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UAW leader: Workers will make no more concessions
The Napa Valley Register / The Associated Press ^ | November 15, 2008 | Mark Williams

Posted on 11/15/2008 2:52:01 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that 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.

"The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract," Gettelfinger told reporters on a conference call, noting the labor costs now make up 8 percent to 10 percent of the cost of a vehicle. "We have made dramatic, dramatic changes and the UAW was applauded for that," he said.

Instead, Gettelfinger blamed the problems the auto industry is suffering from on things beyond its control _ the housing slump, the credit crunch that has made financing a vehicle tough and the 1.2 million jobs that have been lost in the past year. "We're here not because of what the auto industry has done," he said. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy."

Gettelfinger also called on Congress to act quickly on a bailout plan for the auto industry, saying action is necessary before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. He said if one automaker were to file for bankruptcy, the others may follow. He said the automakers would find it difficult to restructure under bankruptcy laws and instead could end up out of business. "Would you buy a car from a bankrupt automaker?" he asked.

(Excerpt) Read more at napavalleyregister.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Michigan; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: 110th; 111th; aflcio; afscme; automakers; bailout; bho2008; cardcheck; chicagomob; chrysler; congress; democrats; detroit; economy; environmentalists; financialcrisis; ford; gm; hoffa; honda; michigan; nissan; obama; pelosi; reid; seiu; taxes; teamsters; toyota; uaw; unions; wallstreet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
“that workers will not make any more concessions”

Good thing I'm not involved this. I said, “okay, quick and simple, take or leave it. If you don't like it, join the unemployment lines and make a fraction of what you're making now. Do that and you know the union reps will still be getting their wages and benefits while you're walking the streets for a new job.”

101 posted on 11/15/2008 5:03:28 PM PST by antiunion person (We can only hope Obama and his liberal friends don't destroy our country.)
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To: VOA

BTTT! Right on the mark!


102 posted on 11/15/2008 5:06:15 PM PST by The Mayor ( In Gods works we see His hand; in His Word we hear His heart)
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To: CE2949BB
“more than $150 billion in tax revenue over the next three years.”

AS I have said before on FR, the bailouts are there to protect just that. See the government see’s the money as a pass through to itself.

So although some will disappear to congress critters personal wants and needs, a large chunk will just come back to the government.

This money is not for the auto manufacturers, but for the government and a slice for it's cronies like the unions, acorn, and planned parenthood...et-al.

103 posted on 11/15/2008 5:10:04 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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To: Seruzawa

“Even giving them 25B won’t do anything but put off the inevitable for a year or two.”

6 months tops.


104 posted on 11/15/2008 5:13:41 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

“As long as the plants are in the USA the workers must be members of the UAW.”

Are you sure? Most of the Toyota plants in the U.S. are not union.


105 posted on 11/15/2008 5:16:20 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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To: stockpirate

Repubs should demand:

1. The ability to develop shale oil, coal diesel and ND oil which is FOUR times the Saudi’s reserves in the lower 48 states. Especially on fed land. Also able to go after hydrate gas in Alaska that could heat 100 million homes for a decade in America. Sarah already has the pipeline for it that she fought for. No CO2 BS.
2. More nuke plants.
3. More refineries.
4. Changes in work rules and salary cuts to make Ford, GM and Chrysler more competitive.

If we want to “save” Detroit - make it comprehensive so the automakers can actually be competitive.

Pelosi & Reids NO Energy Policy aftrer getting power in 2006 gave us $4.50 gas.

Bamabi’s CRA/ACRON/Fannie & Freddie scams wiped out the financial system and economy.

This is why we are where we are. Socialism and Gore’s version of psycho “environmentalism” whcih is just a scam to rip off taxpayers.


106 posted on 11/15/2008 5:20:08 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: ThreePuttinDude

I guess that was my point, lol.

My ignorance stems from living in a state with very little union presence. And I sincerely hope it remains that way.


107 posted on 11/15/2008 5:21:46 PM PST by berdie
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Gettelfinger blamed the problems the auto industry is suffering from on things beyond its control _ the housing slump, the credit crunch that has made financing a vehicle tough and the 1.2 million jobs that have been lost in the past year. "We're here not because of what the auto industry has done," he said. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy."

So how does this POS Gettelfinger explain Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Mazda not needing a bailout?

108 posted on 11/15/2008 5:22:53 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: ridesthemiles

The union bosses will keep control of the Union pension, they don’t need GM or the workers.


109 posted on 11/15/2008 5:23:04 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

A parasite that kills its host can’t survive.

