Money For Nothing (Labor union sickness on an unimaginable scale)

Wall Street Journal ^ | May 2006 | Jeffrey McCracken

[Monsieur Poirot]

In his 34 years working for General Motors, one of Jerry Mellon's toughest assignments came this January.

He spent a week in the "rubber room."

The room is a windowless old storage shed in Flint, Mich. It is filled with long tables, Mr. Mellon says, and has space for about 400 employees. They must arrive at 6 a.m. each day and stay until 2:30 p.m., with 45 minutes off for lunch. A supervisor roams the aisles, signing people out when they want to use the bathroom.

Their job: to do nothing.

This is the Jobs Bank, a two-decade-old program in which nearly 15,000 auto workers continue to get paid after their companies stop needing them. To earn wages and benefits that often top $100,000 a year, the workers must perform some company-approved activity. Many volunteer or go back to school. The rest clock time in the rubber room or something like it.

It is called the rubber room, Mr. Mellon says, because "a few days in there makes you go crazy."

The Jobs Bank at GM and other U.S. auto companies including Ford Motor is likely to cost around $1.4 billion to $2 billion this year. The programs, which are up for renewal next year when union contracts expire, have become a symbol of why Detroit struggles even as Japanese auto makers with big U.S. operations prosper.

[KeyLargo]

I’ve heard of union workers getting “laid off” for weeks at a time, at 95% pay.

Absolutely true.

I worked a summer temp. job in a FMC assembly plant in the 1960’s and when the summer change over to new models took place, sometimes 30 days, line workers were paid to sit at home.

Nice to know now that Obama wants you to pay for the UAW retirees bailout, even though you personally do not have a private pension to look forward to.

[allmendream]

..... and chicks for free.

(I was checking for it, glad you got it in!) ;)

[KeyLargo]

[Joan Kerrey]

Why aren’t these people doing something like washing windows, cutting grass, answering phones, etc... ______________________________ That would require undermining the janitoral union, the landscaping contract with the landscapers union, the telecommunications union etc. The fines from these labor violations would double the present cost per employee task.

[dabluesman]

The bailout of the big 3 will start with a promise of govt provided health care, so the medical costs of workers and retirees will be provided by US. Then of course their pension money will be moved to the SS system.....with a little left behind to grease the mucky ducks of course, then of course the cost of doing business for them will be similar to Honda and Toyota. This will be part of the bailout plan, I so predict.