Its not the factory that people hate. Its the mentality of SOME of the workers. Janesville is a small community but its not that small that everyone is running into the same GM person with this mentality. There are hard workers there but there are a lot of people who work there who have this entitlement arrogance.

cougar85-...$12-15/hour jobs, 1-2 weeks of vacation, paying for 50% of your benefits and health care costs, zero pension, maybe a matching 401(k) program and actually being accountable for putting in an honest days worth of work. Good luck and welcome to the real world.
Is that the kind of world you want? Just because right to work states and corporations want to make us a third world county doesn't mean our own citizens should. I have never seen so many people want others to have less. You should strive for all people to have good jobs and benefits. Do you think the price of a GM vehicle will be cheaper now that they have closed these plants? If cheaper wages are the answer why isn't a Tahoe made in Mexico cheaper to buy than one made in Janesville? I thought NAFTA was going to be great for the consumer. I worked in Ohio for 23 years and worked my last nine in Janesville, and I never understood why a town hated a factory so much.

Excellent, forward-thinking editorial. The one thing I have always said (with much regret) is that Janesville, as a community, seems to lack imagination. It was a bit too content and complacent a place, one I was once happy to leave. I have seen that change in my adult lifetime and I now have much more hope for what I am increasingly happier to call my hometown.
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If this shock forces people to become even more imaginative and take risks like starting new businesses and going back to school, I see great things for Janesville down the road.

so true snarly so true

Very well written editorial. Janesville won't be the same in the post-GM era, but that has pluses and minuses. We are much more able to withstand this blow than we would have been ten years ago, thanks to the growth of Mercy and other non-auto centered businesses. It will take hard work, but we will survive. These facts don't mean that today was not a shot to the gut.

Now theres actually something to whine about unlike last year when you all stood in the picket line. Welcome to the world most people live in. You'll survive. You wont make your 25-35 bucks an hour, but you'll survive. I'll be glad when this stops making the news its annoying me.

Good editorial. It couldn't have been easy to write.

Very good editorial, Scott. This day has long seemed inevitable, and yet the reality is shocking. I live in Oklahoma and haven't lived in Janesville for nearly 20 years, but today my hometown and everyone affected by the closure are very much in my heart and prayers.

I think Janesville can be a better place without the shackles of having to frame every important community decision around GM. No one I know is guaranteed a job tomorrow and I feel the pain for those who are losing theirs, but we all knew the clock was ticking. If you get a city manager with some guts and new ideas, you will see positive change even before the plant closes. Look at the uptick around Beloit under City Mgr. Arft. In other words, get the old guard out!

Cougar85 AMEN to that!!!! I'm glad I moved out of Janesville. People keep posting how great the work force is there. All I see on these boards is whining and a divided community. Why would business want to come there? I've been in the plant. There are some hard workers there as well as slackers. I feel bad for the hard workers because this caught them unprepared to deal with the situation but they have been way over paid for years. I told a GMer that this was going to happen 10 years ago and I was told the union wouldn't let it happen. What is the UNION doing to prevent it? I'm so glad I never got a job there. I couldn't get an application because my family tree actually forks.

"Not everything associated with GM was positive for Janesville, however. This has always been a blue-collar place, and our education level lagged because young people didn’t need to earn degrees to earn good wages. The image of a working-class place without much character, culture or class spread, but it wasn’t wholly unwarranted."
So here we are, put as nicely as anyone can: an undereducated, overpaid, entitlement mentality, union town. Some used GM to get an education and/or provide a quality living for their family and have had the forsight to prepare for this day. Good for them. Many did not and now have no plan in place to transition. And a rough transition it will be: from $35/hour wages with great health benefits, multiple weeks of annual vacation, incredible pension, low accountability for below average job performance....to...$12-15/hour jobs, 1-2 weeks of vacation, paying for 50% of your benefits and health care costs, zero pension, maybe a matching 401(k) program and actually being accountable for putting in an honest days worth of work. Good luck and welcome to the real world.

"maybe"

Oh, and good editorial Scott. I wish more of the comments were this positive. May Janesville will have to go through all the stages of mourning to get there.

PowerMaker,
Don't kid yourself. GM will not invest in the Janesville plant. Why would they? Out of the goodness of their heart? It sure wouldn't be a good business decision, unfortunately. They are simply increasing production at plants that already produce cars. Sales of ALL vehicles are down.

Already politicians rallying to the cause. I hope they can bring a new product line in before the projected close. It always amazes me at how we as a community jump when GM sneezes. I'm sure we will offer them all the tax breaks and incentives in the world to keep them here, while our property taxes go up to compensate. If it wasn't for all the friends I have that work there, I would say screw it and let them go. I'm tired of hearing how the city is going to implode because of GM.

Scott - nice piece, but keep these guys honest. There is always someone saying we need to spend more on parks, more on new roads, and as a result, property taxes increase at a time when jobs are scarce and people can least afford it.
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All I am saying is, government rarely cuts like the private sector cuts.

Good call Scotty.