STEVE WILSON IS NOT A FRIEND!

[fishinguy]

TRIM YOU SAY: and I quote,

 

 

"That is right. This pain in the ass guy is not our friend. He is only out for himself. You can buy new, or used. Take your choice. What goes on inside the doors of a private company should be private. If we were government, it would be a different story. I would like to do an expose of what goes on inside a television newsroom. Would 1200 of those stiffs be capable of, after their eight hour shifts, leaving behind 500 brand new cars that they assembled? I think not. Go and peddle your shit elsewhere.

 

Hey Stevie baby; am I too good for you? Say something. I can't wait to see your show. It will probably be your swan song.

 

Are you only going to air opinions which fit your political agenda? Mine, and those of many, don't.

Don't ask me to participate in this farce. I have better things to do."

 

Trim,

I couldn't agree more.......I do not a support what the fat cats do, but that's all we need is more negative press on FORD MOTOR! This Steve Wilson has a hidden agenda, BUST US UP!!!!.......That's right, just another black eye for us all. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! This guy is not a friend!!!!

[mulewright]

TRIM YOU SAY: and I quote,

"That is right. This pain in the ass guy is not our friend. He is only out for himself. You can buy new, or used. Take your choice. What goes on inside the doors of a private company should be private. If we were government, it would be a different story. I would like to do an expose of what goes on inside a television newsroom. Would 1200 of those stiffs be capable of, after their eight hour shifts, leaving behind 500 brand new cars that they assembled? I think not. Go and peddle your shit elsewhere.

 

Hey Stevie baby; am I too good for you? Say something. I can't wait to see your show. It will probably be your swan song.

 

Are you only going to air opinions which fit your political agenda? Mine, and those of many, don't.

Don't ask me to participate in this farce. I have better things to do."

 

Trim,

I couldn't agree more.......I do not a support what the fat cats do, but that's all we need is more negative press on FORD MOTOR! This Steve Wilson has a hidden agenda, BUST US UP!!!!.......That's right, just another black eye for us all. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! This guy is not a friend!!!!

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company.

Edited November 15, 2006 by mulewright

[Tony James]

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company.

 

Who is Steve Wilson?

[Tony James]

Who is Steve Wilson?

 

Oh. Now I know.

[Trimdingman]

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company.

 

Wait until after the meeting with Bush.

 

There will be a huge turnover after the buyouts. Everyone is being taken care of. If you take the package, you will be able to start your own business. If you stay, then your seniority will go way up. There are thousands who were hired in 1976, and 1977. They are all coming up on 30 years. Many of them will take the package. It would not surprise me to see Ford hiring not too far down the road. Ford is not screwing anyone. Compare what Ford is doing for its people with what any other company has done under similar circumstances. I have heard of "the golden handshake"; this is the "diamond studded platinum handshake".

 

If I were in Norfolk, I would take the money, and apply for a job at Babe Watch. Man, you people would be crazy to leave that place. Shuckers, Lighthouse, women shooting their bras at moose horns. I got the t-shirt. Swimming in the ocean; warm water in the early spring; palm trees. Heaven.

Edited November 15, 2006 by Trimdingman

[sparks will fly]

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company.

 

He is more on our side then the ones running the show here, gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it?

[kandc5397]

TRIM YOU SAY: and I quote,

"That is right. This pain in the ass guy is not our friend. He is only out for himself. You can buy new, or used. Take your choice. What goes on inside the doors of a private company should be private. If we were government, it would be a different story. I would like to do an expose of what goes on inside a television newsroom. Would 1200 of those stiffs be capable of, after their eight hour shifts, leaving behind 500 brand new cars that they assembled? I think not. Go and peddle your shit elsewhere.

 

Hey Stevie baby; am I too good for you? Say something. I can't wait to see your show. It will probably be your swan song.

 

Are you only going to air opinions which fit your political agenda? Mine, and those of many, don't.

