Oh yes you will....
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 ...
**The Ford was built in Canada, the Chevy in Mexico, and the Toyota in the USA...**
I drove 18 wheeler thru most of the 80’s ... I hate to tell how many loads of ASIAN auto parts I picked up at the docks in Seattle, taken to a FORD Assembly Plant in MEXICO.
YET, had a dedicated run... picked up small loads from assembly plants (some were residence garage) 6 different sites in Maine,VT, NH, MA, American made Auto Parts every week to Honda Car Plant in OHIO
When running the NUMBERS... HOnda were87% American Parts and Labor... Chrysler was 84% ... SO MUCH FOR AMERICAN CARS
I do feel a little sorry for the union workers, basically most are good people.
But there is a price for stupidity, and they've been stupid.
I know ecactly what you’re talking about. A lot of the suppliers around here will crank out out parts to anybody who’ll buy them. The level of QC is much better as a result. My Wife works for a subsidiary of American Axle, they make components for at least half a dozen automakers. They’re union (not by choice), but they’ll take on any work they can get. I fear that these people will get hurt the most if the big three go down. They don’t make anywhere near what the big three make in pay or benefits, but are locked into agreements with automakers because the UAW requires suppliers to be union affiliated.
Oh yes you will....
The big boys thought it was much more important to protect the dealers than to protect their manufacturing core.
You had a very poor management at IH. They had absolutely no idea what business they were in.
In my construction co. we did all the time, when I closed it in 92 the wage package cost was $38.62 bedore overhead and profit.
We quoated it all the time for T&M projects.
As far as unions, they ought to be eliminated, I hate them.
I was signatory to 5 different unions for 57 years.
F**k you!
As far as star wars i only saw about 10 minutes of one years ago and it stunk so bad i never looked again.
Wow. That's heavy!
at SOME point unions were doing some good with regards to conditions and slave wages.
Yet somehow when they were fully overrun with leftwingers and communists they went horribly wrong.
**It’s fascism hoping to be communism.
Wow. That’s heavy!**
Living in the People’s Republic of New York, and with THEIR rules, I’m a member of 2 Unions. Same Left wing Idiocy, same COMRADE Wannabee’s.
The only difference with my Unions... their pay scales are BASE.. I AM at liberty to Individually Negotiate for the Best Pay that I can get.
if GM goes CH 11 and dumps the union contracts, I bet it will ripple down to your wife’s company.
Your wife’s company would have standing to be able to say they have standing to argue with the bankruptcy judge that they are no longer bound to the “union shop” contract rule.
This means the savings can be passed on in the price of parts.
Mr. Hough sold his company to IH, and along with the sale came
the UAW. I had friends that were second generation Hough employees
and they told me that the final straw was when they went on
strike for 4 months over extra medical insurance.
The truckers that would come to pick up sold merchandise or drop off
at the plant actually got shot at on a regular basis. The old time engineers
and salary people would go out on the assembly line and put the machines
together just to meet orders that needed to be filled.
From what I saw first hand, it WAS the union that caused that mess.
There’s plenty of times I don’t make $72/hour. And I don’t have a pension plan or any of the other cushy bennies. Where do I go to apply for a job with UAW? (/s)
There's that word again, "heavy". Why are things so heavy? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?
A minor recession knocked them right out of the park.
Any management worth its salt simply does not bankrupt the company on behalf of "dealers". You can always find somebody to sell your stuff.
If they could get out from under the UAW’s thumb, they would definitely get more contracts. It all goes back to when the UAW required suppliers to be union affiliated. Most didn’t want unions, they were foisted upon them. Now it’s even worse that GM and Chrysler require suppliers to have parallel operations in Mexico and China. That alone has bankrupted a good number of suppliers.
Like almost every good effort, I guess it was abused.
Human nature? (depressing thought)
If you see the county by county electoral map, most states are red except for the blue inner cities. Not Michigan, it’s mostly blue with just some red. But you’re right, Bush will show his “compassionate conservative” side and bow to their demands.
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