you down or buy you out, same as a lot of retail companys come and go.