Don't ask me to participate in this farce. I have better things to do."

 

Trim,

I couldn't agree more.......I do not a support what the fat cats do, but that's all we need is more negative press on FORD MOTOR! This Steve Wilson has a hidden agenda, BUST US UP!!!!.......That's right, just another black eye for us all. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! This guy is not a friend!!!!

 

50-70 Grand is a lot of cash and for a man who say's we need to tighten our belts for the Company's going broke! come on! I made 70 grand last year and this guy blows it in a WEEKEND! PLEASE! What more can be said I love this company and I want nothing but the best so MR. Fields dig into your own pocket and not ours and be sure to explan this to the men and women who has lost thier jobs to layoffs and buy outs!

[jm2607]

Wait until after the meeting with Bush.

 

There will be a huge turnover after the buyouts. Everyone is being taken care of. If you take the package, you will be able to start your own business. If you stay, then your seniority will go way up. There are thousands who were hired in 1976, and 1977. They are all coming up on 30 years. Many of them will take the package. It would not surprise me to see Ford hiring not too far down the road. Ford is not screwing anyone. Compare what Ford is doing for its people with what any other company has done under similar circumstances. I have heard of "the golden handshake"; this is the "diamond studded platinum handshake".

 

If I were in Norfolk, I would take the money, and apply for a job at Babe Watch. Man, you people would be crazy to leave that place. Shuckers, Lighthouse, women shooting their bras at moose horns. I got the t-shirt. Swimming in the ocean; warm water in the early spring; palm trees. Heaven.

Do you live here? I've lived here all my life and what palm trees are you talking about? This is not Flordia. Heaven? The weather here is nice---it's NOT the best--and the good weather is not gonna feed the family.

[TwinCityAssembly]

TRIM YOU SAY: and I quote,

"That is right. This pain in the ass guy is not our friend. He is only out for himself. You can buy new, or used. Take your choice. What goes on inside the doors of a private company should be private. If we were government, it would be a different story. I would like to do an expose of what goes on inside a television newsroom. Would 1200 of those stiffs be capable of, after their eight hour shifts, leaving behind 500 brand new cars that they assembled? I think not. Go and peddle your shit elsewhere.

 

Hey Stevie baby; am I too good for you? Say something. I can't wait to see your show. It will probably be your swan song.

 

Are you only going to air opinions which fit your political agenda? Mine, and those of many, don't.

Don't ask me to participate in this farce. I have better things to do."

 

Trim,

I couldn't agree more.......I do not a support what the fat cats do, but that's all we need is more negative press on FORD MOTOR! This Steve Wilson has a hidden agenda, BUST US UP!!!!.......That's right, just another black eye for us all. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! This guy is not a friend!!!!

 

Ford in not a private company!

[wolfnap]

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company. I agree...... steve is reporting the facts

[fishinguy]

Considering Fords agenda these days, I think Steves report is helpful. People should see what a bunch of hypocrites are running this company.

 

Mule,

 

How is it helpful?.....Please explain..

 

I dont know about you, but ONCE AGAIN I feel violated by a THIRD party who didnt have the BALLS to identify himself who he really was when he was "UNDERCOVER"....pretending to be a brother or a sister....

He is a phoney, a liar,...a a sneeky fuck...Dont you get my drift man? I am sick and fucking tired of ALL who have a secret agenda..........He capitalized on the issue at hand to get his fuckin story....If he cared about the Members he would have identified himself , and told us he was here to help.

 

Who is Steve Wilson?

 

A channel 7 under cover reporter you have been talking to here on this sight...........Feel violated?

 

He is more on our side then the ones running the show here, gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it?

 

 

How is he on our side?

 

Did he report on something that the public dont already know about the BIG SHITS in the business?

 

HE came to this sight, did not identify himself, he pretended to be ONE OF US, he capitalized on a very serious situation for thousands of Members,...stirred up your emotions, and ran with it for his on agenda.

