Feb 29 2008
Two sides of Globalization
General Motors is closing down a local call center that employed 237 people. Rough financial times for GMAC has resulted in them pulling the plug in the financing division, in the US and Canada– a total of over 930 jobs.
Fitch Ratings reported that auto loans are at least 60 days delinquent, were at a 10 year high in January.
A few months ago, operators in the Philippines began taking customer calls. Customers began to complain, that they could not understand (the Filipino Agents). A manager said GMAC is training customer service agents in India.
The official GMAC spokesman would not confirm the use of foreign call centers, playing the “we don’t disclose vendors, or where they are located” card.
Stream, a subsidiary of Symantec bailed out of the local & US market in 2004 & operates in India.
I worked at this call center for 4 years. (Not currently employed with them). GMAC had begun a systematic withdrawal- opening our center at a lower pay rate on the West coast, then one by one, shutting down union “FSO’s” Field Service Offices, one by one, essentially replacing them with lower paid, non-union workers. It was just a matter of time before that domino effect hit the place that was the replacement about 8 years after it was opened.
The domino effect has come full circle, and now they are getting the employment ax.
GMAC is “going global” to get a cheaper workforce, and find places to exploit. What bothered me most, was the shut downs and job losses went on silently and behind the scenes.
But GM and the other so-called Big 3 automakers, literally missed the boat on Hybrid cars, at the same time gas prices soared. The quality level of US made cars, has not compared with the likes of Toyota & Honda- or for whatever reason, the US carmakers tanked in recent years. They were left top heavy with gas guzzling SUV’s, and people just saying no to the $50 or more pricetag, to fill-er-up at the pump.
So while GM pulls the rug out from under US employees, and makes no comment in going “global”, they should not be surprised when car buyers do the same in turn- they are going global, and purchasing foreign cars. They have better consumer reports ratings, last longer, when taken care of properly, and have much better mpg efficiency.
What’s not to love? So GM bilking the US out of more jobs is just another reason to not buy their product.
Globalization goes 2 ways.
“I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all - a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
that doesn’t 
In his wonderful article, “
Today was one of those days. An e mail announcement from my supervisor at work revealed she has been diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. Will have a mastectomy on Friday, surgery to remove a breast, and lymph nodes. A year of chemo, hair loss, nausea. A 43 year old vibrant Mother of two, with no family history of cancer. Just brought tears to my eyes thinking about how her world has changed in one day. Just a routine annual exam.
in the interest of disclosure, i am going to go on record as saying- i am a white woman, mid-thirties who has lived predominately in rural and semi-rural settings my entire life. i have never been a part of any organization and, indeed, have more of the go-it-alone sentiment over grouping together. alright, i guess i grew up thinking- if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. so- with that in mind- i am completely out of my understanding or depth with tackling this topic i am about to throw out there. i am not a person of color and i am not a feminist. consequently, i know next to nothing about either. i guess it’s rather simplistic of me to say i am a humanist- i try to see people as people regardless of race or gender. now, that doesn’t mean i always succeed. societal implants are hard to change when you have lived them for 36 years- but i am trying.
i really feel that we have to challenge ourselves to think outside of ourselves once in awhile- and if these last 8 years plus haven’t done that- well, you must be a neo con. yes, that was snarky. 
Do you remember how outraged you were during the 2004 Election Cycle when a group of conservative Catholic Bishops threatened to with hold communion from Democratic Presidential candidate, John Kerry? Well, if you thought the Bishops were through you have another thing coming. This year the two leading candidates, Obama and Clinton, are not Roman Catholics, so the Bishops have devised an more Draconian measure. Instead of threatening the candidates they are now threatening Catholic, American voters who would vote for either Clinton or Obama in the general election. That’s right, friends and neighbors. The bloviating Bishops have actually decided that they have the right to interfere in the electoral process of a primarily non-Catholic nation. Not that we should be surprised. This after all is the same church who has selected two recent Popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, both of whom trace(d) their loyalties back to Hitler’s Pope, Pope Pius XII, and perhaps more chillingly the war against modernism–a war which included efforts to combat labor unions, democracy, and the separation of church.
The time has come for me to begin my “Diva-fication” for my work week (”Diva” is my work name, kind of like “Diddy” without the annual variations. I was actually given that alias by my early blogosphere friends and I have worn the moniker proudly for more than 5 years). In any case, that means I’ll be on radio silence for a couple of days.
Having a baby can change one’s perspectives in ways that one never would have suspected. Throughout the summer, fall, and winter we knew that we did not want our child to be raised in the Republican cuckoo land that has become the United States, and now that our child, a healthy baby boy named Jeffrey Michael, has arrived in the world we are more determined than ever to turn this country around while there is still a country left to actually turn around. I don’t know if any of you out there are new or expecting parents, but as far as my husband, PraetorOne, and I are concerned we are even more dedicated to changing this country than we were during the run up to January 13th, the day that our first child was born.
my blog’s name is 
My apologies for the late-edition of the round-up, today. I’ve been feeling a little off, physically, so I decided to take it easy and slept right through the time I normally prepare and post.
” You know, it’s funny; when the world changed, I was outside in the sun reading a book under a tree, and I didn’t even know the world had changed until hours afterward. 
I need a vacation. I don’t mean, jus’ some time off. I mean a real vacation, that starts with words like “Bahamas” or “Jamaica” and ends with me nodding off after drinking too many Mojitos.
Well, it must be a presidential election year because once again Gays and Lesbians are getting the short end of the proverbial stick. We all know that John McCain will do his very best to make certain that Gays and Lesbians will never achieve full equality under the law, meaning that he will in all probability try to deny us the benefits of civil unions, much less the rights to marry and to enjoy the financial benefits that come from a marital union.
as many of you know, spadoman is participating in 
who said awards shows couldn’t send a message?