The problem is that nearly everybody has been making a lot more than their base, thanks to overtime work during the recent boom times. They've been working record overtime throughout most of the 1990's, and that will be the first kind of compensation to be cut - cut to 40 hours. That's got to hurt. It definitely will. The people who work for parts suppliers like Johnson Controls have no wage guarantees, and thousands have already lost their jobs.
Suppliers provide carmakers with everything from carpeting to windshield wipers to spark plugs.
Paul Ballew is the director of market and industry analysis at General Motors. The suppliers have a tough road. And the suppliers have had a tough road over the last decade plus, all of us have because of the competitive nature of the business. But if you're a supplier in this day and age, you're trying to become more efficient and more effective simultaneously. Delphi Automotive, which produces electrical components, will temporarily lay off about of 4,300 of its employees this week.