Is the UAW run by dolts?

[mtndog]

AAARRGH, ityped a long reply to Toad and Frode and seem to have lost it
Oh well maybe when i get home....

mtndog

[hubsonfire]

The companies like the idea of long term benefits, because it has 2 outs for them- they run out of money, collapse, and don't pay the benefits because they can't, and, there's always the off chance someone else will screw up worse, and they'll gain a nice chunk of the market, and be able to pay.

Don't get me wrong, I feel for those who invested their lives in the companies, and won't get squat, but, on the other side of that coin, I'm surprised they'll let a company be responsible for their retirement, knowing that the company isn't interested in their future once they stop being productive workers.

I'm not anti-union, but I think the union in the manufacturing environment has outlived it's usefulness. The unions, like it or not, are just like the companies now- they make money at the expense of the workers. The workers, and the consumers who buy these products are the ones footing the bills, not the ones reaping the rewards. It isn't supposed to work like that.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by VWE
I like Honda, the cars are mostly built by robots and seem to last for ever. As soon as it looks like an American auto maker is coming back strong here is a group of some of the wealthiest workers in America saying that $40.00 an hour just aint cuttin it! http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070924/auto_talks.html?.v=10


Actually wage and benefits come out to $73.26 an hour average for GM workers.

With that salary you are either talking Skilled Trade or "Salary" at a plant.   Not your "average line assembler".

[BigGun]

Originally posted by mtndog
oh yea, and if you think the UAW pension is in trouble check out CALPERS.
i believe they were underfunded by some 300 billion.
 If you're registered at Forbes, see if you can find an article from a couple of years ago about it. incredible eyeopener!


mtndog

You don't have a clue about CALPERS pension system. No way it is underfunded by $300 billion.

[SirLoin]

Originally posted by hubsonfire
Yeah, nobody at the General Assembly plant was paid enough to be bothered to put fluids in it.

Maybe the guy on the line was out of fluids and had informed his non-union foreman of this.But u see management only cares about keeping the line moving.

"Quantity is job #1" is what us Ford assembly line workers say about Ford's mentality.

"You won't see that at 55mph" is another management one-liner.

[mtndog]

do your homework, it is ! the article in forbes layed out the finances quite clearly...mostly has to do with the governing boards being interlaced with cronies and approving sweet deals for each other. After all its not their money. they are just passing along the payments to the future as well.

Cali has been in severe finacial crisis for years, They do not have the cash to fund the fund.they are paying todays bills with tommorrows money.they are far from being alone.

mtndog

[hubsonfire]

Originally posted by SirLoin
Maybe the guy on the line was out of fluids and had informed his non-union foreman of this.But u see management only cares about keeping the line moving.

"Quantity is job #1" is what us Ford assembly line workers say about Ford's mentality.

"You won't see that at 55mph" is another management one-liner.

The first concept was definitely popular. The second wasn't, but this was right after the redesign, and the then current F150s were really popular, even with the GM employees.

[Sixpence]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
They sacrificed quality for price.  If the wages weren't that high, they wouldn't have to sacrifice quality at all.

Honda does it, their wages are just as high

[Pooh21]

This is why I bought a car that was built in Wolfsburg in Beautiful Niedersachsen by a skilled auto builder.

The share holders should do something about CEO benefits.

[Scherf]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
They sacrificed quality for price.  If the wages weren't that high, they wouldn't have to sacrifice quality at all.

Gimme an effing break. Quality is a process - that's an American idea that the Japanese put into practice. The fact U.S. automakers didn't is a living, breathing monument to short-termism.

Jesus H. Christ, in my own lifetime, the U.S. has gone from having the world at its feet to kowtowing to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

[Rolex]

Hard to preserve jobs in the automation age.

Hard to pay employer medical insurance costs when those costs:

- have risen 87% since 2000.
- will be higher than total corporate profits next year.
- have risen 4 times the inflation rate.
- are almost $12,000 per year per employee for family coverage.

Hard to preserve a standard of living for workers when medical insurance costs:

- increased almost $1,100 more per year for employee contribution.
- increased 143% for employee contribution since 2000.

The UAW and GM should join forces and drag the insurance and medical industry to the bargaining table.

[eddiek]

Originally posted by hubsonfire
"Yeah, nobody at the General Assembly plant was paid enough to be bothered to put fluids in it."

One thing everyone forgot about there.......every new vehicle goes through a new vehicle inspection after it comes off the transporter at a dealership, and before it is put on the showroom or on the sales line.  Most inspection forms I've seen are anywhere from 50 to 100 item checklists, covering everything from tire pressure to fluid levels to vibrations and noises at "normal operating conditions".
Your truck going tits up with only 5 miles on it wasn't the fault of a factory worker.....it was a lazy dealership automotive "technician", probably some teenager who just went through the checklist and marked everything as good so he could hurry up and get the truck out on the road and haul butt doing the road testing.
I personally think the autoworkers assembling cars here in the US ARE overpaid....but that's just me and my own opinion.  But before you blame everything on them, look at the processes and steps a vehicle goes through before it gets to the consumer and you will find a list of other employees who dropped the ball and overlooked things on your truck, not just the assembly line workers.

[lazs2]

mtndog..  I have looked and all I see is that calpers has reported huge profits.. they are looking for places to invest and ways to give more to the members.

They have started programs that gave veterans their time in the service as calpers time and allowed members to buy "years" of service.

It pays it's pensioners an average of 2.5% cola raise every year.

The only bad investments it has had are the ones the democrats made them "invest" in... minority stuff.. loans for minority and poor areas that fail.

lazs

[Thrawn]

So what if wages are equal.  Labour costs aren't.

[hubsonfire]

Originally posted by eddiek
Originally posted by hubsonfire
"Yeah, nobody at the General Assembly plant was paid enough to be bothered to put fluids in it."

One thing everyone forgot about there.......every new vehicle goes through a new vehicle inspection after it comes off the transporter at a dealership, and before it is put on the showroom or on the sales line.  Most inspection forms I've seen are anywhere from 50 to 100 item checklists, covering everything from tire pressure to fluid levels to vibrations and noises at "normal operating conditions".
Your truck going tits up with only 5 miles on it wasn't the fault of a factory worker.....it was a lazy dealership automotive "technician", probably some teenager who just went through the checklist and marked everything as good so he could hurry up and get the truck out on the road and haul butt doing the road testing.
I personally think the autoworkers assembling cars here in the US ARE overpaid....but that's just me and my own opinion.  But before you blame everything on them, look at the processes and steps a vehicle goes through before it gets to the consumer and you will find a list of other employees who dropped the ball and overlooked things on your truck, not just the assembly line workers.

No eddie, I was working at the assembly plant. This vehicle (and quite a few others which weren't road worthy, or even suitable to send to a dealership to be repaired before they had even been driven ) came directly off the line. It was an assembly screw up. They have lots.