The government has lent the company $15 billion and demanded it morph into a smaller, less ambitious but financially sustainable enterprise. President Barack Obama rejected its first restructuring plan as not drastic enough.
GM's bondholders are being asked to convert loans to stock to cut crippling debt. Management wants the United Auto Workers to also accept new stock to finance retirement health benefits. Meanwhile, GM lost $6 billion last quarter, which raises the question of why anybody would even want the shares.
If nobody compromises, everybody loses. June 1 is the deadline for a new blueprint.
Clifton Nelson worked for GM's Broening Highway plant in the early 1980s when he and others were laid off for three years. At least then they knew the Baltimore plant was getting a new product - minivans - that would put everybody to work once the recession ended. This feels different, he said.
"If one of those plants they close is one that we supply, it's uncertain as to whether we'll be called back," he said. They're supposed to return July 6.
White Marsh makes transmissions for trucks and SUVs assembled in Texas, Michigan and Mexico. Those vehicles haven't been selling well. But many of the transmissions go into hybrid vehicles, which get better mileage and have a future in a low-carbon economy. In any event, the plant's status as one of GM's newest, cleanest and most efficient should ensure its survival.
But you never know in the worst financial crisis in 70 years. Senior White Marsh line employees make $26 an hour. That's $54,000 a year - but not in a year with two months of downtime.
"I feel a little disappointed in the whole American dream," said Guy White, a maintenance technician with three kids in college and a wife who lost her job in October. "I live within my means. Now here comes the economy the way it is, and it seems like you get punished for doing the right thing."
Everybody's got painting, cleaning and other projects planned. They're not taking vacations or eating out much. They think about the White Marsh employees who have been laid off for years. At its peak a few years ago, the plant employed 400.
Hourly folks want the UAW to preserve as many American GM jobs as possible. Workers hope the business cliche about crisis offering opportunity will bode well for GM. But they're not sure.
"I can only tell you that, as an employee, I feel dramatic change over the last month or two," said Michele Noppinger, a manager who coordinates supplies and production. "Things are happening at - I guess I want to say warp speed.
"And that's a good thing," she adds. "As long as the changes include us coming back on July 6."
