Ford Anti-Report
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ct/54 -t COUNTERINFORMATION SERVICES - A TRANSNATIONALINSTITUTE AFFILIATE 90p The FordMotor Company Counterlnfonnation Services 9 PolandStreet. London Wl. 01439 3764 .\nti-ReportNo.20 \: : \\ .:r; CIS -.S .. - .':irireof journalistswho pub- ..:: .: : ,::t3tionnot coveredor collated r. ::.3 eslablishedmedia. It is their aim - .:.',3s:rsatethe majorsocial and econo- :''.. .:.:rriutionsthat governour daily ,..;: .. order that the basicfacts and :::-:u:t1L)nSbehind them be as rvidely .\- \\ii as possible.CIS is financedby ,..:s. subscriptions,donations and grants. Subscribe l-+.00UK, {,5.00overseas, for six issues. Special Discount for bulk orders. All rvailablefrom CIS,9 PolandStreet, LondonWl. (01-4393164). Distributedby Pluto Press,Unit 10. SpencerCourt, 7 ChalcotRoad, London \wl 8LH. rsBN0 903660l8 0 Designby JulianStapleton. Publishedby CounterInformation Services. Printed by the Russell PressLimited. -l-iGamble Street. Nor ringham NG7 4ET. Far right. Henry II ERRATUMPAGE 26 TableFiesta Costings Thefirst figure $1,215 should reaci $215 rI I ilry i I t i ri.,: ,i$ru,fufo;, q#ah r$ffi.€) s*b ;\*ffi ffi " ft&1;'l i;$ +:;,it ::lrLn:: ;,[ji:, =* i $ H' $,' Sr lU Popperfoto The Ford Motor Company is in the tionally by geography'and nationality. ary.and governmentwage freezes cited to business of making money out of car- Ford, on the other hand. benefitsirom justify their refusal.Tax incentivesand workers. To do this it mounts a constant its centralisedcontrol of manaqementsubsidiesabound as national govern- three-pronged attack: on wages, on strategy. ments competefor Ford's favours.Ford productivity levels, and on workers' flourishesin Europe while Europeancar attempts to organisethemselves. In Europe.lor example.the UK work- firms struggleto survive.The company's force is threatened*rth an embargoon ability to make record profits at the In order to extract greater productivity further UK investmentunless continental expenseof Europeanworkers and national (more work for the same pay) from its levels oi productivity are achieved. economies gives us some indication of employees, Ford plays workforces off Dagenhamworkers are told that it takes Ford's far greater muscle when dealing i57 againstone another.This hastraditionally them longer than Genk (Belgium) with countries of the Third World in been done by playing section against workersto oroducethe Cortina. Halewood Latin America and South East Asia, section, black worker against white rr orkers are told that their record in Ford's other arenasof complementation worker, immigrants against nationais. meeting production targets is abysmal investment. skilled worker against unskilled plants. worker. compared to continental Mean- The Ford Motor Company wageswar on women againstmen. The increasedglobal- while. GermanFord workersare told that its workersin order to increaseits profits. isation which is the hallmark of current their plants lessprofitable than those are Each victory won by the company, each Ford strategy has now added a new of the owing the UK or Spain to appre- productivity deal squeezedout of a weak dimension to the company's offensive. ciation of the Deutschmark! plant and then used as a precedentto Complementation - the assemblyof a At every turn the ultimate threat is <lf attack other plants,means bigger bonuses single product or model from com- unemployment.The companyworks hard for the multi-millionairesof top manage- ponents made in many different coun- at fosteringan imageof national identity ment, increased dividends from their tries and plants - has been developed wherever it operates,representing itself enormousshareholdings. And eachdefeat further by Ford than by any other as a local employer and exporter, with sustainedby the workforce meansmore company. This enablesFord to manipu- the country's interestsat heart, and play- inhuman working conditions, a greater late its employees in many different ing down the fact that its subsidiaries subordination to the tyranny of the countries as a single workforce geared are controlled from the USA. Meanwhile assemblyline, and a shorter route to the to a single programme. In the battle the host governments actively support human scrapheapwhich is as integral a between workers and company the and complement its attack on the work- part of every Ford factory as a slagheap workers remain fragmented organisa- force. Wageincreases are called inflation- to a coalmine. I The ArnericanRoad The North American Motor Industry is undergoing a unique crisis. It is an evolutionary crisis, a chrysalis change. For major monopolists, GM and Ford are embarking on a radical resiructuring of their global operations 'A sixth jobs, of US a sixth of GNP, a their global operations. The ramifications chemicals,and the younger manuf'actur- sixth every of retail dollar is locked into of this restructuring are so extensiveas ing industriessuch as electronicsincrease the auto industry. A fifth of American to require a reappraisalof what we mean their productivity growth from year to steel, a third of zinc. a