Word: gm
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While many South African whites are trying to dismiss the impact of the U.S. pullouts, the departures can eventually hurt. The new owners may initially leave facilities and work forces untouched. In fact, GM last week announced plans to hire immediately 200 new workers for the launch of an upcoming model. But that often radically changes later. In Port Elizabeth, which once styled itself the "Detroit of South Africa," employment nose- dived in 1985 when Ford sold its majority share to local owners, who then shifted operations to Pretoria. Last week many Port Elizabethans doubted GM's assurances that...
...corporate pullouts that most shocked South Africans were those of GM and IBM, respectively the first and fifth largest U.S. industrial corporations. Both firms cited as reasons a combination of South Africa's failure to achieve progress in ending apartheid and a precarious economic climate. Said IBM Chairman John Akers, whose company has operated in South Africa since 1952: "Unfortunately, the deteriorating political and economic situation in South Africa and its trading partners makes our action necessary...
...products to South African customers, often through locally owned firms that buy out the departing company's assets (see box). These arrangements have so far prevented the U.S. corporate departures from causing the widespread loss of jobs, specifically black jobs, that South African officials had often predicted. The entire GM work force of 3,000, for example, 60% black, will stay on the job at the company's Port Elizabeth assembly plant under the new ownership...
...sudden rash of U.S. business retreats was more than just a coincidence. In order to recoup their investments in South Africa, many companies that elect to leave find it necessary to advance substantial start-up loans to local buyers. GM, for example, plans to underwrite the sale of its $176 million in assets in South Africa to its own local executives and lend the new management an additional $44 million to wipe out the company's current indebtedness. These loans, which will be repaid from profits in future years, may be considered "new investments" in South Africa under...
...four new leave-takers were all adherents to the so-called Sullivan Principles, the fair-employment guidelines devised in 1977 by the Rev. Leon Sullivan, a Philadelphia civil rights leader and a member of GM's board. The Sullivan plan provides for equal treatment of the races in hiring, pay and promotions, and commits employers to improving workers' living conditions. U.S. firms doing business in South Africa used to be viewed even by most American critics of apartheid as good corporate citizens as long as they abided by the principles. A strong U.S. corporate presence in South Africa, moreover...