You dont have a problem with that?...He came here as a phoney!!!

 

Hey Mr STEVE,

I ask that you identify yourself, What is the phoney name you come here under so we can refer back to the things you wre saying?

 

Come clean dude, who were you pretending to be?

Edited November 15, 2006 by fishinguy

[Tags]

When 'plentyofpain' came on BON he did id himself as a reporter looking to do an important local news story. He never said his name but he did id himself.

 

Get your facts straight.

Edited November 15, 2006 by Tags

[sparks will fly]

Here Tags:

 

 

PlentyOfPain

BlueOval New Member

 

 

Joined: 26-September 06

Posts: 14

 

 

I’m part of a team of Detroit-based journalists preparing a series of reports that will reveal surprising new details about top Ford execs cashing in, even while promising EVERYBODY at the company is tightening their belts and sharing the pain.

 

I’d like to contrast those individuals with working people at Ford—salaried on union—and the hardships they are facing with relocation, buyouts or, ultimately, layoffs.

 

Specifically, I’m looking for longtime Ford workers in the Detroit area who can talk about the sacrifices they and their colleagues have made for the company, past and present, and how they and their families are about to be affected by the new hardships ahead. Folks with expensive medical needs, those caring for children or parents with special and costly needs, and other special circumstances could be excellent examples of this contrast.

 

This is not about bashing Ford...it's about telling the truth you'll never find in a company news release. I have read here where many have said there's nothing that can be done about corporate greed...but the facts being known is always the first step toward any change.

 

You can contact me at LookingAtFord@hotmail.com

[Roadrunner]

When 'plentyofpain' came on BON he did id himself as a reporter looking to do an important local news story. He never said his name but he did id himself.

 

Get your facts straight.

 

Well, actually when one contacts the email address provided, the person responding is someone named "Ima Reporter"

 

So, it's not absolute full disclosure. However, for an investigative report, sometimes that is necessary.

 

But, on a journalist ethics level, going into a forum initially as a "member" when you are really looking to generate friendly sources as a reporter is not very ethical. I certainly wonder what the SPJ or IRE (two prominent journalistic organizations) would say about it.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Roadrunner

[PlentyOfPain]

... for an investigative report, sometimes that is necessary.

 

But, on a journalist ethics level, going into a forum initially as a "member" when you are really looking to generate friendly sources as a reporter is not very ethical. I certainly wonder what the SPJ or IRE (two prominent journalistic organizations) would say about it.

 

There's no ethics issue here, IMHO. I cleary said I was a reporter looking for the perspective of working people inside the Ford organization. What SHOULD I have done? Called up Ford and asked them to put me in touch with a few Ford workers?

 

When I go to investigate filth at a restaurant, should I walk in and say, "Hey, I'm Channel 7's chief investigative reporter. I'm here to check how filthy your kitchen is." Oh yeah, that leads right to the truth, doesn't it?

 

Believe me, I take my responsibilities to be ethical as seriously as I try to be entirely accurate. You think that be part of the reason the Society of Professional Journalist conveyed upon me one of its rare Award For Ethics a few years back. I believe, at the time, I was the fourth or fifth person EVER to receive it.

 

I certainly don't mind honest criticism--and I'm far from perfect--but you might do at least a LITTLE rsearch before you start slinging sh*& at me, don't you think Roadrunner?

 

Steve Wilson

Edited November 17, 2006 by PlentyOfPain

[Embalmers]

Steve-

 

Just watched the 3 part series and webchat on the 'net. I think I can be objective here because I have no real ties to FoMoCo - my father-in-law (now deceased) was a retiree. I want Ford to succeed badly.

