Holden boss’s September deadline
If Premier Jay Weatherill is going to dash to Detroit, there is only one man he needs to speak to: Tim Lee.
Lee is General Motor’s President of International Operations and oversees Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East operations.
“He’s already shut down 17 plants,” Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union SA secretary John Camillo told InDaily today.
“He’s the person who decides what stays and what goes.
“The Australian bosses are finalising a business plan for the long-term production of the Cruze and the Commodore at Elizabeth; they will take it to Tim Lee in Detroit in September and he will make a decision.
“If he says no, then the current production will continue and the plant will eventually close down around 2017.”
Responding to media questions yesterday, State manufacturing minister Tom Kenyon agreed the Premier would “dash to Detroit” if such action was needed.
While political games continue in the lead up to the federal election, Camillo and the Holden workers are meeting every day to help Holden finalise a business plan that Lee will like.
“We’re trying to help them as much as we can.We are meeting on a daily basis.
You might like
“(Holden’s Australian boss) Mike Devereux has told us he wants to tell Lee that the workers at Elizabeth can be flexible when demand for vehicles goes up and down.
“But those proposals mean a change to the current wage agreement we have in place that expires in November 2014.
“Holden wants a new deal done by the 9th of August.
“The workers need seven days notice of any changes before they vote on it.
“Devereux says he wants more flexibility – we want to know what that means.”
Camillo said the workers have their own ideas on how Holden can save money.
“Tomorrow we’re meeting with Professor Goran Roos (former manufacturing Thinker in Residence), who has been accepted by Holden as an independent adviser on cost efficiencies.
“Our shop stewards will be putting their own proposals about wastage on the shop floor and how Holden can save money there.”
Camillo said the other unresolved issue is that of co-investment guarantees from the State and Federal governments.
The $275 million package announced by Julia Gillard in March last year included a $215 million federal grant and $60 million from the South Australian and Victorian governments to secure a $1 billion commitment from Holden to build next-generation Cruze and Commodore models at the Adelaide plant.
Victoria’s interest related to suppliers based in their State.
Federal Government Industry Minister Kim Carr told The Australian yesterday he was in discussions with Holden about the company’s future operations.
“We remain committed to supporting car manufacturing,” he said.
Holden said today reports it wants more taxpayer funding to ensure the future of its Australian operations were pure speculation.
Stay informed, daily
The company said it won’t comment on negotiations with both the federal and state governments over ongoing assistance.
“That’s a purely speculative piece and we won’t be commenting publicly on our negotiations with either governments or the unions,” a Holden spokesman said of the reports.
The Australian reported today Holden now wanted up to $60 million more in government funding in addition to the $275 million package.
John Camillo, meanwhile, said the state government commitment had become bogged down.
“The State Government commitment appears to have been taken off the table and that needs to be resolved.
“And the federal deal has been clouded by a lack of commitment from a possible Coalition Government after the next federal election, although that may be after this September deadline anyway.”
Its understood that negotiations between the State Government and Holden fell down when the car maker unexpectedly announced 400 redundancies earlier this year.
“Jay Weatherill wasn’t expecting that and he was understandably upset,” said Camillo.
“He and Mike Devereux have to work through that and resolve the SA commitment of $50 million.”
State Liberal Leader Steven Marshall today raised concerns about the level of government subsidy.
“The Labor Party has put a huge amount of money into the auto sector … guess what? It’s not doing well,” Marshall told FIVEaa’s breakfast program today.
“It’s not about the number, it’s about the type of support … the Liberal Party, the Coalition at a Federal level has said that they will conduct a Productivity Commission inquiry into the auto sector … to come up with programs that are actually going to drive sustainability in this industry.
‘There’s no way we can simply continue to afford to subsidise an industry which is … completely uncompetitive.
“We’ve got to look at ways that we can make it competitive and target our support to make sure that we can make it sustainable into the future. Surely that’s what we all want.”
However, Camillo said there isn’t a lot of time to for commissions or reviews.
“We have until September to convince this guy in Detroit that Holden has a future here or not.
“If not, it shuts down – that’s that.”
Tim Lee knows about government support.
He served as the Vice President of Manufacturing – Europe for General Motors Corporation when it was bought out by the US Government.
That corporate entity has since been carved off as the Motors Liquidation Company (formerly known as General Motors Corporation).
He began his career with General Motors in 1969 as a GMI student working at the former Fisher Body Division in Ohio and worked his way up through the company.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
