DETROIT, well known for its
automotive legends, is at a loss.
Thousands of Detroit auto workers like Tom Budimerovich, an assembly-line worker at Chrysler's Warren truck plant, is hoping for answers about the fate of their jobs and their industry.
“The wait is driving us crazy. You want to make a plan for tomorrow. Right now, you work hard all day long and go home worried about losing your job the next day," he said.
But as the government drew a deeper line in the sand, workers were left in limbo.
President Barack Obama ordered
General Motors Corp and
Chrysler to accelerate their restructuring efforts and brace for possible bankruptcy on Monday.
GM was given 60 days to rework its plans, and Chrysler was told it had 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat SpA. The alternative: a cut-off of government funding.
Automakers, parts suppliers and dealerships have lost more than 400,000 jobs over the past year as Detroit's automakers cut costs to survive a brutal downturn in sales.
Autoworkers came to expect layoffs, plant closures and concessions, all of which they were told were necessary to keep the big three U.S. auto companies from failing.
Auto workers represented by the United Auto Workers union, many of whom campaigned for Obama, were angry that the government appeared to be taking a tougher line on the automakers than on banks and financial companies like insurer American International Group (
AIG.N).
No one knows what their fate would be……