I don't think that the blue-collar employees are to blame for the current state of affairs at Ford. Management at Ford seems to be so bureaucratic it's amazing certain cars have ever seen the light of day. They even admit it in some of the Bold Moves videos. These blue collar employees that have taken offense to your expose are die-hard, blue-blood Ford people. You are hurting them in a personal way by bad mouthing Ford execs. I understand why they feel this way. I also understand why you have to raise certain questions to the execs. I totally agree with you exposing this blatant double-standard of "Tightening the Belt from the top down" and then using the corporate jet excessively. Lord knows what other "perks" the execs are getting. People need to know that what Fields' says and what he means might not be the same.

 

I was somewhat surprised by the amount of negative reaction you got on the webchat. As you heard, people were quite offended by your report and even verbally attacked you for doing your job. That's a shame. Some people were even condoning the personal use of the jet - I'll bet those people have a job to go to tomorrow. The ones who got pushed out see $70,000 in a weekend and think that could be their yearly salary.

 

I believe that talk is overrated. I think Fields (and other top execs) should be paid based on performance. The better off the company is, the better off their bank account is. Show me by example.

 

Next Monday I will take delivery of my new 2007 Mustang GT. I believe if Ford is going to turn the ship around, they need to make product people want. Like the Mustang. Can't make 'em fast enough up there in Flat Rock. Remember the famous quote from Field of Dreams? "If you build it, they will come."

[chkchka]

Exposing the executives is exactly what the working man needs right now. The media generally bashes us all as overpaid undeserving low class workers. There's no justification for executives and CEO's making and spending millions of dollars, especially when the company is losing billions. Aren't we supposed to be following the Japanese model for success? I believe in Japan if your company loses 5 billions dollars you jump out a window and let someone else try.

[sprinter]

Hopefully most will remember these events come contract time when Mark wants you give back more of your benefits/salary.

 

By the way, Trim has never been right

Edited November 17, 2006 by sprinter

[Len_A]

Exposing the executives is exactly what the working man needs right now. The media generally bashes us all as overpaid undeserving low class workers. There's no justification for executives and CEO's making and spending millions of dollars, especially when the company is losing billions. Aren't we supposed to be following the Japanese model for success? I believe in Japan if your company loses 5 billions dollars you jump out a window and let someone else try.

 

Whether Steve Wilson wants to believe it or not, this is the cost of doing business in North America, and most of Europe for that matter.

 

 

 

The Japanese model? The Japanese model makes it difficult, almost to the point of impossible, for an executive to jump from company to company. That's one of the major reasons that executive compensation in Japan is so much lower than it is in North America or Western Europe. Restricted competition is another reason. The way business is structured in Japan, with the way the major Japanese banks are investors in the major Japanese corporations, starting up new companies in Japan is far more restricted than it is here in the United States. The result is that in Japan, there isn't the number of job openings for executives like there is here in the United States.

 

 

 

The bullshit of Steve Wilson's report is that he isn't telling you hourly guys, the salaried employees getting hit with all these cuts, and vendors like myself, just who the hell is going to fill these executive positions if you force cuts on the execs. Is it fair? Hell no, but what does fair have to do with anything? It's not less fair than my income, as a vendor to Ford, being frozen since 1993, now significantly less than any hourly employee,and no less fair than Ford and GM Purchasing telling my employers to cut prices, especially right after a labor agreement is reached with the UAW, each and every contract since the late 1980's. Fair is irrelevant. Hourly and salaried employees like you guys, and vendors like myself, are expendable, whether any of us like it or not. Fair? Hell no. Equitable? Again, hell no. But, as interesting as Steve Wilson's reports were to see, the bullshit of the reports, and, Steve, the bullshit of you, yourself, and your WXYZ producers themselves, is that your report was incomplete. You can start with your leaving out just how difficult it has been, for many years, to fill these executive positions with competent managers, without giving out compensation packages that look like the company is giving away the company store. You left out how there is an abundance of people, like myself and the others who post in these forums, who will jump at the chance to fill the very jobs that are being cut, but how much of a shortage there is in competent managers, both "homegrown" from with in a company's ranks and sourced from outside a company.

