Posted on 06/19/2007 12:51:13 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
As Detroit's struggling auto giants enter an epic battle with their unionized workers to reduce costs, they contend they either must win a profound restructuring or face catastrophe. Ron Gettelfinger's plan is to allow neither.
The head of the United Auto Workers union is trying to avoid becoming the union leader who ends seven decades of nearly unbroken advances in workers' wages and benefits. He is under unprecedented pressure to give back as much as $10 billion a year to help U.S. car companies stop losing to their lower-cost Asian counterparts -- or see the U.S. companies build more and more of their cars overseas. Former UAW president Doug Fraser calls this "the most difficult time in the history of our union. Period." [Ron Gettelfinger]
Mr. Gettelfinger's strategy so far: Skirt big do-or-die conflicts as long as possible while focusing on numerous smaller ones where he can live with concessions. "The Big Three need, want, something transformational," says David Cole, president of the Michigan-based Center for Auto Research. "They will have their Waterloo now. Ron...and the union think incrementally, and would prefer death by a thousand cuts."
In a defiant television interview to be aired this weekend, he blames currency imbalances and unfair foreign-trade practices for U.S. auto makers' competitive problems, and calls on the federal government to fix them. "We can't resolve those issues at the bargaining table," he says on the locally broadcast show Autoline Detroit.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Lucky Licianno started the teamsters. Name a day unions were not mafia
When the Chevy plant in OKC closed, the former employees (those that didn’t take an early retirement), remained on the payroll for months. They may still be on the GM “dole”, for all I know!!
Union Sundown by Bob Dylan Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore,
My flashlight's from Taiwan,
My tablecloth's from Malaysia,
My belt buckle's from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet,
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy makin' thirty cents a day.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.
Well, this silk dress is from Hong Kong
And the pearls are from Japan.
Well, the dog collar's from India
And the flower pot's from Pakistan.
All the furniture, it says "Made in Brazil"
Where a woman, she slaved for sure
Bringin' home thirty cents a day to a family of twelve,
You know, that's a lot of money to her.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.
Well, you know, lots of people complainin' that there is no work.
I say, "Why you say that for
When nothin' you got is U.S.-made?"
They don't make nothin' here no more,
You know, capitalism is above the law.
It say, "It don't count 'less it sells."
When it costs too much to build it at home
You just build it cheaper someplace else.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.
Well, the job that you used to have,
They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador.
The unions are big business, friend,
And they're goin' out like a dinosaur.
They used to grow food in Kansas
Now they want to grow it on the moon and eat it raw.
I can see the day coming when even your home garden
Is gonna be against the law.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.
Democracy don't rule the world,
You'd better get that in your head.
This world is ruled by violence
But I guess that's better left unsaid.
From Broadway to the Milky Way,
That's a lot of territory indeed
And a man's gonna do what he has to do
When he's got a hungry mouth to feed.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.
I think at GM starting out is over $20/hour. That’s is without any training or prior industry knowledge. Plus very nice benefits and buying privileges if you buy GM vehicle. I think the “foreign” plants here in the US pay like $15/hour starting. Good benefits, but they do 401k instead of pension, which saves the companies big bucks.
Well done. I agree, the only thing we still make in America are mistakes. Amen.
Somebody needs to tell Ron that Toyota manages to build cars profitably in the U.S.
Bar none, he is the guy that truly has his finger on the pulse of what is going on.
Be forewarned, Hillary has been in Detroit shopping Hillary Care as a solution to the Big 3's Woes, Gettlefinger agrees, no surprise here.
1st out of the shoot for Labor Agreements, Ford. Watch Mulally and his fellow former negotiator from Boeing get the job done. Also, what has been talked about over @ the Detroit News is the flexible work agreements at the plant level that have already been approved by many plants particularly at Ford. This has gone under everyones radar screen and is huge.
I have seen (I do not remember where) an article that indicates that the Union takes such a big cut of UAW paychecks that workers at non-union plants actually take home more money than UAW members.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.