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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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I don't know how many of you have read my lengthy posts on here before about my personal job situation. I was a Boeing Company worker who had just over 20 years with them and I was laid off in 2003. I decided to take Uncle Sam up on Trade Act funds and get re-trained. I am living testimony to the fact that a guy who used to build jet airplanes(from the Illustration-Engineering side of Boeing's house)can now completely change to another field. I chose Respiratory Therapy because I researched it on the net and found that Nurses were at a 50% demand rate and Respiratory Therapists were in demand at a 45% growth rate. And because of all the baby boomers retiring(OK, it's now reduced somewhat by this financial crisis, they're having to keep working more and more)the need for Allied Health Care workers continues to keep growing. I can find a job anywhere in the 50 states that I want to live in. I'm currently looking at a job back in Washington state, in the Olympic National Park area of Port Angeles. Port Angeles is on the Strait of Juan De Fuca, is gorgeous, and if I can get this job I'll be coming back home. I have lived in Port Angeles and Forks(the Twilight movie spot) both in the 80's. It is God's Country, truly gorgeous country. A lot of the Olympic Peninsula area of Washington state is Olympic National Park. Large herds of Roosevelt Elk just walk out on to Highway 101 along Lake Crescent(on the way from Port Angeles to Forks). Mountain goats cling to the sides of the Olympic Mountains. The mountains rise hard and fast up from the waterways of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Hood Canal and the Pacific Coast. It rains a lot in Forks, about 144 inches a year. But Port Angeles is more like 33 inches a year of rain. And there is a "banana beIt" of weather where it is actually sunny most of the time. Sequim, about 15 miles east of Port Angeles, is in this sunny zone. Don't know where we might live there, but I'll find us a place to buy. I was born in Seattle, raised in Edmonds and I lived in Everett, Stanwood and Burlington, WA, during my Boeing career. Laid off in May of 2003, and after being in strange states for 5 years, school for 2 years and working in three other states(South Dakota, Idaho and my current work state, Arizona) for the other three, I think I'm coming home(I haven't interviewed for the job yet...I just turned in my application for Washington State Respiratory Therapy licensure and these things will be taken care of in the next 2-3 months...Wa.St. DOH takes a full 2-3 months to process RT applications, then I need to fly up and interview, etc. find housing, etc. They do offer relocation pay, thank goodness...it's expensive to move.) Great benefits package including a comprehensive life insurance program, 24 days off a year for vacation, sick leave, reduced cafeteria costs, a fitness center deal you can't beat, a wonderful medical/dental benefits program, etc., etc. OMC in Port Angeles is a progressive rural hospital and I am confident that the RT skills I've honed as a RT so far at work in the industry will suit them well. I want to move back home so I will be putting my "Hire Me" sign on pretty brightly during the interview. The Trade Act will pay for your books and tuition completely while you study. And if you keep a 'C' average up you will get weekly unemployment benefits for as long as you need to get your 2-year Degree in the field you choose. I just want UAW workers to know that it's possible to work in other fields. Is it easy to earn college degrees? Hell no, it's not easy at all. But it can be done. If I were a UAW worker I'd be at the library, on the Internet, etc., working these things out now. Gettlefinger won't be able to save your bacon, nor will Ford(Ford has the best chance, though)Cerberus/Chrysler, nor GM. But, UAW workers, take note of this. Once you earn your AAS degree and your NBRC(National Board For Respiratory Care)credential, I'm a CRT(Certified Respiratory Therapist)and you can reach for the RRT credential as well(Registered Respiratory Therapist), you can work in basically any state in the 50 states of America you want to work in. Wages and benefits are good, too. Let me explain how it all works. You get your pink slip, right? You then make sure GM has done their homework and linked your Company up to the Federal Aid program called The Trade Act(started during the Carter Adminstration). It's also called TRA(Trade Readjustment Act). GM should be setting up explanatory meetings for you as I type this out, or hopefully they already have. Boeing was actually fairly helpful for us Trade Act nominees in the spring of 2003. Then pick a career, see that the Trade Act will cover it, and decide what college you want to attend. Without writing a book in this subject, let me just tell you that you are going to have to be your own advocate for what you want to do, what forms you'll need, etc. Work hard at it and keep at it. I am saying this from experience, there will be frustrating times with this. And once class starts you will have to bust your hump to get your degree. But it pays to go after this. Go after it like a Banshee(whatever a Banshee is). Don't just crumple up in a ball and cry yourself to sleep, thinking oh boo-hoo, I'm losing my job. Pick yourself up by your swimming trunks, take a deep breath, and just breathe. Just breathe. Then dive in and have a ball. 
