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United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)

16705 messages,  Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 6:56 PM

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#6425 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [gagrice] by rockylee
Dec 17, 2008 (8:06 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 17, 2008 7:56 am)

I as you know voted for Obama, because he was the less of two evils. I supported Edwards and then Hillary. Obama, at least has a background with working people. I don't understand how you can blame so much on the UAW, for GM's woes!!! GM, yes made mistakes as did the UAW, but this crap wouldn't be happening if we would protect our domestic business like every other country. We are the dumbest nation on the face of the earth when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot!!! Whenever jobs are lost and disposable income per family goes down well those folks either won't buy it or they will buy a Chinese made product because that is all they can afford because they lost their disposable income. I think that is one area that is way to often overlooked. We still can save this country if we are willing to make the neccessary changes gagrice. The question is will we ??? The UAW, is fighting each and everyday for those changes to shelter this country from shoddy made foreign goods and have been lobbying on GM, Ford, Chrysler's, behalf for content laws for years to level the playing field. The Asians and Europeans subsidize their automobile industry thus when are we going too ???
 
-Rocky
#6426 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [imidazol97] by gagrice
Dec 17, 2008 (8:18 am)
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Dec 17, 2008 7:29 am)

If GM had held out in the strikes to resist the UAW, American's newspaper and media types would criticize them for hurting the economy and hurting all those families out of work.
 
So what? It would not have hurt the views of most Americans. With the $72 billion that GM has pissed away over the last 4 years they could have built all new factories in states that were not so repressive as Michigan. They could have had the latest and greatest with NO worries about the UAW striking. Not all states in this country are as anti profit as the Midwestern states. Why does Indiana & Kentucky seem to attract both Union and Non Union auto makers while Michigan and Ohio do not?
 
think Time Magazine's Man of the Year will do that with part of the $600 million campaign funds having come from labor?
 
It depends just how much of a pragmatist he turns out to be. I think he is leaning toward spending billions on putting people that are currently out of work and hurting into meaningful jobs. It is hard to look at the over paid UAW workers sitting eating jelly donuts and reading the newspaper as hurting. That is a perception based on reality. Just a small part of the 2000+ pages of UAW contracts that need to be tossed in the fire. The biggest obstacle at the Big 3 for this new President will be their lack of cars that meet the new CAFE standards coming up. Do any domestics have a car for next year that meets the 35 MPG combined mandate? Why should he bail out companies that do not build what the government mandates?
 
You are right it will be interesting.
#6427 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [rockylee] by gagrice
Dec 17, 2008 (8:25 am)
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Replying to: rockylee (Dec 17, 2008 8:06 am)

this crap wouldn't be happening if we would protect our domestic business like every other country.
 
That is just not true. We have more tariffs on Imported vehicles than Japan. You are in denial on the global economy. I can tell you the new Congress and President are not in any way going to do anything to slow the World economy. NAFTA was signed by Bill Clinton and you can see this new administration is filled with Clinton people. The only reason the Big 3 and the UAW did well in the 1990s was the Dot.com bubble and the massive market for SUVs and PU trucks. This new President has denounced that kind of vehicle. He is pushing for smaller fuel efficient cars. The only really small car that GM has is the Aveo coming from Korea. How does that help the UAW cause?
#6428 of 16705
Re: Even with competitive wages [62vetteefp] by chikoo
Dec 17, 2008 (8:31 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 17, 2008 4:20 am)

>Are you legally "required" to get a SSN??? If you do all your dealings in cash, can it be traced???
 
Good question.
 
What about the family living in the woods? One of those tribal families?
#6429 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [rockylee] by chikoo
Dec 17, 2008 (8:34 am)
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Replying to: rockylee (Dec 17, 2008 7:00 am)

Perception: GM does not know how to make small cars.
  
Reality: GM knows darn well how to make small cars. It's been doing so for decades in Europe, South America and Asia. The problem is, absent high fuel prices, GM has no earthly idea how to get Americans to buy small cars -- at a profit to GM.

 
What is this supposed to mean? If they know how to sell small cars at a profit in other parts of the world, how come it cannot do so in their own backyard?
#6430 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [lemko] by gagrice
Dec 17, 2008 (8:40 am)
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Replying to: lemko (Dec 17, 2008 7:55 am)

I think the Corvair was one of GM's best efforts at a fuel efficient car. Too bad that hack Nader killed it for them, before they refined the handling.
#6431 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [rockylee] by chikoo
Dec 17, 2008 (8:40 am)
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Replying to: rockylee (Dec 17, 2008 8:06 am)

> I don't understand how you can blame so much on the UAW, for GM's woes!!! GM, yes made mistakes as did the UAW.
 
Everybody is blaming the GM management and UAW for the mess.
At least the GM management is owning up to it and willing to work for peanuts as repentance. What does UAW do? It had only 3 words......"Go !#% Off" ?
#6432 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [imidazol97] by jimbres
Dec 17, 2008 (8:47 am)
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Dec 17, 2008 7:29 am)

In fact they need to harness the transplants and have them help fund the problem they have caused.
 
I don't understand this at all. What "problems" have the transplants caused? They've built factories here in the U.S. & hired American workers. Would you prefer that foreign manufacturers build all of the cars that they sell here in Germany & Japan?
#6433 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [gagrice] by lemko
Dec 17, 2008 (8:49 am)
Reply

Replying to: gagrice (Dec 17, 2008 8:40 am)

They fixed the problems with the swing axles by 1964 and further refined it with the 1965 redesign. The 1965-69 Corvair was a beautiful car that should have been further developed. Maybe we wouldn't have had to suffer the Vega as a result. The 1968-74 Nova was another excellent small car by GM. Just about everybody I knew had one. I remember my cousin's 1971 model.
#6434 of 16705
Re: Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality [lemko] by jimbres
Dec 17, 2008 (8:55 am)
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Replying to: lemko (Dec 17, 2008 7:55 am)

If anything, GM was the first to pursue more fuel-efficient vehicles among the Big Three. GM radically downsized its full-size B and C bodies in 1977 and their A bodies in 1978.
 
Agreed. That was a real engineering feat. So why couldn't GM reprise that 25 years later? That tells me that GM is not nearly as well run today as it was back in the 70s.
 
You've given me one more reason (as if I needed it) to believe that only Chapter 11 reorganization will save GM & restore it to its former vibrancy.

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