 

 

 

Nice job stirring the pot, Steve, but what's it going to solve? You've done an admirable job of inflaming the emotions of a group of hard working people, who are already incredibly stressed out, but what's it going to solve? Do these reports make the prospect of taking an executive position in the Detroit auto industry more desirable, or does it make a Detroit auto industry exec position less attractive?

[Texas30]

So what's the answer? Allow this to continue because its not good P.R. for Ford motor company?

[Len_A]

So what's the answer? Allow this to continue because its not good P.R. for Ford motor company?

Basically, yes. You got an alternative, I want to hear it. In case someone hasn't noticed, the transplants all have mostly American execs running them. More competition, for the recruiting of competent managers. They may work for less money at the transplants, but, from an execs point-of-view, legitimate opinions or not, they don't have to deal with Mickey Mouse product planning decisions that are based in part on kissing the fannies of "traditional Detroit" customers, they don't have to deal with cash flow issues influenced by legacy costs, they don't have to deal with the UAW and CAW, but they get to have globally sourced product development (that Detroit is only now starting to leverage), much newer factories than most of the Detroit automakers North American plants, and workforces that are younger.

 

 

 

Not to mention that spinning off Delphi and Visteon meant duplicating exec positions and boards-of-directors. Not to mention all the new companies, in various industries, that have been started and gone IPO (gone public, selling shares of common stock) since the late 1980's. All of these things increase the amount of competition to recruit decent management. It sucks, but it creates a shortage of decent managers, while there is a surplus of working class people, blue collar and white collar, like you and I. Not only that, but all the white collar cuts, that have been going on for longer than than the cuts that have started to hit the blue collar ranks, is making the prospect of "growing" our own internally sourced future leadership a bit less likely, just by virtue of the fact that we've shrank the size of the pool of candidates to groom for future execs.

 

 

 

All Steve Wilson's report did was highlight that disparity and rub it in our faces. It's going to solve absolutely nothing. I've been posting it here in these forums for years, but let me spell it out again: If it forces changes in the employment contracts of these big shots, they have plenty of places to go, and we'll all be stuck with a new group of bozos that may or may not be any more competent than the current crop of managers.

[Bluecon]

It's George Bushs' fault. Ford management should live like the King of England and the taxpayers should pay for their bad management.

 

And Western European executives are not as exhorbitantly paid as US executives.

 

Fields can live like a King and so can the rest of the big 2.5 management. Just don't go begging for the taxpayer to pay for it. The same goes for the UAW and the antique work rules, 30 and out the gold plated benefit plan.

[Len_A]

And Western European executives are not as exhorbitantly paid as US executives.

True, but with all this globalization of business, they're getting closer to U.S. exec pay standards (or is it over-paid) each year. Edited November 17, 2006 by Len_A

[Trimdingman]

Do you live here? I've lived here all my life and what palm trees are you talking about? This is not Flordia. Heaven? The weather here is nice---it's NOT the best--and the good weather is not gonna feed the family.

 

 

Those things that I saw along the main drag in Virginia Beach sure looked like palm trees. I had to abandon my car in a blizzard, walk a mile through hip-deep snow to get home, and later spend hours digging the car out. The next day, I was in Virginia Beach. There were flowers, warm breezes. I sure as hell felt like I was in heaven. They practically had to drag me back to the airport.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Trimdingman

[stap1520]

I think it was a great news report and I applaud Steve Wilson for telling it like it is....

shows how greedy and disgustingly selfish rich people are. Even bankrupt companies are doing this , he exposed many executives not just Ford.

They should fly personal trips on their own dime, this also makes you wonder what else happens behind the scenes that shareholders and workers have no idea about.

Mark Fields is no rock star and should try working harder maybe Saturdays included to try and turn the company around with "rock Star" cars and higher sales instead of closing plants and bankrupting thousands of families in the "FORD Family" what an ass he is....

Edited November 17, 2006 by stap1520