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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
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 26, 2008 4:20 pm)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 26, 2008 7:26 pm) Ask a 30 year engineer at GM what he thinks of the 30 year UAW worker.
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Replying to: blckislandguy (Dec 26, 2008 7:46 pm) From the looks of GM profits over the last 40 years, I would say they have NEVER had decent leadership. Or at least the last four decades. The number ONE reason for GM to exist is to make money. The times they have made money it was not much, and the leadership squandered large portions of it. They did give a decent dividend and that probably kept the large stock holders happy. The biggest mistake Wagoner has made is letting the UAW roll over him and the company. He is a horrible negotiator. Or he hires worthless negotiators. In 1998 when the UAW went on strike Wagoner should have shuttered the doors and moved to Mexico where people appreciate a good paying job. I can guarantee GM would not be begging Congress to bail them out right now.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 26, 2008 7:26 pm) I can't say that I've seen the Germans going to this. I feel that as you go to a higher end autos the parts are superior. Then we also have issues with the cars themselves being too complicated to work on and or too costly to repair. Keeping a car beyond warranty is risky these days. I was looking at the Honda timing belt replacement the other day. If the technician left the crank or cam positioning wiring untucked. The new timing belt would rub off the wiring insulation in due time. However, the codes would indicate catalytic converter failure. Just how many converters got replaced because of this routine timing belt replacement issue? Thats an engineering issue, a technician training issue, and not good for business. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 26, 2008 11:21 am) |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 26, 2008 7:26 pm) |
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 26, 2008 7:54 pm) |
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 26, 2008 7:46 pm) Whose idea was it to make an unsleeved aluminum motor and put it in a Vega? Yeah that would go back about 30 years.
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Replying to: wheelman (Dec 26, 2008 2:21 pm) Largely true. However, if I'm management making decisions about parts quality, and my competitors are eating my lunch because my costs are much higher due to union contracts and benefits, I have to cut somewhere to be competitive in cost. I can't cut the union costs because that is in a contract. So I cut parts quality and squeeze my suppliers. Yes, the management should not have agreed to the contract terms, but the entire company was hemorrhaging money during the strike. It was a short term vs. long term decision and I as the upper management chose the short term answer - end the strike by agreeing to the terms. So now I cut costs elsewhere and guess what? The public can see the difference and I continuously lose market share to my competitors. So I blame BOTH the management and the union. They're in this together but have been so busy being adversarial that their competitors are passing them by. |
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Replying to: dallasdude1 (Dec 26, 2008 8:50 pm) The UAW doesmn't get off the hook here. The Lordstown assembly plant where the Vega was built was notorious for labor unrest and became a showplace on how NOT to build cars. I'd say engineering, management, and labor all share equally in the fiasco that was the Vega. What a shame. It was kind of a nicely styled car for a subcompact - sort of a mini Camaro. It was certainly prettier than a Pinto, Gremlin, or the many anonymous rusty tin boxes Japan Inc. was producing at the time
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