Posted on 07/17/2008 4:44:00 AM PDT by decimon
DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union has called a strike against a Johnson Controls Inc factory in Columbia, Tennessee, that will supply seats and consoles for the upcoming Chevrolet Traverse crossover vehicle from General Motors Corp.
UAW Local 1853 President Mike O'Rourke, who also represents workers at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly plant, said Johnson Controls' management had refused to recognize the union even though 170 of 172 workers at the plant had signed cards seeking UAW representation.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Monumentally stupid move considering GM’s current financial situation.
I hope GM shuts the plant down and moves it to Mexico.
"They're charging them $60 a week for insurance. So by the time they pay insurance and drive back and forth to work, they're broke," he said. "That's just wrong."
Sorry, Pal, but perhaps the market is trying to tell you something. First, $240/month is actually pretty cheap health insurance. Second, striking a company right now, especially one that supplies GM that's having all kinds of financial problems, seems to me to be the express action path to unemployment. Third, given the "tender" state of the economy in general right now, you may want to rethink your timing for a strike.
It appears that this might be a push for just using the 'signing cards' rather than the secret ballot election.
...Johnson Controls' management had refused to recognize the union even though 170 of 172 workers at the plant had signed cards seeking UAW representation.
What will we see if we get an Obama 'administration that actively aids the Unions? I predict that there will be corporate support for BHO from the already Unionized companies who dislike the 'unfair' competition from non-union shops.
I don't know, but...a common tactic has been to get workers to sign what they are told is non-binding on the workers or the company. A lie, of course.
Unions had there place; now they are an albatross.
Maybe Toyota, BMW, Hyundai and VW are a little smarter by building huge plants in the south, pay a good wage and invest billions in plant and equipment which in turn provide a good standard of living and great tax base for their communities.
The stockholders of GM, Ford and Chrysler should fire their boards of directors and kick out the unions. maybe they too can compete better in the global market without the constraints our management/union sweetheart contracts.
The other option, every union member move to Michigan.
Union stupidity like this is what has largely increased the price of vehicles and driven GM to the brink of insolvency. I would hope that GM would take some type of punitive move that would disband the union, but their history says otherwise. GM has allowed the unions to run over them and out-negotiate them.
With gas prices at record highs, vehicle sales plummeting and GM in a financial meltdown, the UAW could work to help GM improve its position in the marketplace.
But, that assumes that their leadership has as little as a 3rd grade education in finance.
If you want job security work for the government.
Can you use these two words in the same sentence?
Bear in mind that the strike is against Johnson Controls, a GM supplier, and not GM itself.
There’s 172 jobs fixin to go overseas.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Take a bus.
Oh wait, now they don't have to. A whole new crew starts today. Those not quite "Union" guys can stay home. But if they think they were broke when they had a job, they are going to be even more broke driving to their former employers place to picket without a job.
They'll be picketing for about a year before this makes it through the courts.
The union will claim when these people ask why they all lost their jobs when the union told them they wouldn't, that they are just "casualties of war". How comforting.
They'll learn next time that signing a union card doesn't give them a right to strike before they are certified, and before there are reasonable attempts to negotiate a contract.
Reporter: “Mr. Iacocca. You've manage to get huge wage and benefit concessions from the union for Chrysler. What do the workers get in return?”
Mr. Iacocca: “A job, you idiot!”
Doncha just love clarity on an issue?
I knew a non-union carpenter who was hired on a union crew. First day on the job he was reprimanded for nailing electrical outlet boxes on a stud wall. That, after all, is the job the electrical union workers. So he had to sit and wait for an electrician before he could continue his work. A short time later he was back working for a non-union contractor happy once again building houses and doing all the work efficiently.
This would mean quotas would also have to go.
Were there a lot of Johnsons that were out of control?
You can see a fair amount of that in a place like Manhattan. A few of us were working overtime to set up a product display in a hotel. We couldn't do the physical setup as that was for union worker overtime. The union workers got the overtime they wanted and then left, not caring at all what we did after that. It's all a great game to play.
If they spent much time at the J-Bar.
Either way I think Johnson Controls is a pretty big company, if they didn't get what they wanted they would just move the whole operation down the road, there are several small towns around Columbia, TN with empty buildings and warehouses.
Close the plant. Open one in Mexico. Problem solved.
I worked with union carpenters on job sites in South Jersey. Crap construction that took twice as long for three times the pay. Not to mention a smoke break every 15 minutes.
I assume $10.00 is probably not a bad wage in TN compared to a “tax you to death” state like WI. As far as job security, seats for a crossover vehicle sounds pretty secure to me.
The Traverse is the Chevy version of an upcoming crossover vehicle from GM. 2009 model, I think, so the parts production would have started.
Close it and throw all the RATS out of work!
