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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16705 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 6:56 PM
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Replying to: dave8697 (Jan 27, 2008 6:26 pm) One of my best friends that I worked with for 37 years came to Alaska as an IBEW telephone installer. The first week on the job in our office he was told to slow down by the shop steward. He was terminating twice as many pairs of wires as the old timers. The IBEW in Alaska during the 1960s and 70s were known as feather bedders. One of our engineers on the installation caught wind of what was going on. He talked to my boss and we hired Bob to work directly for RCA as a Teamster. He is going to retire this year. At 63 he is still one of the fastest workers I have ever worked with. The IBEW lost several big contractors that went non-Union because of the old timers holding up jobs. So it does happen. |
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Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Jan 27, 2008 9:01 pm) So the right to work laws have not hindered your making a living wage? I think more people with the, Union is the only way mentality, need to see that there are opportunities outside of Union jobs. |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jan 27, 2008 4:43 pm) You got that right! I as I was born and raised here in Georgia, I remember how proud we were that a peanut farmer from south Georgia had become president. Didn't take long for that pride to turn into something quite the opposite. What an embarrassment he was, and still is. Before Carter was out of office the interest rates were ridiculous. Good news was that Bank Certificates of Deposit were paying 15%. Bad news was that Mortgages were 17%-19% and car loans were 19%-22%, for those with good credit. Not good for auto or housing. Unemployment was averaging around 10%. Not a healthy situation. I well remember the PATCO situation, as I was maintaining equipment for FAA at Hampton Ga, and at the local PATCO on Phoenix Blvd. in College park. On the surface, PATCO was wanting better working conditions for the controllers. That is what the news media were told and what they were reporting. In conversations during lunch, it became very apparent that money was also an issue. In fact money was THE issue. More than once I heard, that "THEY" were underpaid when compared to the Pilots. "Sick-outs" were running rampart, and it was a very dangerous situation with Planes flying around and not enough control or guidance from the ground. When Reagan took office, he gave them a time frame to get back to work so that the skys could be safer while negotiations took place. Some came back. Those that didn't were fired. He kept his word. He didn't bust the Union. They busted themselves. They were trying to hold the entire country, and the feds hostage, through the airline industry, and it backfired on them. To add insult to injury, PATCO started trying to help their "Fallen" soldiers by finding them jobs. Why was it an insult? Because PATCO was charging for that service. In effect they became an employment agency with a captive audience of the very people they had persuaded to "Hang" in there and the Government will fold!  Yes, I felt for those guys. Some had become friends. They were living a good life one day and facing hard times the next. They Believed their Union Leaders! A lot of them were re hired after a time frame. Of course we didn't hear much about that from the liberal Reagan hating press. Kip
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Replying to: tedebear (Jan 27, 2008 8:37 am) OK, Thanks. Recon we were reading that from 2 different views. I thought he was saying that if the 50 remaining workers could produce the same number of cars without the 50 that were lost, it would indicate that the LOST 50 were not needed in the first place, and causing an unnecessary drain on the company. Thanks, Kip |
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 27, 2008 4:20 pm) As for Rush, he's probably called that because of all the drugs coursing through his system. The crackhead babbling underneath the elevated train probably makes as much sense as this so-called radio "personality."
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Replying to: kipk (Jan 28, 2008 3:54 am) He could have declared war on Iran and then shot them all for treason during war time.
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Replying to: lemko (Jan 28, 2008 5:41 am) That is indeed scary! Having someone that can't make their own decisions, make one on my behalf ? Recon they would have to ask their union rep first. Then the rep would have to ask the committee and a vote would have to be taken. Scary stuff! Just not worth the hassle. I'll just do as I most always have, make my own decisions, do my own negotiations, and settle in to a nursing home of my choice.  Kip |
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you are spot on. PATCO-Schmatco...idiots. I mean really, they would put air travellers at risk just to "fight" Reagan and get better pay and health care benefits? They shouldn't have had those air controller jobs, then, in the first place. Hope I didn't step on anybody's toes that loves and respects The Boeing Company. It's just an irritating situation to work hard and produce important jet aircraft work and then, because of increased sales form Airbus, higher jet fuel prices, less orders coming in, the grey suits have to put down their raspberry jelly donuts for a minute and make some short-sighted decisions. I do remember reading SPEEA union periodicals where union members were complaining about the lack of loyalty from Boeing management for it's workers, that all Boeing management cared about was making a profit for it's shareholders. All the while the company had about 1.3B in savings and yet they can't see it in them to let some good working folks stay and work and help produce jet aircraft and work towards a Boeing retirement? And just wait out the economic negatives for a while? Look at them now, if I were out of my mind and wanted to go back now would be the time, orders are rolling in and everybody is eating strawberry pie and drinking fine Seattle's Best coffee to their hearts content. Humm...it took about a year for Boeing to fire Phil Condit and start "re-firing" bullets again. Imagine that. Suddenly orders came in, everybody wanted a 787 "Dreamliner" and life was all cherries and roses again. Some delivery delays, but that was what kept us humming on the drawing production line. gagrice, yes, I and my two fellow Respiratory Therapists are making good pay and getting reasonable benefits(we all would love better healthcare benefits, yes)in this right-to-work state of Arizona. The hospital subs it's RT care out to a nationwide RT contractor but there's been talk of the hospital buying out our contracts from them and hiring the 3 of us direct. It would be a welcome move, same pay and better healthcare benefits through the hospital. Hope it happens. 
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Replying to: gagrice (Jan 28, 2008 9:20 am) OOPS, I forgot we did not have any military left. We sent our best to rescue the hostages. We ended up with broken down helicopters & dead soldiers out in the desert. the United States military attempted a rescue operation, Operation Eagle Claw, on April 24, 1980, which resulted in an aborted mission and the deaths of eight American military men. PATCO should have taken the clue that Reagan was a man to be reckoned with when the Iranians let the hostages go the day he was inaugurated. |
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Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Jan 28, 2008 10:24 am) Many businesses use sub contractors for employees they do not want to make permanent. Gives them a chance to watch and pick out the good workers. The oil companies in Alaska did that a lot. They would hire Union (IBEW) technicians to fill in for a while. If they liked them they would offer them a permanent job. With MUCH better pay and benefits than the IBEW guys were getting. When I left the BP techs were all making over $130k per year. For 24 weeks work per year. That was almost $20k more per year than we were getting for the same work as Teamsters. |
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