United Auto Workers President "just don't get it"

Kirby

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Apparently the United Auto Workers Union heads do not understand the meaning of "$1.1 Billion quarterly loss" and "Junk Bond":

DETROIT (Reuters) - The head of the United Auto Workers union said on Thursday its leaders were "not confident" that General Motors Corp. needs concessions from its hourly work force to return to profitability.

Setting the stage for a possible confrontation, the union's leadership also warned that it would be "a huge mistake" for GM to take any unilateral actions affecting the health-care benefits of the UAW workers who build its cars and trucks.

"We need to know exactly what the financial condition of the organization is," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told WWJ news radio in Detroit.

 
E

epj3

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Isn't GM known to have some of the most "Spoiled" benefits packages? It sure seems like it. I understand not wanting to loose the benefits, but it's better than loosing a job!!!

I think GM needs to start selling their cars for sutable prices. I saw a commercial for a base model trailblazer tonight, and they said $26,550 - I thought that was the price BEFORE employee discount, thats AFTER the discount!!! $26,550 is way overpriced for a trailblazer, especially if they are the same as the 2003 trailblazers....
 
Pete K

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No, they will NEVER get it. GM pays $5 billion a year in benefits to former employees. That's a huge burden. No wonder all the foreign car companies are setting up shop down south where it's non-union. Actually it's not that they don't get it as much as they don't care about the company. They just want a nice cushy job with lots of benefits and if the company happens to go under...oh, well.

I don't mean to offend any union workers on this forum, but as a construction inspector I've worked with union and non-union companies. Non-union guys put in a full days work for a full days pay and get the work done more efficiently.

From what I've read, similar things are going on in Europe too. Western European car makers are threatening to move operations to eastern Europe to lower labor costs, but at least their unions seems to be more willing to make concessions.

This is the reality of living in the 21st century. We're competing for jobs not only against other Americans but against the rest of the world too. It's time for the UAW to acknowledge that.
 
B

Big Daddy

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The problem with unions is that they have become obsolete. They collect dues soley for the purpose of fattening their wallets and promoting their polotical views. Did you know that in some government offices your tax dollars pay union representatives wages? Yes for example in the Social Security Office the local president, a SSA employee, once elected no longer does any SSA work and becomes a union rep, however he/she continues to be paid by the administration and receives all the SSA benefits.
 
S

Steve176

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The UAW administration and the rank and file need to understand what is going on with manufacturing jobs in the USA and why toyota and honda are growing at a high rate. The only way for GM to be competitive is to either lower costs or increase productivity. Included with all of this is better styling and quality. GM is the least inovated company when it comes to vehicle styling. They are in big trouble. This latest move of giving employe pricing to all people is going to cost them millions. But, I guess it will reduce their inventory. Have to ask yourself why they have the inventory in the first place. Oh what a mess they have.
 
andreyiv

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The way people work with unions is just unbelievable. My dad is an electricion helper working for the city and he is sick of even the head electrician changing maybe 5 light bulbs a day, a day! They have a half hour lunch break that ends at 12, even if the head foreman calls at 12:30 and kindly ask somebody to come fix an outlet, the person would respond by almost yelling at the foreman saying its lunch time.
 
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northstar

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andreyiv said:
The way people work with unions is just unbelievable. My dad is an electricion helper working for the city and he is sick of even the head electrician changing maybe 5 light bulbs a day, a day! They have a half hour lunch break that ends at 12, even if the head foreman calls at 12:30 and kindly ask somebody to come fix an outlet, the person would respond by almost yelling at the foreman saying its lunch time.
Click to expand...

I need to get a job like that !!!!!
 
aNoodle

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Damn, this is an organized labor hate-in fest. LOL. Well, take comfort that BMW is building MORE factories in Germany at the expense of choosing lower cost, eastern european countries and other locations...since everybody knows the greatest cost is production line investment, not labor. All those German built cars were made with labor rates exceeding those of Detroit! Go figure....yet unions are to blame?!?

There's more to this story guys, your political views aside. GM is, no doubt, in a heap of trouble after historically unprecedented competition and the unions will have to renegotiated their contracts in line with current circumstances. But unions are no more 'obsolete' than the agreements that enable firemen, police, government, many workers etc to have well balanced work rules, retirement and disability compensation for a hard days work.
 
