12,000 paid not to work (UAW Union Alert)

Detroit News ^ | Monday, October 17, 2005 | Bryce G. Hoffman

[WmCraven_Wk]

12,000 paid not to work

Big 3 and suppliers pay billions to keep downsized UAW members on payroll in decades-long deal.

By Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

WAYNE -- Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I've just sat."

Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers and Delphi Corp. as part of an extraordinary job security agreement with the United Auto Workers union.

The jobs bank programs were the price the industry paid in the 1980s to win UAW support for controversial efforts to boost productivity through increased automation and more flexible manufacturing.

As part of its restructuring under bankruptcy, Delphi is actively pressing the union to give up the program.

With Wall Street wondering how automakers can afford to pay thousands of workers to do nothing as their market share withers, the union is likely to hear a similar message from the Big Three when their contracts with the UAW expire in 2007 -- if not sooner.

"It's an albatross around their necks," said Steven Szakaly, an economist with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "It's a huge number of workers doing nothing. That has a very large effect on their future earnings outlook."

*snip*

source: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/17/A01-351179.htm

[WmCraven_Wk]

We the many pay for the lucky few.

[DogBarkTree]

and Unions cry because their jobs have been sent to Mexico and China?

[AbeKrieger]

Is someone implying that a union member might be getting paid for not working? This is simply appalling and unheard-of.

[AbeKrieger]

and Unions cry because their jobs have been sent to Mexico and China?

We should look into whether we can pay their folks less to be idle. They could probably also complete the crossword a lot faster as well.

[Gay State Conservative]

These clown don't understand that the successful parasites are the ones who don't kill their host.The days of milk and honey will very soon come to an end for these parasites!

[ConservativeMind]

Naw, we just buy foreign made cars!

[tom paine 2]

The "executives" that allowed this piece of crap in the contract should be hung from the nearest tree.

[wvobiwan]

Unions had a place in our society many years ago to deal with obscene corporate greed. But they have been corrupted by socialists and ciminals and now simply destroy every industry they "organize".

[WmCraven_Wk]

"Is someone implying that a union member might be getting paid for not working?"

Implying!?!
The aricle maintains that the worker 'pool' is written into the UAW contract.

[ClearCase_guy]

A normal person, if they found themself in this situation, would not watch videos or do crossword puzzles. A normal person wopuld say "This can't last. They're gonna lay me off real soon. I better pick up a skill." And they'd spend their day studying real estate, or software engineering, or clock repair or something!

Unions are like Welfare: they create people stuck on lazy and stupid.

[Gay State Conservative]

Is someone implying that a union member might be getting paid for not working? This is simply appalling and unheard-of.

My brother works for the People's Republic of Rhode Island.He can tell ya stories that would send your blood pressure through the roof!

[litehaus]

Inflation = People paid for no work

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

"and Unions cry because their jobs have been sent to Mexico and China?"

And the businesses send more jobs overseas where there are no unions to cause a situation like this.

[calrighty]

"The "executives" that allowed this piece of crap in the contract should be hung from the nearest tree.
"

Amen!

[inkling]

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I've just sat."

What kind of a person would accept that for years on end? I'm as lazy as the next guy, but the sloth and lack of any accomplishment would drive me crazy!

I remember after a particularly tough college/work year, I decided to take a month off. I slept in, sat around the house, etc., in a most dedicated fashion. At the two-week point I was about to pull my hair out -- I started working for a non-profit until school started up again.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Unions cry because their jobs have been sent to Mexico and China?

For most industries this is correct. The auto industry is different, plants in Mexico and other countries are generally non union, low paying, and less regulated.
This makes them cheaper to run thus improving the bottom line for the car companies.

The UAW members know that the Big Three can't compete with the wages and costs that American workers require so they turn a blind eye to this practice.

In short, the UAW members are benefiting from the sweat and toil of foreign workers.

[Sthitch]

...should be hung from the nearest tree.

The proper word is hanged. Sorry one of my pet peeves.

[Red Badger]

Unions have made their own bed, now it's time for them to sleep...............

[cake_crumb]

"and Unions cry because their jobs have been sent to Mexico and China?"

.....then they blame it on Bush, though unions have been actively destroying US industry since the 1970's when they succeeded in destroying the US steel industry and nearly bankrupted the US automotive industry.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

"Unions have made their own bed, now it's time for them to sleep..............."

It is quite obvious why they tend to always support the liberal/democratic candidates.