UAW to strike GM at 11:00 A.M. EST???

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 07:42 AM

Morons, I hope they strike. Turn the public fully against these idiots for good. Drive that stake.

NICKG · 09-24-2007, 07:45 AM

i think they are gonna shoot themselves in the foot if they strike, and signs popint to a strike. Gettlefinger needs to get a clue, GM has a 90+ day inventory,. a strike might do good for them
GM needs to break the back of the Union here once and for all, they just cannot compete with the union pinching them every chance they get

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NICKG

i think they are gonna shoot themselves in the foot if they strike, and signs popint to a strike. Gettlefinger needs to get a clue, GM has a 90+ day inventory,. a strike might do good for them
GM needs to break the back of the Union here once and for all, they just cannot compete with the union pinching them every chance they get

You're dead on, GM wants the strike. Delphi up here did the same thing, went under then rehired at 40% pay.

legion · 09-24-2007, 08:01 AM

According to the news I've been reading, the sticking point is that the UAW wants guarantees that certain vehicles will be assembled at certain plants with a certain number of workers. That severly limits GMs flexibility IMO.

I think the UAW should be willing to accept X many jobs spread over X plants, and let GM decide what to put where.

One criticism of the Big Three I see on Pelican almost dailey is that they are slow to respond to trends. It's kinda hard to be quick when you have to wait for the current contract to expire to shift production in any way.

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

According to the news I've been reading, the sticking point is that the UAW wants guarantees that certain vehicles will be assembled at certain plants with a certain number of workers. That severly limits GMs flexibility IMO.

I think the UAW should be willing to accept X many jobs spread over X plants, and let GM decide what to put where.

One criticism of the Big Three I see on Pelican almost dailey is that they are slow to respond to trends. It's kinda hard to be quick when you have to wait for the current contract to expire to shift production in any way.

The management is at fault for allowing it to get this far. They should have told the union to pound sand in the early 80's. Giving up strategic control is definitely one of the biggest mistakes they made.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by lendaddy

The management is at fault for allowing it to get this far. They should have told the union to pound sand in the early 80's. Giving up strategic control is definitely one of the biggest mistakes they made.

Agreed. The second mistake was trying to push lousy designs for as long as they did.

Vipergrün · 09-24-2007, 08:22 AM

UAW workers are a bunch of under-worked, over-paid whiners. They have it much better than a large portion of American workers, good salary, health care, retirement, and job security up the wazoo. Another reason I will never buy another GM product.

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Agreed. The second mistake was trying to push lousy designs for as long as they did.

I think one is the outgrowth of the other. With the burden of labor rates so high and foreign competition coming in they tried to do more with less. The could not adjust plant sizes or labor costs, etc... so they worked solely on cutting component costs as a means of staying in the game. The obvious result is patchwork cars.

NICKG · 09-24-2007, 08:27 AM

well they are on strike...this will be a benefit to gm i feel. Sympathies are gonna wane for the union "plight" and with 90+ days of inventory, Gm can afford to let this go. Also, they can right off this union cause loss and make a good return on it from the taxes.

berettafan · 09-24-2007, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Agreed. The second mistake was trying to push lousy designs for as long as they did.

you say this like it's past tense?

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Calling Superman...

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 08:41 AM

We may be witnessing the death of the UAW. They have almost no hand here.

legion · 09-24-2007, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Calling Superman...

Did you try the Bat Signal?

lendaddy · 09-24-2007, 10:22 AM

He's busy painting strike signs

Oh Haha · 09-24-2007, 10:27 AM

I feel somewhat the same as you here but as my company feeds most of the plants that are going to be on strike I do hope it is a short strike.

As always, the UAW seems to forget that there are folks that are suppliers to the big three that don't have the same bennies. If there aren't any workers to assemble the cars, the layoffs at the lower levels will start soon. How does that sound for a young person that just hired into say, a Delphi plant making 14.00 an hour? It sucks.

My company can only react and try to privide the best service for those left in the plants but our union people don't have to cross the picket line so that means managers will be doing what is needed. Fortunately, I'm on vacation this week.

MRM · 10:41 AM

I can't believe the union is risking it. This is the nuclear option. Both the union and GM are gambling their very being as ongoing enterprises. I don't think both can survive.

We haven't seen any strikes like this since the 1970s. If the strike doesn't settle in 24 hours it will be a fight to the death, complete with picket lines, boycotts, and violence. I can see the strike lasting for two years. At the end I think GM will break the union.

GM will be in it for the long haul. If they give in, they will be binding themselves to a contract that might doom the company, so they think they have nothing to lose. On the up side, if they break the union they will be a domestic car manufacturer without a union. The risk is worth it to GM. It will be long, it will be nasy, it will be expensive, and at the end of it GM might be union-free.

Stay tuned, if it doesn't settle within the next week, it odds are good that it will be war. If it doesn't settle within the first week it will be war. The auto industry will never be the same. This is historic. The ramifications are breathtaking. I can't believe the union is risking it. Did I say that already?

5axis · 09-24-2007, 10:42 AM

Much of my work is auto related. Pretty sure I'll be making even less money when this is done. Thanks UAW..

dd74 · 09-24-2007, 11:01 AM

Let's not forget that GM's stock has doubled in value since this time last year.

On the other hand, if you watched Gettlefinger's news conference, he made it sound like the UAW performed an awful lot of capitulation to GM's demands, except the one big one: legacy healthcare.

The fact is, the legacy of legacy healthcare is over. It's not GM but the UAW that lives in the past with this issue.

One way or the other, I also believe this strike will kill the UAW. GM's already laid off - what - 100,000 employees in the last couple years? So what's to prevent them from closing plants and shipping production overseas. The problem is when a company lays off employees and closes plants, it destroys whole communities.

No one's going to win with this one. But my odds are the car company will come out better than the worker.

jcommin · jcommin's Garage

It's a beast that feeds on itself. I thought the sticking point was benefits. I work for a Tier 1 supplier and my benefits are nowhere near what they were. The union is in a losing battle. The wages once earned by the automotive industry have been cut as witnessed with Delphi. It sets the stage for the rest of the automotive industry and suppliers.

Face it; these jobs (manufacturing) that once were the backbone of the middle class are gone, long gone. What you may be seeing is a last attempt of a very powerful union trying to exercise it's muscle. It's hard to break old habits but if something doesn't change, the mighty American auto industry will take more of a beating. Look at the UK; they have no auto industry; it's all gone.

pwd72s · 09-24-2007, 11:05 AM

Unions are adept at shooting themselves in the foot. I once had a conversation with a local union rep. I asked him why he tells his union membership to vote for the same politicians that were voting to drive his membership out of work. He had no answer. Oh, this was a timber workers union rep. Lumber, plywood, etc. Most of those jobs left Oregon...when the politicians the union backed all but shut down federal timber sales, with logging bans.