Unions want to bleed their host just shy of killing it.

I say let the host die and build a better organism on the corpse that’s free of the parasite.

Model the new companies on the foreign makers that manufacture vehicles here. Their costs are a fraction of those of the companies that knuckled under to the union thugs.

We’ll keep jobs here and the capital that now goes to Japan and S. Korea.


110 posted on 11/15/2008 5:24:35 PM PST by AZ .44 MAG (Am I foolish to explain things? He had such trouble with my name.)
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To: VOA

Patco and Eastern Airlines Machinists played this game of chicken.


111 posted on 11/15/2008 5:31:52 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Alas Babylon!
Here in Alabama, we’re making Hondas, Hyundais, Kias Mercedes, and Toyotas. All union free and florishing.

That's great!

There are presently five American-company vehicles in my driveway, including a Durango, a Ford Explorer, a GMC pickup, an Olds, and a Pontiac. If the scumbag UAW gets this bailout, I will never again buy an American-company vehicle. THAT is a promise.

112 posted on 11/15/2008 5:32:19 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Balding_Eagle
“They never worked another day.
The mill was sold some years later to a new owner and it is a non-union shop.”

Cat workers close to us in York, PA did the same thing. They wanted a raise of everything.

Cat told them they would close the plants and move somewhere else if there was no some concessions. Cat was asking for just some minor concessions and deferments, The $30/hr workers want out on strike and collected their $175 a week strike pay.

The government asked them to go back to work, the president did, the congress critters did. This strung over like 6 months. CAT made one more offer that the workers rejected. CAT closed the plant.

It now sits vacant except a small part that the local municipalities use as a “Small Business Incubator”

So the workers lost their jobs, the local municipalities lost the tax base (Business Incubators do not pay many taxes), CAT had the expense of moving to another location out of state. But they did not pay the outrageous money the union wanted and went on to have some decent years

Did the union “soldiers, lieutenants, and bosses” loose any pay? No, they were offered jobs in another state where a strike was going on. Only the workers and local municipalities made out bad.

113 posted on 11/15/2008 5:35:13 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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The unions did such a great job in helping Eastern Airlines get out of their financial problems.

IIRC, the union bosses bragged about putting Eastern out of business. How many union employees lost their jobs because of the unions?

Mark

114 posted on 11/15/2008 5:38:12 PM PST by MarkL
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To: dalereed; all_mighty_dollar; gwilhelm56

That’s kind of odd. They never talk about using wages, insurance and benefits when talking about other professions. I guess it’s just so they can bash union members and make it look like they are getting something that others aren’t when they really are (health insurance and benefits).


115 posted on 11/15/2008 5:40:42 PM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Needed: an old-fashioned lockout, complete with Pinkertons.


116 posted on 11/15/2008 5:42:04 PM PST by aculeus
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
even if the union RATS quit making cars tomorrow, there will still be enough used cars till the day i die...

screw-em!!!

117 posted on 11/15/2008 5:42:37 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - McCain/Palin'08 = http://www.johnmccain.com/)
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To: Mr. Silverback
Earlier this year I was behind a Ford with an extra-large bumper-sticker that proclaimed that it was built, owned and driven by Americans. My immediate thought was, “So was the Honda in the next lane...what’s your point?”

Before I bought my first Toyota Corolla, I was looking at comparable Ford and Chevy products.

The Ford was built in Canada, the Chevy in Mexico, and the Toyota in the USA...

Mark

118 posted on 11/15/2008 5:43:16 PM PST by MarkL
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To: berdie
...living in a state with very little union presence

Consider your self lucky. Union thinking spills over to every aspect of life.
I live in Florida, a right to work state. I spent many years in Illinois, watching
and experiencing the union way of life. I watched it ruin a very large company
in International Harvester heavy equipment division over minimal contract negotiations.
The union members that had the ability to see what was up, tried to find other means of employment
but IH had a large union work force, and jobs were few and far between. The surrounding
towns relied on Harvester for their economies, the union didn't give a $hit
they went on strike, knowing they were killing the economy of the locals. That was in the '70s
and since then a Japanese co. or Korean, not sure since I've moved out of state,
has bought out the carcass of a once great employer.

end rant

119 posted on 11/15/2008 5:49:09 PM PST by ThreePuttinDude (-)....Election 2008, the year of the Affirmative Action President....(-)
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To: dalereed
“siuth”

Is that the guy from star wars? Darth Siuth.

120 posted on 11/15/2008 5:51:59 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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