Tennessee is a “Right to Work” state. Unions have little power, and corporations can just fire the employees and hire new ones.
And all this at a time when GM is on the edge of collapse. Just another demonstration of just how ugly, corrupt, and stupid the UAW is.
This country is being run by Communists: UAW, NEA, Ruth Bader Ginsberg - they are running it into the ground.
Unfortunately, that isn't and option. You see, the big three auto plants and most of their suppliers are in Union states. That means that in those states, you cannot kick out the union. IN fact, you cannot even fire a union employee for being in the union, even if they strike and don't show up for work for months.
Your idea would require closing all the big 3 plants in union states and building new plants in "right to work" states. Now, you want to talk about bankrupt? The auto makers are dancing with it right now - no capitol to build all new plants elsewhere.
The UAM has the upper hand. And it is legalized racketeering.
There was a time in US History when Unions were truly needed - workers were abused, worked in horrible and unsafe conditions, were not paid fairly, and generally were a step above slave labor.
Unions came and brought decent wages, safer working conditions, and fair treatment.
That taste of success, plus the inflow of cash via union dues, set up some folks who were corrupted by this new-found power. That power, as always, corrupts. As unions grew, so did the demands. After all, ever increasing wages directly relates to ever increasing union dues. Union bosses became fat cats, union employees became lazy and spoiled.
And the power grew - some states decided to give the unions special protections - thus union workers could no longer be fired for not doing their jobs, or for poor work.
So America’s automotive industry, construction in many states, education, and many other areas have become big, lazy, and stupid. And the Union goes on...
I'm not against organized labor, per se. I am against government favoring business or labor to the detriment of the other and to the consumer.
Something I need to bone up on before I croak is how the corporate structure changed over time in the U.S. I take it that the corporation of a Carnegie, Ford, et.al. was an organized entity with resources beyond both the comprehension and pocketbook of the working stiff. That the working stiffs would want a comparable organization is not at all surprising.
The men named above probably qualified as crony capitalists. They could buy what government they needed. Unfortunately, the unions became the same and worse.
I forwarded this story to my Step-Father who grew up in Detroit, and was indoctrinated into the vast benefits of the Union. Here is his reply. I think it hit a sore spot. What would YOU say/do?
At this point in life you may or may not find my remark humorous, but
after we called last night to wish you a Happy Birthday, I kinda
laughed and said to Mom, that you’re almost to the age where you’ll
truly have some common sense and life experience to carry on at
another level. In my experience, most men attain that point at about
40. Something to observe and ponder in your different relationships
that you have.
About your email. This situation you emailed about is way too complex
to try and explain in an email. If you truly understood what happened
in TN with the strike, you’d be better equipped to understand the
labor management problems and games that always arise. First of all,
they are not in any hurry to build the Traverse at this
time....................................fuel mileage of the vehicle,
$4 gas and no sales. If they go on strike over something small, they
don’t have to lay anyone
off...........................HELLO..............is the pic getting
clearer?? (Strike at Johnson means layoffs at GM) Layoffs cost a lot
less money then employment and strikes only cost the worker!! In this
particular instance it sounds to me like Johnson Controls, which if
you dig a little you will probably find out is partially owned by one
of the auto companies or brother of the board of directors or the
like, is working in concert with the GM.
As an FYI, see attached pdf from the US Census Bureau for an economics
lesson. Please study this graph and let it really soak in. In 1967,
the price of a new Impala was about $3200. You could purchase a nice
new 4 side brick 1500 sq ft home on a basement with a 2 1/2 car garage
in Detroit for appx. $22,000. The workforce in Detroit as well as the
rust belt, Chicago down to St. Louis and east thru the northeast was
at least 20-30% derived from workers migrating from the southern
United States to the north as that was where the work, WAGES and
fringe benefits were. The rust belt set the tone for wages and fringe
benefits around the country.....................union driven I might
add. Do not lose sight that that was ALL wages, government as well.
The LAST TIME there was a middle class (average working man that could
work a 40-50 hour week and not have to have his wife work) in this
country and people were able to save ANY money, educate a child and
take a vacation was........................you guessed it from
attached chart, the late 60’s and early 70’s. Don’t lose sight that
very few women worked outside the home in the 40’s -70’s.
I have a real PROBLEM with the negative comments about the
unions and auto companies that I receive from time to time from you.
I’m truly broken hearted watching MI people that I truly care about
having their lives torn apart and getting sold down the river by the
politics that have been controlling this country since Reagan got into
office. Just an FYI, our points of view are only derived from what we
have experienced during our lives. The bulk of your of your anti-
union sentiment is from hear say as you personally have NEVER been
involved in the type of labor situations I’m talking about. You ONLY
have heard the negative about the union activities and that was
basically from your mom and dad and your perceived view on politics.
