Posted on 12/11/2005 11:18:40 AM PST by Brilliant
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) -- At least a thousand people rallied in central Indiana against steep wage cuts proposed by auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Workers say the proposed cuts -- from $27 an hour to between $10 and $12.50 -- are unfair, especially as Delphi has given bonuses to managers and other executives. United Auto Workers officials have said a strike against Delphi appears increasingly likely.
"To the Delphi workers here and everyone else, there are 380,000 union workers in the state of Indiana who will march in this battle with you," said Indiana AFL-CIO President Ken Zeller. "You are not alone."
Workers carried signs that read, "Delphi cooks the books/Workers get BURNED."
Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams declined comment.
One in three jobs in Kokomo is tied to manufacturing, and the Howard County community is poised to take a heavy blow as its two big employers -- Delphi and DaimlerChrysler -- eye layoffs or pay cuts.
Delphi has been operating under bankruptcy protection since October and is seeking to cut hourly workers' wages by more than 60 percent.
Based in Troy, Mich., Delphi has about 6,000 employees in Indiana, most of whom work at the company's Electronics & Safety Division headquartered in Kokomo.
The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from General Motors. With 185,000 workers worldwide, Delphi is the nation's largest auto supplier.
Well, maybe if you didn't like your union, you should have let them know about it and get others to join YOUR union and complain and get changes made that way. See how it works? ;)
I think it is worse to just sit by and complain and not do anything about it. Don't you?
as the granddaughter of a union organizer in the steel mills of Pittsburgh, back in the day, i totally agree that they have morphed into something completely different than how they started out.
No one is guaranteed a job and joining a Union is like being in a street gang - thugs threatening someone they view as weaker
When I complain, I don't need to have someone else do it for me. Good night.
Good night!
Even the reality of bankruptcy is not enough to make the UAW realize that it's killing its own industry and destroying jobs.""
They are the most self-delusional group in the USA, IMO.
The mistake was in letting these wages get out of line in the first place. It was not sustainable, but the guys who took these jobs did not know better, and now they've got this.""
The unions whip people up into a frenzy about getting more and more and more and more. Then they vote for strikes, which only hurt the workers. The Union employees ALWAYS get paid. Been there, done that. BTDT. In membership in 5 different unions up to the age of 36, I never found it to be different or rational. They struck themselves into oblivion.
The company agreed to pay wages that were non-sustainable. Now they are trying to get out of it. I don't know anyone that can take a 60% pay cut. The company reneged on its contract, so the workers are well within their rights to strike.""
Ypu appear to either be a Union worker or too young to know the consequenses of these actions. Good Luck to you in your future.
I'm sure the $27.50 includes health, welfare and retirement benefits. ""
I doubt it in 2004-5. This is the gross wage. The benefits are on top of that, and I would not be the least surprised to see that total another $25+/hr.
Does $10 an hour sound reasonable for someone who has worked 30 years in manufacturing?"
Sure. Why would a person be paid more for doing a simple repetitive task over and over again for thirty years?""
A person should get paid for his skills and what he contributes to the bottom line of the company.
A janitor is a janitor is a janitor.
If he has 15 kids and has been there 30 years, he is still a janitor.
Paying him more than a single brain surgeon who has been a doctor for 2 years is beyond stupid.
The 30 years might get him seniority in a lay-off situation, but after 30 years, he has produced 15 kids and is still a janitor.
Perhaps he should have spent some of those off job hours taking courses for more education instead of creating more mouths to feed.
The company agreed to non-sustainable wages because the only alternative was the Caterpillar Option: build up a maximum level of cash and product inventory, then tell the UAW a big "NO" to higher wages and benefits""
Go back further in history and look into the Kohler Company answer to the Union organizers. After 3 1/2 years, Kohler re-opened the doors and the workers were very happy to have jobs again. Kohler Plumbing Products.
Well said. My biggest complaint is with White Collar unions - why the heck are they needed?
Better to be unemployed at $27/hr than to work for $14/hr.""
Not sure I get your logic.
Better to continue working at $14/hr, keep paying mortgage, let go of boat and snowmobile and ATV and time share.
Look for classes to take to make myself more sellable to new employer in future. Take classes in off hours and study hard. Kids in college get part time jobs and lose credit cards and new cars you have indulged them with.
It wasn't until 2003 that hourly employees had to pay any portion the insurance costs.
Those of us working for universities were doing that (25-50% of insurance costs) during the 1970s to 2004 at least.""
Most of us working for small businesses NEVER had health insurance freebies. We could pay into a group plan, but we paid all of the premium that applied to us. I paid my own health insurance for 18 years as a self employed, and then had to go 9 years without any insurance when the premium was raised above my means to pay it. I only have Medicare now, and only part A.
Well said. My biggest complaint is with White Collar unions - why the heck are they needed?""
They are not needed. IMO.
In Nov 1966 I was fired from the office of a large Grocery chain in Los Angeles because I was "doing too much work" and "making the 32 other women in the office look bad".
We (33)did the daily paperwork for 77 stores, and I did the 7 largest stores, and did all my work every day. After getting acosted verbally in the ladies room a cxouple of times, they went to management and got me fired or they would wildcat strike. True Story. Needless to say, I didn't then nor do I now feel warm and fuzzy over unions. I had just bought my first house in May of that year, also.
Where I used to work (in New Mexico) did come under California's union laws; at least one union did try to organize (they may still be doing so) the scientists. They said that they would represent us (for about $1200/yr) except in matters of salary, health care, benefits, retirement, management problems, or work conditions.
Just curious if you know anything about white collar unions? What you hear about mostly are the thugs in the blue collar unions. There aren't that many large professional unions around. The most successful ones have a good working relationship with the Company. I am actually on a Partnership/ Leadership committee where we meet weekly with the Chief Engineering Manager of the Company to hash out concerns of both management and union. We try to stop any problems occurring before they start.
We can make recommendations to our membership that benefits the Company. For example, a while ago, the Company wanted everyone to sign an ethics commitment because certain leaders from our company were getting fired for unethical conduct. Because the CEO's were getting fired, they wanted the workers to show how ethical they were. No one wanted to do that, because it was so vague and it looked like you were signing your life away. Would you sign something like that? Union leadership saw that it was a good thing for the Company, so they recommended that members sign it and if there were any repurcussions from it, the Union would protect them. The Company got what it wanted in that situation by working with the Union.
For our latest contract negotiations, we worked from a place of trust on both sides, where no one would screw the other. It worked and it looks like a model that other unions can use successfully.
There are also laws that say if you don't want to belong to a union, you have certain ways to opt out. There is what is called the Beck objector law.
If you worked in a large company of say over 100,000 employees, wouldn't you feel more comfortable knowing that someone had your back? A person can feel pretty insignificant in a company that size.
$1200 a year is steep! IAM isn't even that high. One of the largest professional aerospace unions in WA charges around $30 a month for full representation. It is also tax deductible. They even negotiated $6 million a year for in-house training opportunities.
I don't know what the teachers unions charge.
As far as the latest Union thug action at Boeing, it was nothing more than your Union demanding more and more from managment, just like all Unions do.
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.