Chrysler Bankruptcy: Devastation Close to Home

There is no denying it and the federal government finally admitted it, the United States is experiencing a recession. I never thought I would hear those words in my lifetime. As unemployment rates skyrocketed and big companies started filing for bankruptcy left and right, I would often feel for those individuals who had their life turned upside down. As a husband and father with a family of my own I always wondered how something like that would affect me. I always remarked "that would be a terrible way to live and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and I hoped it never happened to me."

Well it didn't happen to me it happened to my best friend, my dad. My dad is 50 year old Greg and he is a Chrysler factory worker at the plant in St. Louis, MO and Chrysler has officially announced that they will file for bankruptcy. He has been working for Chrysler for about 15 years. My dad had made several remarks to me that in the past few months that things were very tense at work and people were asking a lot of questions about layoffs. There have been some layoffs and talks about cutting back on work hours. Management had been no real help because he says that most questions that pertaining to the future of the company and their jobs were met with blank stares or empty promises. Many even told him don't worry the workers would be the first to know if anything was going to happen that affected their jobs. My dad and others were concerned about their futures but they were forced to play the waiting game.

My dad called home yesterday to tell my wife and I that Chrysler was filing bankruptcy and that this could have a major effect on his job. He was particularly upset because he does not have enough years to draw a good retirement and he wondered if his accumulated pension could be in jeopardy. At his age he wondered who would hire him and pay him the type of money he was making. He also expressed concerns about a new company taking control and what type of changes they would make. Would they bring in their own employees?

Part of him was angry because the company did not express to the workers how much financial trouble they were actually in and they were forced to hear about it in the news like everyone else. This is an extremely hard time for him and he is once again forced to play the waiting game. They announced at work that they will be closing the plant hopefully just for a few days until the dust settles. He and most of his co-workers do not believe this. They feel it will be much longer and they have begun considering their job options. It seems he will once again have to play the waiting game and hope for the best.