(By the way, I just LOVE the way Bush has enhanced this country in the
last 8 years.) (NOT) Mom and I have had numerous talks about the
Teamsters union in NC when you were a baby and lived there. OK,
frankly not the norm and the Teamsters is certainly not the United
Auto Workers.
PLEASE.............go back and truly do some research from
the 1900’s thru the late 30’s and find out what started the unions and
what they were truly all about in the rust belt so you have some
education and basis for your anti union biased statements, thoughts
and comments. You don’t have the foggiest clue as to how companies
were run as you never experienced it growing up in Pine Bluff [Arkansas].............the
simplest example being when Ford brought in the head bangers and
KILLED the workers in Detroit at work AND IN THEIR HOMES because they
wouldn’t comply with the Ford demands and were on strike. Again Happy
Birthday
As you can see - his point of view is quite on the opposite end of the scale from my own. How do you reply to such???? I am truly at a loss...
Good God, they do have a death wish, don’t they?
Well, you did write this: "Unions came and brought decent wages, safer working conditions, and fair treatment." So while you blame different politicians for...all kinds of stuff...you might not be so far apart on the role unions played in past times.
How do you reply to such???? I am truly at a loss...
You might tell him that times have changed and the unions are not what they were. Not that he'll listen but you can tell him that. ;-)
My father was an Italian immigrant and had an early job as a longshoreman on the NY docks. He later became a butcher. As a kid I asked him what he thought of the butcher's union. He aid it was good for the workers and regretted only that the union had ruined the craft of butchering as the younger guys didn't have to try to be good. I asked him what he thought of Albert Anastasia (ILA chief, Murder Inc.). He said he was good for the workers.
His recommendation that you look into the early history of the unions sounds good. Believe it or not, someone like Dashiell Hammett might be instructive. Hammett was apparently lured to the dark side at least partially because of his experience as a Pinkerton agent. He at one time served as a strike breaker. His Poisonville is an absurd account of that sort of thing. Industrialists, gangsters, Wobblies, you-name-it, and none any good.
They may not have the wish but they've found the means.
Am I wrong in stating that the Unions, at one time, did serve a valid purpose that greatly improved working conditions for workers?
And I have done some research and found basically what you posted - that while some folks started out somewhat “good”, so many went down a very dark path. Goes back to power and money corrupting....
And the incident my Step-Father referred to with my Mom and Dad - The short time my father worked in South Carolina (Kernersville), the shop of the company he worked for (metal buildings - someone here will probably know what company I am speaking of) went on strike. They were a Teamster affiliate. Not only was there some truly awful hate spewed and demonstrated, but violence became rather common - from windshields busted out, to bricks to people’s heads. Police escorts were the course of action for quite some time for the engineering dept. (not on strike, nor union workers).
He says I have a slanted point of view because of my life experiences - yet he obviously does too...
I think you'd have to take things case by case. The IWW types probably sucked in most cases but they weren't all of the unions. But maybe all of the unions were by nature doomed to be tools of either the lefties or the hoods. I've sometimes wondered if the feds didn't turn a blind eye to Cosa Nostra because it was the most effective counter to the commies in the labor movement.
You obviously don’t know what you are talking about. The reason vehicles cost as much as they do is because buyers keep demanding more options: heated seats, CD players, sun roofs, power steering, turn signals in the side view mirrors, the list goes on and on.
As far as the UAW, without them and other unions like them, we would have already reached the third world nation status that we are now headed for unless someone starts to step up for the American worker.
Take a step into reality. Johnson Controls knows that if they want to do business with GM Chrysler or Ford, they they have to deal with the UAW. They knew it when they bid the contract and they calculated their cost accordingly. This is just a move by JC to try and up their profits on the backs of the workers. It’s a game that goes on all the time. The UAW is a cost of doing business. If they don’t want to deal with the UAW they should deal only with Nissan Toyota and the other sweat shops.
I tell you what. That’s a real smart solution.
You just don’t have a clue do you?
The strongest unions in the nation right now are the AMA and the ABA. Both attempt to restrict the supply of doctors and lawyers through state board examinations. If you want to be a doctor or lawyer in North Dakota, the boards are pretty easy. The two toughest are FL and CA, because they don't want retired doctors and lawyers hanging out shingles in those states.
Union contracts probably had an extremely adverse affect on union membership as the unions put a death grip on the union shop and ended up closing the factories. One clear example is New England textiles. Admittedly, the union stuck to their guns and those workers often said: "We'd rather not have a job than work in a non-union shop." The vast majority got their wish.
Unions will likely never go completely away, but business has too many options to put up with the restrictive form of unions we've seen in the past.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha . . . . . . . . . . do a little research on GM and UAW relations. Pay a little attention to one Walter Reuther, then get back to me.
Seems like a good reason to NOT do business with Ford, GM, or Chrysler.
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.