Auto Industry Squeeze Hits Hard

The auto business runs in cycles. Righ now, business is way down. The latest down-cycle is hitting one group particularly hard: Big Auto's supplier companies and their highly-skilled employees.

The suppliers have weathered a rocky 10-year period, with automakers squeezing them hard for even-deeper price cuts and low-wage foreign competitors emerging as major players in the industry.

"We've been bleeding members," said Jon Winterhalter, Directing Business representative from PM 2848 in Warren, Michigan. Winterhalter represents a highly-skilled group of workers who create full-size mockups of products, an essential part of the automobile design process.

Yet, Winterhalter said, more than a third of his members have lost their jobs during the past decade.

Pattern Maker Klaus Krahe knows how painful an economic downturn can be. Laid-off in 2000, he has long since used up all of his unemployment benefits.

The 62-year old journeyman looks 50, outworks 20-year olds and, despite 40 years of experience, cannot find a job. "They won't say it, but I know my age is a factor," said Krahe.

Krahe and his wife have dipped into their savings and 401(k) plan to make ends meet. Still he is resolute. "I'm not going to give up," he vows. "I'm going to keep on trying."