tenth of alu- by a multinationalcompany, its power to year in responseto technologicalinno minium, two thirds of rubber is tied to affect people'slives, and its relationship vations,the auto industry is, in productiv- autos'(Rothschild). with the state. ity terms,over the hill. Both Between 1977 and 1985 the American Ford and GM are geared over- Sloanism,the scienceand psychologyof auto industryis expectedto spendsome- whelmingly to the manufacture of sellingcars and creatingmarkets, is reach- - thing like $55 billion on capitalinvest- vehicles in Ford's case over 90% of ing a parallel impasse. This does not ment in its home base.This is double turnover comes from vehicle sales.The mean that the North American market is what the nation spentin putting a man mainstay of production remains the dead - far from it. The US still provides on the moon. As befitsthe leaderin the classicassembly line developedby Henry over 507o of salesand profits fbr Ford domesticmarket, General Motors will be I, on which largenumbers of production and g0% for GM. over lOmillion carsare spendingthe lion's share.a stupendousworkers perform short repeated cycles sold in the USA evety year, but 8million $3l.5billion. The FordMoror Companv. of movements.Vast plantsiuch as Ford's of these are replacements.A central aim with an estimated$lbillion home inveit- at Rouge, Michigan,and GM's at Lords- of marketing policy in the industry has ment eachyear berween1977 and 1985 town, Ohio, utilise basically the same been to create the appearanceof new should notch up a total of gl8billion. approachas in Henry lsts original plant models every year. A large proportion Chryslerwill come in a rnodestthird at at Mack Avenue,Dgtroit, where the first of trade is with companies with large $0.:Uiition.(Auromotive News 21.11.77) Model A's were produced. Despite com- fleets of carsand car-hirefirms, who see puterisation, welding robots, and three it in their own competitive interest to This, bi' far the greatest investment quarters of a century of technical inno- always have the most recent models programmein the historyof the industry, vation, car manufacture is still firmlv available.But now the market marks a totally new phase is reaching of production dependant on the line worker. With 19 saturation. and competition aimed at downsizing North American plants operatingon this In l92O there was one car for every 13 the entire model rangeof all the com- principle, there is no way in which Ford Americans. men. women and children. paniesrn order to meetfederal legislation 9an restructure production techniques In 1930 this was up to one car per 5tb on fuel economy.lt is also ai-medat from the bottom up - even if the tech- Americans. In 1950, one car per 33/+ dealingu'ith the growingthreat of impor- nology were available for complete Americans. In 1970, one car per 2% ted cars. mainly Japanese,which have automatl0n. Americans.In terms of growth,the hey- penetratedthe USA market in l9j7 day of the US car industry at home was to a recordlevel of nearly20%. And, of the 20s and 30s. By thi time course. they are all embarkingon the of the Great Depressionthe US had investmentprogramme in ordei to stay Saturation achieveda level of car ownershipthat the UK only competitivewith eachother. The other consideration limitine the reached in 1966, and Holland only futher development of Fordism is the Competition has always been the main reached in 1910. human element - the limitations and stimulusto changein the auto industry, 'Io resistanceof the assemblyworkers them- market saturation as a hindrance to and as the pacehas hotted up the weaker selves.The work cycles,movements and growth, is currently added the rocketing operationshave goneto the wall. From operating speeds imposed on the line costs of car ownership.In many areasol the hundredsof smallworkshops produc- worker have been refined over the years the USA over the last two years auto ing carsin the first decadeof this centurv. to the point wherethe attemptto screw insurancecosts have gone up 50%.As list the field has narroweddown to three further ouncesof effort and productivity prices, interest rates,fuel and repair bills major producers,General Motors, Ford are as likely asnot to be counterproduc- all increase,the private owner is becom- and Chrysler, with American Motors tive, through deteriorating work, ill ing less likely to trade in his car after hangingon as a shaky fourth which may health,absenteeism. or activeresistance. owning it for only a short time. well not survive this latest surse of competition. Between1919 and 1930,productivity in the US auto industry increasedby an Competition Productivity average.8.6% p.a., while for US industry USA Advertising Expenditure as a whole the figure was only 1.9%p.a. Carsand Trucks - 1975-1976 The North American motor industry is Between 1960 and 1971 however,lhe us$ 1976 197s undergoinga unique crisis.It is an evolu- average auto industry productivity in- General tionary crisis, a chrysalis change. The crease was down to 3%. It has since Motors 247,59t,300 major monopolists, GM and Ford, are dropp_edbelow 2%.