GM Workers on Strike

[scuncio]

I think it's only the first nationwide strike since the 70s. There was a strike in Flint in the late 90s. Still a big deal over here.

[Fast67VelleN2O]

GM workers are going to be screwing themselves in the long run. GM is still in trouble, and only a matter of time before GM moves to Mexico or Canada and NO ONE will have a job

[SmallHurst]

[ QUOTE ]
GM workers are going to be screwing themselves in the long run. GM is still in trouble, and only a matter of time before GM moves to Mexico or Canada and NO ONE will have a job

[/ QUOTE ]

GM plants were the target plants this year for the contract this year. I will be interested to see if Ford and Chrysler UAW brothers and sisters will be walking out as well. (Just because I am a supplier at a Ford Plant!)

[nuch_ss396]

[ QUOTE ]
GM workers are going to be screwing themselves in the long run. GM is still in trouble, and only a matter of time before GM moves to Mexico or Canada and NO ONE will have a job

[/ QUOTE ]

Matt, thanks for saying that! My thoughts exactly!!

US automaker sales are down across the board and these folks
are striking. Perhaps they should consider the - out of line
wages they get for the level of work they perform. I know
this is going to pi$$ some members off here, but it needs to
be said. We don't live in the same world anymore and no one
( including US car buyers evidently ) wants to pay a premium for
those wages. I'd rather be employed at a somewhat realistic
wage than unemployed with a former high wage. World wide
competition is very tight right now and all automakers have
their sights clearly set on the USA. Wonder why that is?
We're so busy fighting amongst ourselves and the ailing US
automaker situation that we don't see them coming. Look at
some of these Asian automakers. 100,000 mile warranty! If
you daughter wants her first car and I can find a descent
one with a 100,000 mile warranty, guess which way I'm going.

Where the hell is Lee Iacocca when we need him.....

On a similar note, I just heard that Chrysler is offering a
"LIFE TIME WARRANTY" on new vehicles!
Now, that will get them back on the radar. Perhaps we just
found Lee Iacocca afterall.......

[Chevy454]

ChryCo/FoMoCo workers won't be striking, at least not in the near future...GM still runs Detroit, and the other Big 2 see this as their chance to make up some ground on the General. And, UAW has already verbally agreed to extend contracts with ChryCo/FoMoCo, but decided to try their leverage against GM. As y'all mentioned above, my gut says the UAW is shooting themselves in the foot, as this may be the final excuse for GM to *totally* cut & run and push everything across the border, or off the continent for that matter...

[Rusty: I read an *excellent* article about this upcoming UAW/GM battle at breakfast in Ionia, had I been thinking I'd have kept the paper and passed it along!]

[1969z280]

It's impossible to attribute all of GM's wage woes to current payroll. The real cause of the problem is retiree benefits. GM, unlike most of their foreign competitors building cars with American Workers, is required to pay health benefits for life. This includes workers that theoretically retired 10, 20 maybe thirty years ago.

I live near the Fort Wayne Silverado plant and this morning's news said that GM was willing to move the $51 Billion Dollar retiree benefit program over to UAW in an effort to save $3 Billion per year.

The issues facing GM and the UAW are for more complex than 100,000 mile waranties. Many of the problems today are the result of the strong automotive economy of the 1960's and the bargaining practices of the past.

GM's competitors are relatively new in the game (building cars in the USA) and in many cases are non-union or at worst case, union with modern bargaining practices that don't offer things like retiree benefits.

It's a sad day in Northeast Indiana because nobody wins in a strike.

Just an experienced outsider's look in,
Ed

[Chevy454]

As stated before, this gets down to the healthcare/retiree payments that GM is obiligated to pay for seemingly forever...I heard last week that the amount of $$$ that GM has to add into each and every car to offset the benefits is already *more* than the msrp of several of the Asian automobiles...that's *before* the price of material, labor, profit, etc. I forget the exact number, but I wanna say it was like $13k-$15k or something silly like that? Regardless, that's a heck of a head start for the competition, considering *all* of the Big 3 are forced to now compete in a global market...

[Schonyenko2]

Rob, one of the reasons a person like me went to work in a plant like this at 19 is that you were guaranteed these benifits through contract negotiations, and settlements. Alot of us would have gone else where and worked at construction jobs, or more appealing work, but these were jobs with specific negotiated guarantees that paid good wages to support a family on one income. A mom got to raise the kids, not a child care provider. And with things like 30 and out, you had a chance to reach retirement at a reasonable age, with a few years left to enjoy life. Companies don't just give you benifits. Much of the reason goes back to Henry Ford who paid good wages, and benifits to keep a well trained, and consistent work force.
If you work for a company like GM, and are guaranteed benifits at retiremant time through duly negotiated contractual agreements, how would you feel at say 68 years old, they half your retirement check, and cut, or drop your health care? Especially, if like at GM, they didn't adequetly fund their retirement pension fund. At 68 are you going to go back into the work force? This becomes a social issue then as the tax payer is probably going to have to pick up some of the cost.
As to fairness and cooperation between union, and companies, I remember in one of the last contracts we had, the company was making money hand over fist, but wanted us to take concesions. They said that due to global competition that they couldn't afford to negotiate any increases in anything. So the union negotiators went back and said,if we take concessions, will you lower the price of the product to give us a leg up on the competition, keep employment stable and increase market share? They basicly said to piss off, and they'd handle corporate pricing strategy.

[69LM1]

What do you guys think re: the stock market and how the dynamic of less for more plays into this discuusion.

When the hurricane hit here, the local energy company (Entergy - publicly traded) got a government bailout because "It was not fair to the stockholders".

Thoughts?

[Hylton]

[ QUOTE ]
GM workers are going to be screwing themselves in the long run. GM is still in trouble, and only a matter of time before GM moves to Mexico or Canada and NO ONE will have a job

[/ QUOTE ]

Why would they move uphere? The Canadian dollar is now at par with the US dollar and the strike in the US will force our plants to shut down due to the just-in-time inventory process. Oshawa will will be shutting down the Impala plant on tonights midnight shift as a result of the strike.

I think GM will take this opportunity to shut down a few plants and move them to China. Low wages, no pension, safety or health concerns to worry about.