General Motors decided to accept the Kirk Kerkorian plan on Monday when it appointed his man, Jerome York to the company’s board. The move is a sign that the board may be poised to take a more activist stance as GM struggles financially, reports USA Today.

The company followed up Tuesday when it announced, according to the New York Times, that it had cut its dividend in half, reduced the salaries of its senior executives and board members, and changed its health care and pension plans for retired workers. These were the measures that York had pushed as a part of Kerkorian’s becoming a more active investor a month ago.

The dividend cut will probably give the stock a haircut. The only thing keeping investors keeping on was the promise of a steady dividend funded by the parts of GM that were still producing cash. If that’s going to go into reinvestment, shareholders will have to take the long bet that Kerkorian has made that GM can be rescued and restored to some health as an auto maker.

One obvious route to getting the company back on track will be a brutal cut in health benefits that are routinely cited as a major drag on the company’s performance. Monday’s announcement says current retirees and spouses will be spared and the cuts will affect only future retirees. Seems like we’re soon going to be hearing that old adage: “No pain, no gain.”