Free Republic

A group of Representatives led by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) recently introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA). This bill will amnesty over 1.5 million illegal alien farmworkers, expand the H-2A program, add 40,000 green cards to the EB-3 category, and mandate E-Verify across the agriculture sector. Despite its flashy name, this bill does nothing to modernize the agricultural workforce. Instead of encouraging the adoption of time- and cost-saving technology, this bill proposes amnestying millions of alien farmworkers and giving them a path to citizenship. It is a massive amnesty, plain and simple. Farmworker Amnesty The bill...

General Motors has put six of its cars under review, including its once breakthrough Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, and is evaluating whether to cancel them in the coming years, according to a report from Reuters. The news comes as sales of cars continue to plummet in the U.S. and as consumers increasingly turn to SUVs and pickups. Besides the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, other vehicles believed to be under consideration for elimination iinclude the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet Sonic, according to Reuters. GM spokesman Jim Cain declined to comment on the report. UAW President Dennis...

Built in China, sold in the U.S.: It's a first for GM and any U.S. automaker. GM said it will sell the Chinese-built Buick Envision, a crossover SUV, in the U.S. market starting next year. The UAW attacked the plan, saying it was "a slap in the face." It said GM should reconsider its plans and instead build a version for the U.S. market at a U.S. plant. "The men and women of GM and the American taxpayers who invested so much in GM's future deserve better," said the union. GM agreed in its latest labor deal to invest $8.3...

TORONTO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - General Motors Co is planning to close all operations at a plant near Toronto and an announcement is expected on Monday, a local TV news channel reported on Sunday Citing multiple sources, CTV News reported that the plant closure in Oshawa in the province of Ontario was expected to affect “thousands” of high-paying jobs. GM builds sedans on one assembly line and pickup trucks on another. The plant closure is part of global restructuring, the report added. A Canada-based GM spokesman declined comment. GM employs about 2,500 union staff and roughly 300 salaried employees in...

<p>General Motors sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.</p> <p>Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.</p>

In the 60’s a new buzzword; “globalization” hit the American Shores. While the youth of America were feverish with xenophilia about fashion, music, culture, the American worker became infected with xenophobia. Globalization happened. What is American is not American and what is not American is American. Someone needs to tell the UAW the 60’s are over

The head of the Canadian Auto Workers says his union has been forced into negotiations with General Motors Canada in order to cut their labour costs even further, only two months after they agreed to previous wage cuts. Ken Lewenza told reporters at a news conference that the federal and Ontario governments had forced the negotiations to happen, in an ultimatum the CAW president said caught him completely by surprise. "We were called to a meeting yesterday that involved ourselves, General Motors, federal and provincial officials -- a very unusual meeting to say the least," Lewenza said just after 11...

Every night, before going to bed, every auto worker in Canada who relies on a union-negotiated paycheque should get down on his knees and thank God or some other deity for Buzz Hargrove. And if this year's calendar says it's April 13 or May 15 or Sept. 4, he or she should say an extra prayer or two of gratitude. Why those days? Because they are, in order, the Monday after Easter, the Friday before Victoria Day and the Friday before Labour Day – regular working days for most people in the private sector, but paid holidays for members of...

Canadian Autoworkers chief Buzz Hargrove lauds his no-strike agreement with car-part giant Magna International as path-breaking. "Trade unions have been abolished as being an antagonism to employers and brought into one organization, and all parts having a share in government of industry," he wrote approvingly in his diary. "This is virtually advocated in Industry and Humanity; the state appoints referees and in this way strikes are ended. I confess that what one sees here of the (National) Socialist state causes one to see many merits in the system."

Tense contract talks between the Canadian Auto Workers union and DaimlerChrysler Canada grinded to a complete halt Sunday as the union awaited the automaker's first offer. The offer is to be tabled Monday morning and, until then, ``there's nothing to bargain over," CAW spokeswoman Jane Armstrong said in an interview. On Saturday, the union suspended local and sub-committee bargaining after a meeting with DaimlerChrysler at which neither side agreed to compromise on a number of key issues. DaimlerChrysler spokeswoman Kerrey Kerr said the company is ready to talk, but no meetings were scheduled for Sunday. Meanwhile, a strike deadline, set...