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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
5319 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2008 at 2:35 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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March 12th, 2008 Posted in An Economy for All Unions Unions appear in the Pew research as a natural counterweight to big business. Contrary to the opinions of those who contend that unions drive labor costs up and make U.S. industry uncompetitive, unions appear virtually blameless (6%) in the Pew survey of who’s to blame. Indeed, people see unions closer to the solution. A Gallup survey of adults in August 2007 found 60% approval of labor unions and only 32% disapproval, and that Americans want unions to have more influence (35%), not less (28%). An older survey by Gallup in August 2005 revealed that “in labor disputes,” people’s sympathies tend to be “on the side of unions” (52%) not “on the side of the companies” (34%). More recent polling of adults by Peter Hart for the AFL-CIO in December 2006 revealed that people want to join unions: 53% of non-union, non-managerial workers would vote to join a union if they could; 42% would not. People recognize collective action as the natural counterbalance to big business, and they support labor law reform that will result in more workers being able to bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Aug 09, 2008 7:57 pm) Well their is a huge difference in features, size, fit and finish, between a six-figure flagship like the S-class and a $50-65K Cadillac's STS. I don't know of any UAW, employees that own "new" STS's and with the new two-tier wage structure at GM, Delphi, American Axel, etc it is virtually impossible to own one unless your spouse has a great job !!!  Back in the day if a UAW employee wanted to give up owning a boat, couple of jetski's, snowmobile, and upgrade the car they wanted to drive then sure owning a Seville STS, was possible on their wages. Well that was also back before the housing boom also but hey I use to see a few GM, employees own new Cadillac's. Now they'd be luck to afford a 4 or 5 year old one. The only reason why we have such a cost of labor issue is because big business wants to make slaves out of the Chinese, Indians, Mexicans, and in those country's they have no enviromental regard and can pollute the ground, air, at will. If we get rid of NAFTA, and implement very high tariffs on all imported goods then perhaps a corporation paying a livable wage for blue-collar workers in this country can become a reality again. The fact that the Germans, are allowing BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagon, to build as much as they have outside of their country does really surprise me. The German, citizens will get fed up with it and revolt because they can't afford to lose jobs. -Rocky
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 10, 2008 12:22 am) I'm going to disagree with you there. I can show you the GM enhanced housing areas where extraordinarily large homes were built by GM-related folk in new regions that were farmland overfilling the schools in those areas for a while and taxing the roads. This started about 2 decades ago. This came about the time the Moraine GM plant was built after the Frigidaire and lots of Delco parts factories closed in the area. These folk had everything. They live large. I haven't talked to a real estate agent or someone who would know what the trend is for those folk now, but I suspect a lot of them transferred jobs as the jobs shrank here and moved. I don't know if they had to sell their summer home in Michigan or their boats and the kids' BMWs.
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 10, 2008 12:22 am) Maybe that's why the Germans are idolizing OBama at the rock star event. They hope he'll ruin this country , the jobs will disappear here, and jobs will return to Germany.  
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 10, 2008 12:22 am) I doubt that very seriously. You keep forgetting the latest polls on satisfaction with life. 85% of Americans are satisfied with their lives. They don't like a lot of things but they are doing well. I imagine Germany is just about the same. I doubt that Germans as a whole have the standard of living that we have here in the USA. German companies have had factories in the USA for a long time. I remember in the 1970s when VW built factories here to satisfy the demand for their cars. Now they are doing that again. That huge BMW factory in So Carolina was built in 1992 and is very prosperous. I know that Mercedes just started building the Sprinter in So Carolina. When BMW starts delivering their new X5 diesel this fall it will be built in South Carolina. I am seriously thinking of buying one. The Big 3 or the Japanese do not have anything to compete. Then I sell this gas guzzling Toyota. I will be buying an American built vehicle. I imagine the people building it are just as happy or happier than the UAW people that are always complaining and lamenting how it was in the good old days. If a person is not happy with their job and their life. It is their responsibility to make a change. I did back in 1970 when I picked up and moved to Alaska. There is always going to be change. It is up to each individual to make the best of it. Unless you want a system that tells you what you are best suited for and you are stuck there for life. The more you expect of the government the more they take control of your life. I don't want to live like they do in China or the old Soviet Union or even Canada where there is no freedom of speech. |
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 10, 2008 12:22 am) Are the slaves in China, India and Mexico driving the biggest boom in car sales in those countries. There were no personal automobiles in China in 1985. They are selling so many cars now that they will pass US in about 6 years. That does not sound like slave wages to me. Environmental issues I find a laughable idea. Do you have any idea what can block a factory being built in the USA? Let me tell you what happened to a friend here in San Diego. He owns 4 acres of commercial property on the main street of his town. An aggressive environmental type made a rare discovery on his 4 acres while illegally trespassing. It was home to the Fairy Shrimp. Look them up. His property can not be built on, PERIOD. It sits with a for sale sign on it the last 5 years. No one wants a piece of land you cannot build on. And he is stuck with the big taxes and the state does not want it as it is in the middle of town. He cannot even plant grass and make it into a park. No wonder so many businesses have moved out of this whacked out country. I do agree that tariffs should be equalized. No one including Obama will do away with NAFTA. It is not neighborly... You just better hope that GM comes up with some decent cars for the UAW to build.
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Replying to: gagrice (Aug 10, 2008 6:22 am) The UAW doesn't find environmental issues laughable. They want more alternative energy sources for cars to create jobs. "UAW members want to save fuel and protect the environment." (UAW Local 2416). They probably like clean air and clean water like the rest of us too.
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Replying to: gagrice (Aug 09, 2008 7:57 pm) I am not aware that the US operations of MB and BMW (which have not produced the most highly thought of vehicles of those companies, btw) were actually the relocation of jobs, rather than a new facility built for a new product line where North Americans were to be the primary consumers. I have always wondered why it is a crime for employers to reward loyal workers with a little loyalty in return. What is wrong with that? Other than that it works against longterm thought, and longterm thought is a crime in the American corporate model. |
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 10, 2008 12:22 am) |
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Replying to: gagrice (Aug 10, 2008 5:32 am) People can be "satisfied" when they are allowed to buy a cheap big TV made under $1/day living conditions, and are allowed to drive a bloated SUV that makes them feel safe and cool. Credit has been easy for a reason. Those surveys are pretty irrelevant. How much freedom of speech do you really have? And for how long? You are free so long as you conform to what is expected. |
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