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Replying to: dallasdude1 (Dec 07, 2008 10:30 am) You mean like Congressman Dingell's wife that was a GM Lobbyist before they wed? Then given a very high paid executive job at GM. Is that the kind of insiders you are referring to? The blame for this travesty not only belongs to the auto executives, but must be shared equally with the entire Michigan delegation in the House and Senate, virtually all of whom, year after year, voted however the Detroit automakers and unions instructed them to vote ... Indeed, if and when they do have to bury Detroit, I hope that all the current and past representatives and senators from Michigan have to serve as pallbearers. And no one has earned the "honor" of chief pallbearer more than the Michigan Representative John Dingell, who is more responsible for protecting Detroit to death than any single legislator. Dingell’s ability to stick up to the Big Three, it turns out, may have been compromised in more ways than one. Dingell’s wife, Deborah, is a former General Motors lobbyist. After the two wed, she moved into a non-lobbying administrative position inside the company. On his latest financial disclosure form, Dingell listed G.M. stock worth up to $300,000, between $500,001 and $1,000,000 in stock options, a vested G.M. pension and his wife’s G.M. salary, the value of which was undeclared. On top of that, CBS News reports, the Dingells had G.M. options worth up to $5 million as recently as 2000, and in 1998, they sold options worth as much as $1 million. http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/12/04/dingell_detroit/index.html If any pensioner is left hanging by GM when they go bankrupt, Wagoner and crew should be tried for the crimes committed. That means knowingly spending money that should have been preserved for the retirees. |
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"The more thuggish the UAW becomes, the less sympathy they will get from the average citizen and congress, and the more they will lose. Big 3 management may have been stupid enough to be held hostage by the UAW but the rest of the US is not." When they come South to protest and block accesss to the import auto plants, they forget one thing...down South we have guns, and a lot of them...and most of us really do know how to use them...  First, we will call law enforcement to break up the crowds...but, if they can't do it, we can always use...uh..."self-help"...
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Replying to: marsha7 (Dec 07, 2008 3:37 pm) Not like some guy up north named Plaxico huh? |
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Replying to: tlong (Dec 07, 2008 9:15 am) There is no import tarriff so why put a factory in the USA? To save shipping costs? To make use of Toyota's strategy to call yourself an American company? To get America's tax advantages and save on raw material transportation? To grow an employee based following who will add to the buyers of your cars? To consume America's energy and raw materials? To expel pollution into America? To bring Japanese suppliers over here and set them up with business so they can also become the D3's suppliers? To use a lower cost labor supply? To get a 250 million dollar tax abatement from Indiana? To reduce advertising costs? To reduce insurance costs related to shipping? To sell their fleet of ships? To get Inroads to selling their cars in the heartland, since the coasts are at saturation with Hondas? To get tax writeoffs for Honda mgmt to visit America? All of these and more? What we get in return: Jobs in an area that previously had almost no prosperity. Side effects: No chance to protect ourselves if we ever figure out we are being colonized, but maybe an America that doesn't need intellectual property is a good thing. Pretty soon only Asian students will be enrolled in technology programs at our colleges. When we reach that point, no comeback will ever be possible. 1/3 of transplant value goes back to Japan needs proof? 2000 American assemblers will be making 200,000 Civics a year in the Indiana plant within a few years. Thats 100 Civics a year per American worker, or 2 cars made a week for a worker. They make $14.50 an hour and make a car in 20 hours. That's $290 in base wages to the American for each Civic built. OK, since Civics are $20,000 each, we just need to account for the other $19,710? If we can come up with $13,040 more costs attributable to American supplied things going into the $20,000 Civic, then we are at 1/3 of the value. A little more and the 1/3 is disproved as a false claim. Tlong, what have you got here? Are the 790 robots in the factory designed and built in America? Are the cars partially engineered in America? Pensions for us?
