Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16738 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 10:07 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
|
|
|---|---|
|
Replying to: mikefm58 (May 16, 2009 5:13 pm) |
|
|
"But the fact is that they can STILL be made here competitively."...if the union, whether UAW or anyone else, agrees to competetive wages and non-restrictive work rules, I must agree with you...but, after seeing how the UAW "created" featherbedded jobs where none existed (thereby increasing payroll, benefits, and retirement costs for more employees thereby costing the compnay more for no other reason than to "make work" from nothing), and created restrictive work rules so that 6000 people were needed to make the same amount of cars that Honda made for 2000, I will emphatically state that unions only serve to DESTROY companies and send jobs overseas, because it is a rare union that acts reasonably...UAW, Eastern Airlines mechanics, and US Steelworkers are 3 prime examples...just because a few unions may be better is worth as much as saying that some Muslims aren't Islamic radicals...once the union tastes what it calls "power", over time they will PROBABLY kill their own golden goose...if ever there was a textbook case, we are watching the UAW do it in real time... No, everyone should not be in a union...better than every union should be disbanded and annihilated...in the long run, both the company and the employees will be better off...maybe gagrice is the exception, since their union seemed to comprehend about killing the goose that "excretes" the gold... |
|
|
It is more important for the company to make a better profit margin than for the workers to unionize...profits will hopefully keep the company operating, offering employment to SOME workers...if the union kills the company, NONE of the workers have a job...that is why I repeat that you could not simply "replace" Henry Ford with another visionary entrepreneur, but his 300,000 workers could be replaced by any living body with no special abilities except the ability to breathe and show up sober...and showing up sober is something else that left this planet when the UAW was formed, as they created grievance processes that required 2 years to take a drunk off the assembly line...now add that to the old adage "don't get a car made on Monday (hung over) or Friday (drunk)" and you will easily comprehend why "quality workmanship" and the UAW are the antithesis of each other, as you simply cannot have one at the same time as the other...if you have UAW you have junk, no UAW (think Honda, Toyota) and you have quality cars...as always, lemko excepted... Without lemko, Caddy goes under in about a week...   
|
|
|
|
|
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Honda-Driving-Employee-Fired-by-Dodge-.html- This link was posted elsewhere but could be relevant here. A foreign car may document as largely manufactured here but parts may actually be imported and if the right ones are assembled into larger parts that counts as US content. So how US is a Civic? The Dodge dealer apparently felt she should have done her Civic duty and bought a Dodge. Their minds were not of one Accord on this. We don't know what Caliber of worker the young lady is, but since I've heard a thousand times if once that a car assembled here is more US content than one assembled with parts from Mexico or Canada or even assembled in Canada/Mexico. The UAW has taken all kinds of grief, and some is deserved. But There is lots more to the determination of US content than just where some parts were assembled. I think it's time for the UAW to publicize more about the foreign content in US assembled foreign cars for foreign manufacturers. |
|
|
Replying to: imidazol97 (May 16, 2009 6:44 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: fezo (May 16, 2009 6:49 pm) Now, if she had just belonged to a union like the UAW, she would not have to run to NBC to get the story out. The shop steward could have fixed the problem. 
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: steve_ (May 16, 2009 6:51 pm) Or at least bought her a beer... |
|
|
Replying to: cooterbfd (May 16, 2009 10:35 am) My Sunday School teacher is in the construction business. He is a top notch builder. He bid to build a HUD house for the city of Atlanta. He gave them his proposal and they decided they wanted union workers across the board. He re figured the cost and it was a little over twice that of using non union workers. Materials were the same. The cost of labor made the big difference. If everything we consume was made at union wages, the "common folk", as you put it, could not afford nearly what they can now. If everybody worked for a union, everything manufactured here would be much more expensive. We would be in run away inflation, and couldn't export anything because of the high price. Unions wouldn't tolerate anything being imported. The burger flipper would be at $30 an hour plus bennefits and the Big Mac could be $10 instead of $2.50. $100K houses would be $300K and so on. All the union workers have the same wage and bennefits and all prices are higher than now, so their buying power shrinks. Union workers couldn't even afford what they can afford now. When it gets to that point, everybody is union and earning earning the same wage no matter the job done, you have socialism. The small businessman can't pay the wages, and Obama takes over his business. If you have a plan, I'm willing to discuss it! Kip
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: steve_ (May 16, 2009 6:51 pm) The "there are other reasons we can't talk about that let us decide on the day she came with a gift Civic to fire her" sounds like good cover. but I don't believe it any more than I believe Nancy Pelosi. |
|
|
Replying to: kipk (May 17, 2009 1:31 am) I am not sure why the concept is so hard to understand. I do believe your contractor friend. I don't think a Union home builder still exists in So CA. My brother in law was a Union Carpenter out of the San Francisco hall. In 1986 he was making $29 per hour, when I was making $20 per hour in AK. Now you will be hard pressed to find any carpenter jobs in CA paying more than $22 per hour. And they are glad to get that. Home prices have dropped so low here that you cannot build a house as cheap as you can buy an existing home. Even with the lower priced labor. Banks are tearing down brand new subdivisions because they do not want to lose anymore money. The homes were part of a planned 16-unit project in this community 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The Texas bank that owns the failed development decided to demolish the houses, a cheaper alternative to completing and selling them. The Victorville demolition is one of the most dramatic ends to a bad bet made during the housing boom, but abandoned developments have become an all-too-common sight in California. Nearly 250 residential developments totaling 9,389 homes have been halted across the state, according to one research firm. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-demolish5-2009may05,0,4930126.story The bottom line is the UAW workers at GM and Chrysler should have begged their leaders to drop their wages to $15 per hour across the board to save their jobs. They are greedy and will lose their jobs, with NO hope of getting close to their old wages for their level of skill. They can blame management or whatever they like. It will do no good when the unemployment runs out and they are still looking for that $30 per hour job with NO marketable skill. The trades such as electricians will probably be able to knock down between $20-$25 per hour. Though they may have to move out of the Right to lose your job states in the Midwest. |
|
You are here:
Forums
Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
