Posted on 10/10/2007 8:40:04 AM PDT by EagleUSA
DETROIT (AP) -- Thousands of Chrysler LLC autoworkers walked off the job Wednesday after the automaker and the United Auto Workers union failed to reach a tentative contract agreement before a union-imposed deadline.
It is the first UAW strike against Chrysler since 1997, when one plant was shut down for a month, and the first strike against Chrysler during contract talks since 1985.
The UAW apparently is staying on the job at the five plants that Chrysler already had shut down this week because of sagging sales of some models, according to a person familiar with the walkout who asked not to be identified because the situation is in flux.
Brett Ward, a forklift driver at the Sterling Heights assembly plant in suburban Detroit, said he thinks a strike is justified, but he hopes the union can get a better deal than the one it reached with General Motors Corp.
"Hopefully with a strike we'll get some better gains and get a better contract in front of us," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
Darn, did Daimler pull the EJECT lever at the right time, or what?
Earth to the rank-and-file...
Well, it's collective bargaining. Sort of like paying an attorney to represent you - like the guys who make millions do to negotiate their contracts. The unions are the poor man's version of that.
Times are changing. There are some of the "old guard" union workers still around - if you have a bad attitude it sure helps to be close to retirement - but the newer people realize that their jobs are not guaranteed if the company goes out of business because they can't make a profit.
The other side of the coin is that auto workers do support other peoples' businesses - So the money does get spread around a bit. If an auto company goes out of business and the auto workers lose their jobs - well, other people are going to be feeling the effects of that too.
Most of the people I know understand the new reality that has been in place for quite some time - that the American consumer has plenty of options, and that our jobs are by no means guaranteed.
The best thing Chrysler could do is completely start over as a non-union company. They are aware of the successes Toyota and Honda are enjoying, and how unsustainable and flawed the Big 3’s business models are.
The UAW had 1.5 million members in 1979, now they have less than 600,000. The UAW’s greed and foolishness will lead to their own extinction.
union wages and their ramifications are not subject to free market pressures to get wages for what a product is worth
Unions are the religion of the mediocre.
What you will get laid in front of you is the closing notice when they shut your plant down and move.”
There are still Union menbers in South Bend, Indiana who are sitting on their porches waiting for Studebaker to come back and reopen.
The real die-hard union members will NEVER sign the front of a paycheck——only the backside.
I hope this strike lasts 6 months. I want the union to deplete its strike fund and have NO money to give to Democratic candidates this election cycle.
I reckon they need some more money to pay for all of the upcoming demoncrap propaganda that will make Hillary look like a Saint eh?
Freakin' morons.
What you will get laid in front of you is the closing notice when they shut your plant down and move.”
There are still Union menbers in South Bend, Indiana who are sitting on their porches waiting for Studebaker to come back and reopen.
The real die-hard union members will NEVER sign the front of a paycheck——only the backside.
I want the union to deplete its strike fund and have NO money to give to Democratic candidates this election cycle.
::::::
Good point and idea. The unions need to be abolished once and for all. It would be one of the best things that could happen to American business, and liberal-supported extortion as well.
Sorry about your experience - I am assuming you are referring to the trade unions primarily - for all I know they may still be like that. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the union jobs in the auto companies were the same at that time though.
I trust (hope) that you have done ok since then. Sometimes we have to bounce around a bit before landing something decent.
I got out of the Marines in '78. After about 4 years of low-paying electronic service jobs I finally got a break.
I was (and still am) an amateur radio operator and at a club I was a member of one of the older guys told me about an fellow HAM who was a supervisor at Chrysler HQ and was starting up a department to do testing. I put in a resume to Chrysler.
Afeter about 18 months I got interviewed and because I had a Technician Class amateur radio license and a First Class Commercial Radiotelephone license (with Radar endorsement) I got hired in.
So I had a lucky break.
I can only say that the UAW has lost a lot of power, and most of the people I know understand this completely.
At least that was my experience as a member in the 70's.
Well, times are a bit different now. You can slack off when you have the market locked up, but when you lose enough market share to go through a few rounds of layoffs the reality hits home.
For what it's worth, about half the workers are Republicans, with a smattering of third party voters. Half the people do vote and support the Democrats (just like half the country).
I do think you're going to see big business pushing for Hiliary-Care, or some version of socialized medicine - to get out from under the health care burden for the employees, especially the retirees - which is really killing them $$$ wise.
The bargaining appeared to hinge on the UAW granting the same health care cost concessions to Chrysler as it did to GM and Ford in 2005, and on how much Chrysler would pay into a company-funded, UAW-run trust that would take on its roughly $18 billion worth of retiree health care costs. GM has already agreed to form such a trust.
Also at issue was the union’s desire for job security pledges at U.S. factories and Chrysler’s wish to contract out parts transportation now done by higher-wage union members, according to a person briefed on the talks.
all I hear from the one union acquaintance that I have left is how we need tariffs to protect the American jobs.
Unf*cking believable.
When I point out that it was the unions that drove those companies out of business, he starts to argue, but stops.
I was a steelworker back in the day when America still had an industrial base, and I just remind him that those industries existed long before the union crime families moved in.
And they would still be here today if there were no unions.
Hell, I liked my job.
Chrysler eyes cutting 1,500 non-union jobs
Automaker eyeing 5 percent cut in salaried staff, more than one-third reduction in contract employees as it tries to negotiate new cost savings with union.
As many as 415 of 8,300 non-union white-collar employees at the Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters may be let go, the people said. Chrysler may also shed one-third of its 3,000 workers hired on a temporary basis, said the people, who didn’t want to be named because the plan isn’t public.
The reductions would add to the 11,000 hourly and 2,000 salaried jobs Chrysler said in February would be cut over three years, before it was bought by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP. Chrysler is seeking health-care concessions from the United Auto Workers, and the union may strike if there’s no contract agreement by 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Take from the working to give to the elite;
http://www.unionfacts.com/unions/unionProfile.cfm?id=149
United Auto Workers (UAW)
National Headquarters
8000 E JEFFERSON
DETROIT, MI 48214
Leadership
Top 10 International UAW Leaders & Staff (by Salary)
Name Title Total Compensation
Ronald Spurlock Servicng Rep $ 167,951
Moses Green Ass’t Minor $ 167,576
Jamesell Kee Strk Ins Rep $ 162,499
Helen Lesley Ass’t Major $ 160,163
Stanley Reasons Servicng Rep $ 160,044
Ned Scott Servicng Rep $ 159,520
Ronald Gettelfinger President $ 158,530
Timothy Novak Servicng Rep $ 157,726
Albert Carnes Servicng Rep $ 157,148
John Sangster Servicng Rep $ 156,993
[show all officers & salaries]
Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings
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