Broke and broken

I have done some time as an auto assembler for GM, and have blogged it before: [rantage on working conditions, Union benefits, and the incredible value of a blue collar job.] I was completely unskilled when I went to work for GM, and living below the poverty level.

Because of making a decent wage on the assembly line, I was able to purchase the old house where I was living, fix it up a little, sell it for a profit and buy one in a better area, and start taking classes that would provide skills that would later help me get a job that was not so back-breaking. It provided a leg up that I never would have gotten otherwise.

I was laid off, along with the rest of my shift (followed by wave after wave of layoffs until the whole plant closed). When the layoff hit, the only job skills I had were for factory work (as I still had plenty of classes ahead of me), and the only jobs I could find were close to minimum wage with no benefits.

It was very tough, but I was young, resilient and energetic. It would not be the same if the layoff were about to hit me now. The focus of any Federal money going to the Big Three has got to be on the workers, since I don't believe for a minute that these corporations are going change their ways and turn into silk purses, start making good products. Some workers do have special skills ("skilled trades" we called them) where they can move into another industry, but most are not equipped to face the job market.

There's plenty of work that needs to be done in this country, and not all of it requires high skills. My biggest hope is that if there are unwillingly idle hands that they can be given something worthwhile to do, and a paycheck to boot.

Yeah, I know. It's complicated.