Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

UAW Leader Says No More Concession
AP ^ | 11-15-08 | Mark Williams

Posted on 11/15/2008 11:02:50 AM PST by engrpat

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger says workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aflcio; afscme; automakers; bailout; bho2008; cardcheck; chicagomob; chrysler; congress; democrats; detroit; economy; environmentalists; ford; gm; hoffa; honda; michigan; nissan; obama; pelosi; reid; seiu; taxes; teamsters; toyota; uaw; unions
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-143 next last
To: DAC21

The Rubber Room is where UAW members who have no duties sit and read after they have gone on the clock at the auto plant. Paid for doing nothing.


101 posted on 11/15/2008 12:57:31 PM PST by Mike Darancette (I have nothing to say - Oliver Hardy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: engrpat
Save GM by declaring bankruptcy.
Unions will not give in, as the UAW showed the world with their latest strike at American Axle which cost GM 2.6 billions.
Non union plants in the South pay $25 per hour less and continue going.
GM faces union obligations of $7 billion early next year towards retiree benefits from health care to pensions.
Do taxpayers have to come up with “congressional level” perks for a mismanaged company?
Clean up GM under bankruptcy and reemerge on solid footing.
102 posted on 11/15/2008 1:03:37 PM PST by hermgem (Will Olmr)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

Eff ‘em. If this is the attitude of the UAW, let all three automakers go under, and all the union idiots can go be greeters at Wal-Mart for ten bucks an hour.

But frankly, if GM were forced into bankruptcy, someone would come buy the assets, void the union contracts, make a few less cars, make a few better cars with a non-unionized workforce, sell ‘em for less, and make a whole lot of money.


103 posted on 11/15/2008 1:03:53 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: engrpat
My apologies if this link has been posted, but I only have a minute and this story tells you all you need to know about the Big Three Dummies:

Money for Nothing U.S. Car Companies Pay Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Wages to Idled Workers

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.


104 posted on 11/15/2008 1:08:18 PM PST by SeafoodGumbo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: softwarecreator
Maybe we can't stop it, but we don't have to lie supine.
105 posted on 11/15/2008 1:12:08 PM PST by quadrant (1o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

Let them eat cake!


106 posted on 11/15/2008 1:25:03 PM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts! Republicans do!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: softwarecreator
Of course, then Toyota will be powerful enough to purchase both their marketshares also.

My point being, Toyota and others already have market share and only have to spit Detroit out in their gains. They don't want what the "big 3" has left to offer.

107 posted on 11/15/2008 1:25:07 PM PST by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

I haven’t bought an American vehicle since 1986. Why should I feel bad or have my gov. bail out a substandard product that can’t compete?


108 posted on 11/15/2008 1:34:30 PM PST by catfish1957 (Hey algore...You'll have to pry the steering wheel of my 317 HP V8 truck from my cold dead hands)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: henkster

“I only owned Ford & GM my entire life. That’s ended; I’ve bought my last “American” car. I’m now a consumer “free agent” with my brand loyalty available to the best deal.”

Same here. Between my wife and myself, our first three new cars were two Saturns and an S-10 pickup. No more. The quality (especially the Saturns) were horrible. I had read that Saturns improved since the mid/late 90s, but this is not the case. I can’t complain too much about the S-10, but I don’t have a need for a truck as much as I used to.

Anyway, I might want to suggest Honda. I have a 2005 Element and it is outstanding. Basically keep on top of your oil changes, add gas, and the thing goes. Same holds true for Accords, Civics, etc. Moreover, over 80% of Hondas are made here in the USA, so you are still supporting American workers. It’s like what GM could be if it weren’t for the UAW.

As soon as GM ditches the UAW and gets their act in order, I’ll be the first in line to support them again....even if it would mean some growing pains....until then, well, they can pop more viagra while looking at Honda/Toyota results.


109 posted on 11/15/2008 1:39:41 PM PST by edh (I need a better tagline)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: edh

We have a Buick and a Chevy truck. My wife wants to dump the Buick and get a new car and we have agreed it will not be from the Big 3. There are some great buys out there from other manufactures that make great products that I am sure won’t be going bankrupt and their dealership will be there when needed.


110 posted on 11/15/2008 1:44:21 PM PST by engrpat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

Screw the unions. They can abd should be busted.


111 posted on 11/15/2008 1:48:55 PM PST by vpintheak (Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked. Prov. 25:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

112 posted on 11/15/2008 1:49:13 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: engrpat

UAW has free lifetime health benefits, 100% pay and extortion working for them now.

Get those facts out to the masses and see how they spin it. They have nowhere to go but down.


113 posted on 11/15/2008 1:56:09 PM PST by soycd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Edit35
The combined market cap of GM and Ford yesterday was under $7 billion, a pittance.

I don't know and don't care what their breakup values are, but it is obvious that capitalists have no interest in these companies.

The 1930s labor/management model is dead. Bury it.

114 posted on 11/15/2008 1:58:02 PM PST by Jacquerie (All Muslims are suspect.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Comparative Advantage

Yes.

If jobs are being lost because the company is not producing anything that people want to buy, then “saving” those “jobs” by funneling guvmint money into them is only another form of welfare-—because it does nothing to help the company produce something that people want to buy.


115 posted on 11/15/2008 2:04:51 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: St. Louis Conservative

I agree with everything you said except that it will be politically damaging to the Rats to attempt an auto bailout.

Nitwits will just remember that the guvmint tried to do something to help-—awwwww, Obama *cares.* And he *tried.*

For libs, it’s only intent, not results that matter.


116 posted on 11/15/2008 2:07:15 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Spktyr

Yep, “AUTO PLANT FOR SALE - PRICE REDUCED, OWNER MOTIVATED”


117 posted on 11/15/2008 2:08:12 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: tcrlaf

You may be right.

As someone said on another thread, right now GM is only an HMO that happens to also make a few cars and trucks.


118 posted on 11/15/2008 2:09:17 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: magellan

I admit I have been contemplating lately how in the world this country might bring the economies of MI, OH and even PA into the 21st century.

Propping up the old way can’t work much longer.


119 posted on 11/15/2008 2:10:25 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett

Very insightful.


120 posted on 11/15/2008 2:12:12 PM PST by fightinJAG (Who needs the Fairness Doctrine? Obama admits the power to tax is the power to destroy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-143 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson