The sad fact is that these jobs....manufacturing....are gone and will not come back.
GM was punished by the market for providing jobs with superb benefits and good pay. Look at who is failing right now....companies are failing in direct proportion to how much of their manufacturing is done in the USA. Fiat, with no US presence, is doing relatively fine whereas, US ONLY Chrysler is finished. GM spends twice as much paying health care for retirees than it does in actual labor.....current labor costs only amount to between 7 & 11% of GM's cars cost.
American manufacturing is crippled by a health care system that costs too much, and no support whatsoever for labor, from government. Look at the difference in stimulus bills between the USA and China.....the US money can be paid out to any company, but China's recent stimulus is limited to domestic companies (IN CHINA).
It's very likely your mom is going to have to find a new career, and that career will be drastically different. Manufacturing jobs will not come back. Statistically, she's going to make less and have far less in the way of benefits. That's harsh, but that's likely....and I can only imagine how that reality hurts when you have 30+ years doing the same thing.
It's also very likely that many people in your mom's situation won't find a job for a very long time. Many (especially those 50+), probably won't work again. There are no more bubbles to base the economy on - real estate is dead and I don't see a tulip bulb or railroad or tech boom pending. The massive deficits that Republican President's have ran up since Reagan are all coming due now.....now in a downturn where we MUST spend to keep the wheels turning.
Since our economy is somewhat planned and we know many won't be working to support free trade and other policies that favor the rich -- society will be forced, as a moral and ethical committment, to provide a safety net. Hopefully your family can take advantage of that, at least until she can find work again.
Long term....Vote Democrat. Read a recent book from Paul Krugman if you want to understand the economy and why it is where it is, and where it needs to go.
Good luck....
ups than the GM execs.
