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Posted on 07/29/2026 5:40:57 AM PDT by dennisw
General Motors has sparked outrage after sidelining more than 1,000 workers at its flagship Detroit assembly plant on Friday and announcing they'd be installing 50 new robots.
The so-called 'cobots' were installed on the assembly line at GM's Factory Zero in Michigan as the automaker slashes costs amid weakening demand for its electric vehicles, according to reports.
The robots now work alongside the remaining employees, helping attach vehicle body panels as cars move down the production line, AutoBlog reported.
The move has drawn fierce criticism from United Auto Workers Local 22 President James Cotton, who rejected GM's assertion that the cobots are not replacing human workers.
GM has maintained that the robots are necessary to keep the Detroit-Hamtramck electric truck plant competitive while improving worker safety and ergonomics, a company spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
'At Factory ZERO, we are implementing them alongside our team - helping improve safety and ergonomahahics while keeping our operations flexible and competitive,' the spokesperson said, adding that the affected workers have been placed on temporary layoff rather than permanently terminated.
But Cotto's statement to Crain's Detroit Business appears to dispute that characterization, arguing the machines have come at the expense of union jobs.
'Our manpower is being taken away from us,' Cotton told Crain's. 'From top to bottom, we're disgusted that they have cobots in our plants.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
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Why don’t they organize the robots? After all, their policies and attitude DIRECTLY LED to the robots being hired.
I miss editors.
wah
“… helping improve safety and ergonomahahics…”
Ergo-WHAT?
?
Union people don’t hire union to do repairs at their own homes, and I don’t think union members will refuse to buy domestic robots for the home in the future.
The world needs ditchdiggers, too.
GMTA 😁
Imagine robots not replacing humans until the tipping point is an efficiency ratio of 20-1 in an assembly plant. Which is greater: the power of technology in creating efficiencies or the power of unions in keeping it at bay?
Sad fact is, if we don’t use robots, they will simply shift the manufacturing to places that do use them.
We have brought over millions of Indians to take all of our tech jobs. And nobody gives a crap.
I watched timelapse video of a port in China. Reportedly this is the world’s largest. All containers are transported by fully automated robots. It was a amazing video. My understanding is that similar automation in US ports has been stopped by the union. This puts US ports at a financial disadvantage to Chinese ports. It adds cost to everything we buy that gets shipped by sea.
It is as if the piece workers in the seventeenth century garment industry managed to stop the automation of the clothing industry. Imagine what clothing would cost now.
Will a pickup truck still cost $50,000?
Union workers are a commodity, nothing more, nothing less. If they are needed for a task, they show up for work and receive a paycheck in return. There is no “fight for humanity” in play here. That type of language plays well with union members who have unrealistic expectations about what employment means. In the same way an employee will move on to better offers for their labor if they can, businesses will reduce costs and maximize returns for their shareholders.
You work X number of hours, you get paid X x the hourly wage. It’s a transaction and when you no longer have something the other side is willing to pay for … that’s it.
Maybe Joe Biden can explain it.
Oh yeah the lie that prices will go down...
robots don’t get disgusted and go on strike
GM is having trouble selling its electric vehicles. No one wants them so, let’s make more with robots. That’s a dynamic business decision.
Bring magnets to work see how it turns out.
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