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Replying to: dave8697 (Dec 07, 2008 6:06 pm) This is the UAW propaganda and so many people have followed it hook, line, and sinker. "They make a car in 20 hours" I'm sure you know enough about the auto industry to know that these are not the only labor hours involved: - You didn't account for the worker benefits - all US-sourced parts are made here and use lots of labor - US workers transport parts to the factory - US workers make many of the raw materials that go to the parts factories - US workers transport those raw materials to the parts factories - US trains and trucks transport those Civics to the dealers - US citizens manage the Honda dealership - US salespeople sell the cars All of those above costs are included in the cost of the car! And since the profit margin on a $20K car is under 10%, no more than 10% of the cost can go to Japan as profits! So your pathetic example that claims only $290 in base wages is important is totally wrong! |
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Replying to: dave8697 (Dec 07, 2008 6:06 pm) That is pretty funny when we still occupy Japan and Germany. Not to mention all the other countries around the world. The Japanese also have banks in most major US Cities. I doubt that much of that Civic you described being built ends up ever leaving our shores. As soon as GM gets liquidated their will be capacity for parts mfg that can be utilized by Honda on those Civics. The more parts made here the better. Maybe you should ask the employees that built my Sequoia how they like working for Toyota. I can tell you one thing. They did a heck of a lot better job on it than the GMC shop in Indiana did on my 2005 GMC PU truck. As far as robots. What do you call a UAW guy that installs lug nuts all day long? Progress will run over you or anyone else that tries to stop it. Robots are here to stay. Thank goodness for that. I would hate to think I was nothing more than a human robot. The job to have is designing, building, testing and maintaining the robots. All jobs that take a brain. How many of the rubber room occupants took advantage of that free ride, and got some training in other fields? And how many just sat watching cartoons and eating jelly donuts? Probably telling each other they can't get along without us. We are the most important part of the industrial base. GM and the Big 3 have gotten passed by. Ford is hanging on by a thread. The sooner GM dies the more chance that Ford will survive. |
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Replying to: tlong (Dec 07, 2008 11:28 am)  Let us look at how Singapore deals with the fact that it is surrounded by countries which have much much lower wages (Singapore will rank at par with the US, while Indonesia / India etc are even lower than Mexico - so the wage differential is even higher than what US competes against). I remember being in Singapore during the 1997 crisis, and the cab driver - a Singapore national who had been laid off from a company designing circuit boards - was bitterly complaining about how the Government was not helping Singaporeans, but (and he pointed at some construction sites) was allowing import of cheaper labor from Indonesia and Bangladesh. The argument made by the Govt was that Singaporeans need to upgrade their skills and NOT try to compete in labor intensive industries where Singapore can never win. And to force their citizens in that direction, they kept the low end labor market open (thus effectively removing the option of Singaporeans taking refuge in some protected sector). The fact that Singapore came out of the crisis a much stronger economy, and now is a leading player in Finance and biotechnology (also services - Think Singapore Airlines), while Indonesia / Malaysia remain where they were then - Do you think it has anything to do with the harsh decisions taken by the Government in 1997? Certainly worth thinking about. |
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Replying to: dallasdude1 (Dec 07, 2008 8:54 am) It has had an interesting effect on the market. The high tariffs on rice have kept the price high, while the price of bread (wheat does not have those traiffs since Japan produces very little wheat) has been relatively low. Over a period of time, Japanese consmers have started eating more and more wheat based products, reducing their rice consumption. So the high tariffs have actually had a negative impact on the rice producers.... In an open market, such manipulation is rarely successful. |
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Replying to: lemko (Dec 06, 2008 4:10 pm) I am merely explaining why the Japs are so good at what they do....nothing more. However, you said, and I quote " I guess you think it's a good thing to work yourself to death while forsaking your family and friends for the good of your Asian masters." To an extent, Yes is the answer. One has to be diligent in his work. I cannot and will not walk away from work because I have to attend my son's birthday party. I would miss the b'day party if my presence at the workplace would resolve a major issue and keep the business running. |
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