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Automotive News & Views United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
16738 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 10:07 AM
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Crime rates skyrocketed in the 1960s, when American industry was booming. They declined in the 1990s, when America was supposedly "deindustrializing." There is no credible proof that economic downturns bring about an increase in crime. Contrary to popular belief, crime was not a problem during the Great Depression. Most criminals engage in illegal activities because of attitudes about work and wealth, not because they were denied a student loan. Criminals don't have the discipline to pursue higher education, even if they were given the money. Virtually all criminals prey on people in their own neighborhoods...those crimes just don't make the six-o'clock news, or the front page of the local paper. Criminals from Philadelphia aren't invading the Main Line.
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Replying to: grbeck (Feb 27, 2009 7:53 am) If things were so great during the 1960s for the UAW workers and the auto Industry, why the 1967 Detroit riot. One of the worst in US history. 2000 buildings burnt. Sounds like the 1960s were utopia for the UAW and Detroit, NOT. I think rocky's family are looking at the past through rose colored glasses. The 1960s under socialist LBJ were horrible. I guess every generation has to go through times like that.
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Replying to: gagrice (Feb 27, 2009 8:09 am) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rioting/protesting/dropping acid were just part of life in the late 1960s. The cars were hot then, though. Can anyone say 426 HEMI, GTO? 
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"How is someone with your mentality that all factory workers are undeserving of a livable wage suppose to afford you or are they just suppose to take out a loan and pass it on to their kids as another debt." I never said that factory workers are undeserving of a livable wage...what I have repeatedly stated (anything I write after 11 pm I am not responsble for, since I am half asleep... ...) is that floor sweeping and tightening lug nuts simply is not worth $35/hour, even if the President were to do it...my argument is simply that the UAW was able to get unskilled labor paid far in excess of what anyone else in the entire universe would pay for the same job...they lived in fantasyland, and made junk for years, because we had nothing better to compare it to... Then, we started getting products from Honda and Toyota that are manufactured with far fewer workers (simply more efficient than the union featherbedding) and, accoding to many Americans and reflected in their market share, far superior in quality...rock, you NEVER answer the efficiency and quality factors that have been destroyed by the UAW, all you yap about is why can't a worker with a 3rd grade education get $65K a year for sweeping floors...the inherent worth of the labor simply is NOT there...it is up to the individual to better themselves, and the UAW always seems to reach out for the lowest common denominator... Numerous posters here have adequately described how they joined a union workforce and were gently "told" to slow production so that they don't make the others look bad...again, the lowest common denominator from the union... So, I am not against anyone making a living wage, but they must perform work that earns that wage...why can you not see that??? If YOU had to hire someone to sweep the floors in your house, would YOU pay them $35/hour plus benefits for 8 hours daily, 5 days a week, plus overtime ($54/hour) on weekends???...if you were Warren Buffet you wouldn't pay that because you know that the work is not inherently worth it...why should a Ford floor sweeper be any different??? The competition from superior manufacturers like Honda and Toyota has removed the curtain from the UAW Wizard, and we can all see the emperor has no clothes...just face it, rocky...the UAW deceived us long enough, it was nice while it lasted, but the truth is now known and it ain't pretty...the UAW simply is NOT worth what they are paid, and every taxpayer in the US now knows it... Yogi Berra said It ain't over til it's over...Guess what???...It's over...
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Replying to: marsha7 (Feb 27, 2009 8:55 am) Hell, that UAW floor sweeper/janitor is making more than Buffet's secretary who is the gatekeeper for an organization that is worth more than the D3 combined! I should say used to get paid more, as from what I understand, those unskilled positions are getting a pay cut to the $14/hr range, once the UAW concessions take effect. |
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Replying to: dieselone (Feb 27, 2009 6:27 am) I'm with ya. The first car I remember was my dad's '52 Plymouth. I can still remember him and the mechanic down the street doing a "ring job" on it on a lot at the end of the back alley. This was at 50,000 or so miles. The old brake shoes were always needing replacing, and your point about points (sorry for the pun), carburetors, etc is right in line with my recollection. When I started driving it was on the '52 Plymouth, then graduated to a '62 Rambler. I replaced the rings on it too, but this time had a garage to use. You never hear about cars needing rings jobs today. Most new vehicles will go 100,000 miles with not much more than fluid changes and consumables (wiper blades, tires, brake pads) replaced.
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Replying to: srs_49 (Feb 27, 2009 9:05 am) LOL, just remember to turn the ignition off before using the feeler gauge to check the point gap!! I've done that ONLY once!! Quite a shocking experience;) |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Feb 27, 2009 8:55 am) My best friend that I worked with for 37 years came to Alaska as an IBEW telephone equipment installer. Much of the job in 1970 was wire wrapping connections. The better installers which Bob was one of the best would take pride in how many pairs they wrapped in a day. He jumped in our new equipment with a vengeance. The second day the IBEW shop steward/foreman called him aside and told him to cut it in half. He was working too hard. A month later our boss hired him and he became a Teamster. Being senior technicians we were not subject to that kind of stupidity. And our bosses were grateful for our efforts to convert the state of Alaska from all manual calling to direct distance dialing. In fact we would only see the boss about once a week. He would come down to see how it was going. Self starters do not need a lot of supervision. And I liked it that way. PS I know some here like to ignore that big negative hanging over the UAW. They will blame it on Global Warming or currency manipulation. When it is in FACT just lousy employees. |
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Replying to: rockylee (Feb 26, 2009 11:01 pm) Incorrect!!! In my world we would have competition from inside our borders. Hey Rocky, we love ya, but there's a problem with your scenario. You want it "like the 60's", where we have little foreign trade and are pretty-much self-sufficient internally. You see that this will preserve our standard of living. The problem is that today's cars use many foreign components. Where will you get the control computers that run today's engines? Are we going back to carburetors? How about the CD or MP3 player? The GPS system? Antilock brake controls? And even more importantly, where is the gasoline coming from? You seem to want it all internal except for what we NEED from outside. And that's not going to work. Just on gasoline alone, if we started producing 60's-era cars again and did no foreign trade, only half of us would be able to drive since we would have so little fuel! So pick your choice - half the driving with 60's era cars, or today's technology with globalization. Hint: you can't go backwards.
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Replying to: tlong (Feb 27, 2009 10:42 am) Too many Leave it Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet re-runs on TV. That may have been the way it was for a UAW family. The rest of US it was more like the Munsters or Addams Family. Barely enough food and buying 10 year old cars that were worn out when we bought them. Rocky would like me to work in an auto factory. I would like him to climb a 200 foot tower and swing a microwave dish at 35 below zero when he is 60 years old. Both good paying jobs. Which is toughest?
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