Holden closure: Plant workers begin new lives as bar owners - Sensationalist Headlines

[t]http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/9044218-3x2-940x627.jpg[/t] [quote]Former Holden worker, Steve Farago, opened "Brick City" after the factory's closure was announced.[/quote] [quote=ABC News]It's Friday night at Brick City, an Adelaide bar started by three auto workers, and Steve Farago is getting ready for a big night. He's in the middle of explaining how two decades spent in the car industry taught him the discipline and work ethic he needed to start this place, when one of his regulars cuts in to joke that it also taught Steve to drink whisky. "It's a transferable skill," Steve fires back. "You still can't run a bar in three shifts," the regular answers. "Or maybe you can," they say after a moment thinking about it. [b]Working two jobs[/b] Steve and his partners opened the bar while still working at Holden's Elizabeth plant in northern Adelaide for Futuris, a supplier. He was rostered on until Friday, when Futuris workers had their final shifts. Starting the bar was the scariest time in his life, Steve says, a big gamble and a major commitment on top of his job in the factory. "I forget the actual day, but the opening night two years ago, it became real," he says. "The whole time I was thinking it wasn't going to happen, and we're going to get rejected again.[/quote] Read the rest of the article at [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-15/holden-workers-start-bar-after-factory-closure/9043934[/url] GM Holden, effectively the last remnant of the Australian automotive industry, shuts down on the 20th of October. Many of Holden's direct suppliers have already put their tools down, and it follows the departure of Toyota earlier this year, Ford last year, and Mitsubishi in 2008.

Honestly should have happened more than a decade ago. The government should not have squandered taxpayer money subsidising the car industry for so long. They would have been far better off spending that money retraining workers or starting up a new industry.

[QUOTE=download;52781129]Honestly should have happened more than a decade ago. The government should not have squandered taxpayer money subsidising the car industry for so long. They would have been far better off spending that money retraining workers or starting up a new industry.[/QUOTE] I don't think anyone would argue to the contrary. No one wanted to buy the cars that Ford, Holden and Toyota were making in Australia. I drive a Ford Falcon; as a pre-owned car it was a great deal for a (then) P-plater, but I wouldn't buy one new even if they still made them. At least some (soon to be former) employees have found a new and interesting way to continue on with their lives.

[QUOTE=BF;52781266]I don't think anyone would argue to the contrary. No one wanted to buy the cars that Ford, Holden and Toyota were making in Australia. I drive a Ford Falcon; as a pre-owned car it was a great deal for a (then) P-plater, but I wouldn't buy one new even if they still made them. At least some (soon to be former) employees have found a new and interesting way to continue on with their lives.[/QUOTE] The only people who wanted to buy them were bogans who didn't want cars made by the Japanese or Koreans.