Sorry Mech, my information is that since Japan started winning the car sales war that G.M. started adopting more and more of their style of management and pretty much got away from the one guy turns one screw mentality. Now workers are trained to be able to do multiple jobs, just as I was taught in the American auto parts plants here. But like most things with GM, they drug their feet too long making such changes.
Most of the jobs from the past are still jobs they have in the Chevy plants in Michigan, to the best of my knowledge. I could call to Michigan see first hand. When I was still in High school in 1982 one class in skill trades took my class to a Chevy plant and I seen how hard most of the guys were working. They were going about the speed of a pit stop crew at Nascar. It was a not the easy work I had been told before they did. What some people don't understand was the good jobs like skilled trades- If your a person, such as a welder repair man like my father was, if nothing is broke you have time to kill- I THINK they have changed that one, but I will have to ask some folks in Michigan and see what is the latest on that. I do not recall it being in their 2009 UAW-GM survival guide.
I understand what you mean about technology taking the place of some jobs. People have been worried about this for over 100 years. Robots and computers are tools of the trade, and they do not always work as well as humans can doing the same thing.
You asked about seeing people painting cars.. I hate to say this, but there is a single plant right outside of town here that makes DOORS and BUMPERS for one of the big 3, I can not recall it could of likely been GM or Ford. A cleaning woman that worked for my mother's husband was one of the PEOPLE (not robots) that painted the doors and whatever else they build.
I too ran my own small business for awhile at I made pretty good money when I started it up. I repaired Windows based computers. But due to a sudden breakup of my girlfriend, who just happen to of been renting the home with a separate room I was using for the repair room, AND the very beginning of high fuel and The Recession was kicking in. I lost many good customers because I could not find a location to set up shop unless I could cover a good sum of rent, and there was not enough customer base to cover it. So I had to pull out of it. But for awhile it was one of the coolest work I ever did to make money.
I see blaming robots and machines the same way I do blaming shovels and rakes for taking our jobs. I blame people and not the common worker doing what his boss tells him/her to do, nor do I blame the tools for what has happened. I blame greed and the people that feel anyone that makes more money than they do and actually boycott what amounts to thier own countries economy as being the sole ones to blame. It's all about greed and decades ago I would agree the UAW was not being fair with what they asked for. But for the past 20 years or so all I have heard of is the union giving back everything they ever got. Now GM goes into bankruptcy for what- 60 DAYS?? Anybody smell a rat here? GM has been mis-managed for far too long, which no doubt is one of the reasons that politics took GM's former CEO off the payroll. I am not the only one that sees it this way.