Kirby

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aNoodle said:
Damn, this is an organized labor hate-in fest. LOL. Well, take comfort that BMW is building MORE factories in Germany at the expense of choosing lower cost, eastern european countries and other locations...since everybody knows the greatest cost is production line investment, not labor. All those German built cars were made with labor rates exceeding those of Detroit! Go figure....yet unions are to blame?!?
Click to expand...
There is also more to the BMW story, and they also are holding the unions' feet to the fire. The new factory was built in Germany because the union agreed to numerous concessions - 38 hour work week, instead of 35 hours. no overtime bonuses, etc. Clearly the unions in Germany have realized they play a major part in keeping BMW healthy, but US unions continue their denial.

I posted an article about this a few weeks ago -
BMW wins concessions
 
aNoodle

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Kirby said:
There is also more to the BMW story, and they also are holding the unions' feet to the fire. The new factory was built in Germany because the union agreed to numerous concessions - 38 hour work week, instead of 35 hours. no overtime bonuses, etc. Clearly the unions in Germany have realized they play a major part in keeping BMW healthy, but US unions continue their denial.

I posted an article about this a few weeks ago -
BMW wins concessions
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember seeing that one. [thumb]
 
I

I love my 5 Series

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My job is to help my credit union members buy cars. About 80% of my business this year has been Toyota. Not Honda, nor Ford, nor Chrysler, nor GM, nor BMW, MBZ,Porsche,etc. Why Toyota? They are reliable. They have lots of usable features (not just junky gimmicks). They have good resale value. They are built with good materials. They have good paint jobs (take a look at a domestic car!). They are confortable (feel the seats in a Camry vs a Pontiac G6). Most importantly, I can get nearly any Toyota (except Prius and some new Tacoma's) in a 4-6 hour turnaround - delivered to my office at a price either a few hundred below invoice or a couple hundred over invoice. On top of that, you get to take whatever rebate they have. I am getting a 2005 Solara SLE V-6 (3.3l) with moonroof, ABS, vehicle stability ctrl, traction ctrl, power seat, 17" alloys, am/fm/cdchgr/cass/JBL stereo, leather, tilt/tele wheel, climate control, etc... All for $24,779 plus tax and license. Hard to beat!

Last week it took me 4 days to get a Suburban delivered to me and 3 days to get a Saturn Vue. Dealers do not work with each other on trades, the invoices are a mess and the wholesalers do not care if I get the car or not. There is so little profit in selling GM right now, nobody is very interested in moving cars. I think the salesmen get paid mini deals ($50-$75 commission). Takes a lot of sales to make a living!
 
N

northstar

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Kirby said:
Apparently the United Auto Workers Union heads do not understand the meaning of "$1.1 Billion quarterly loss" and "Junk Bond":

DETROIT (Reuters) - The head of the United Auto Workers union said on Thursday its leaders were "not confident" that General Motors Corp. needs concessions from its hourly work force to return to profitability.

Setting the stage for a possible confrontation, the union's leadership also warned that it would be "a huge mistake" for GM to take any unilateral actions affecting the health-care benefits of the UAW workers who build its cars and trucks.

"We need to know exactly what the financial condition of the organization is," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told WWJ news radio in Detroit.

Click to expand...

The president of the United Auto Workers is a very smart business man. He already knows that if a company like GM goes down, the U.S. governmet will try to save the company from bankrupt. After all, this is GM, the most significant auto company in the world. Yes, I know, it will be the taxpayers money that use to save GM eventually..............
 
DRWWE

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Taxpayer money will bail GM out but the union workers will still lose. Look at the airlines and what happened to United's pensions.

Union workers will just have to work harder and give up some of their cushy benifits to save their company. If they aren't willing to do that then they obviously do not care about GM and should find another line of work. Survival of the fittest.

[driving2]
 
Kirby

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DRWWE said:
Taxpayer money will bail GM out but the union workers will still lose. Look at the airlines and what happened to United's pensions.

Union workers will just have to work harder and give up some of their cushy benifits to save their company. If they aren't willing to do that then they obviously do not care about GM and should find another line of work. Survival of the fittest.

[driving2]
Click to expand...
Well put! [thumb]
 
N

northstar

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DRWWE said:
Taxpayer money will bail GM out but the union workers will still lose. Look at the airlines and what happened to United's pensions.

Union workers will just have to work harder and give up some of their cushy benifits to save their company. If they aren't willing to do that then they obviously do not care about GM and should find another line of work. Survival of the fittest.

[driving2]
Click to expand...

I agree with your statement. But the President of United Auto Workers will still do very well even if GM falls. After all, like you stated, "Survival of the fittest".
 
G

gpoints

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Big Daddy said:
The problem with unions is that they have become obsolete. They collect dues soley for the purpose of fattening their wallets and promoting their polotical views.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more.

My wife and I lost a contract because we are not a "union shop".
 
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