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GM, union clash as bankruptcy looms for auto giant
Yahoo ^ | 05/10/2009 | Joe Szczesny

Posted on 05/10/2009 8:17:17 AM PDT by safetysign

General Motors is sparring with its main union over plans to shut US plants and outsource production to Mexico and Asia as bankruptcy looms over the troubled automaker, union sources said.

Negotiations were also complicated by a long-standing feud between GM and the United Auto Workers as they raced to fashion a new labor agreement ahead of the June 1 deadline imposed by President Barack Obama's automotive task force.

"This is really about the shape of GM in the US and its foot print in North America in the future," a senior UAW official who asked not to be identified told AFP.

Neither the UAW nor GM would comment on the status of negotiations which formally began last week, although two senior union officials went public with their criticism.

"The UAW strongly objects to GM's restructuring plan because it essentially means that GM will be shifting more of its manufacturing footprint from the US to Mexico, Korea, Japan and China," UAW legislative director Alan Reuther wrote in a letter to Congress.

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


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: automakers; generalmotors; gm; obama; uaw; unions
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The UAW has made GM non competitive with foreign car manufacturers tht build non union plants in the U.S.
1 posted on 05/10/2009 8:17:17 AM PDT by safetysign
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To: safetysign
To the UAW:

You made your bed now sleep in it.

2 posted on 05/10/2009 8:20:00 AM PDT by unixfox (The 13th Amendment Abolished Slavery, The 16th Amendment Reinstated It !)
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To: safetysign

What, the Obamessiah has not brought total Kumbaya to the situation?


3 posted on 05/10/2009 8:20:36 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Beat a better path, and the world will build a mousetrap at your door.)
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To: safetysign
Just intercepted this text from the Messiah's blackberry.

“Ron, tell the Union not to agree to any GM proposal. Rham and I have your back. We'll push GM into bankruptcy, screw the creditors and give you majority ownership. Don't worry about what the bankruptcy law says on paper. You'll own the place in a month.”

4 posted on 05/10/2009 8:23:04 AM PDT by NavVet ( If you don't defend Conservatism in the Primaries, you won't have it to defend in November)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

So they actually think that we will buy there imported crap when we can buy nice Japanese brand cars and trucks built in the USA?
This will be fun to watch, but expensive.


5 posted on 05/10/2009 8:23:34 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: safetysign

The UAW apparently can’t read the handwriting that’s been on the wall for at least the last two decades.


6 posted on 05/10/2009 8:25:26 AM PDT by Paladin2 (Big Ears + Big Spending --> BigEarMarx, the man behind TOTUS)
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To: safetysign

Looks like Obama is creating new ‘jobs’, it’s just that they will be somewhere other than the U.S..


7 posted on 05/10/2009 8:30:03 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: NavVet
You'll own the place in a month.

It won't make any difference.

No one in his [or her] right mind is going to purchase GM or Chrysler after this debacle.

Heck, everyone wants to purchase Toyota now, and yet Toyota just posted a massive loss.

It won't matter how much money 0bambi throws at GM & Chrysler - they're both dead already [even if they don't realize it yet].

8 posted on 05/10/2009 8:30:56 AM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
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To: Oldexpat

Just bought our second Honda in six months. We’re now totally Hondafied with two beautiful new SUVs.

We needed to get in before (a) inflation and (b) UAW tariffs.

Hey, one less thing, right?


9 posted on 05/10/2009 8:33:16 AM PDT by Steely Tom (RKBA: last line of defense against vote fraud)
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To: safetysign
UAW legislative director Alan Reuther wrote in a letter to Congress.

Any relation to: ? (from Wiki)

Walter Philip Reuther (September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American labor union leader, who made the United Automobile Workers a major force not only in the auto industry but also in the Democratic Party in the mid 20th century. He was a socialist in the early 1930s; he became a leading liberal and supporter of the New Deal coalition.

10 posted on 05/10/2009 8:33:37 AM PDT by umgud (Look to gov't to solve your everday problems and they'll control your everday life.)
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To: safetysign

Amazing.....people aren’t buying the cars they make....and somehow we’re supposed to keep them in a $60, 000 a year job with our tax dollars.


11 posted on 05/10/2009 8:38:14 AM PDT by Dallas59 ("You know the one with the big ears? He might be yours, but he ain't my president.")
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To: safetysign
When I was first introduced into the science of Quality and Reliability (as pertaining to manufacturing); the UAW stance was the Gold Standard we used to compare against. If the UAW was 'for' that style, we were vehemently opposed. One example was contrasting the Cadillac front bumper against the Lexus front bumper. The Cadillac front bumper consisted of 120+ parts, took 2 men 45 minutes to install, and was rated for a front impact of 8 mhp. The Lexus front bumper consited of ~20 parts, took 1 man 15 minutes to install and was rated for 12 mph. The UAW insisted that Cadillac continue with the inferior design, because it kept more people working. All decisions are based on making the car company maintain, or expand the workforce. There was no consideration as to the overall Quality and Reliabiltiy of their products.

GM didn't lose to Japan's car companies. GM drove their customers away, thowing rocks and cursing us the entire way. I got my first Toyota, and have never looked back. I get great realiability with my Toyotas, and have no intention of ever even considering a GM car in the future, and it truly doesn't matter what the price difference is. GM made it personal, so it is with no small amount of glee that I watch them sink into obliviion. Yes, I will dance on their grave ... and then drive my Toyota away to continue my celebration elsewhere.

12 posted on 05/10/2009 8:48:51 AM PDT by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: safetysign

13 posted on 05/10/2009 8:55:48 AM PDT by HangnJudge
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To: Hodar

Thanks for that interesting post, and I agree enthusiastically with your concluding paragraph.

To be fair to GM and the truth, they were fighting an uphill battle against the UAW and the Federal Government which backed them every step of the way. The reason for this is obvious: the UAW controlled a heck of a lot more voters than did GM’s management.

The union/voter/government dynamic is one that leads inexorably to the off-shoring of relatively high-paid jobs that might have been available for persons with meager educational qualifications.

The ever-increasing power of knowledge, and of those who have it, leads to an ever shrinking number of choices for those who don’t. The union equation, which started long before Walter Reuther, just hastens the progress of that dynamic.


14 posted on 05/10/2009 8:58:15 AM PDT by Steely Tom (RKBA: last line of defense against vote fraud)
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To: Hodar

I bought a new Oldsmobile diesel station wagon. It ran for 27 miles and then stopped on a parkway. At 26,000 miles the injection pump again failed. I junked it at around 85,000 miles after it caught on fire. I bought a used 80 Pontiac diesel (thinking they had improved it). I lasted about 50,000 miles. I sold it for about $700 and they towed it away ( a connecting rod bearing went out).

I then bought a Honda civic which ran for 358,000 miles before the head warped. Someone bought it out of the junk yard and ran it for two years before abandoning it in Nevada. Since then I have driven Honda products.

You may draw your own conclusions.


15 posted on 05/10/2009 9:02:15 AM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine
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To: Steely Tom
"We needed to get in before (a) inflation..."

0be wants to make sure your tires are at the proper inflation.

16 posted on 05/10/2009 9:02:20 AM PDT by Paladin2 (Big Ears + Big Spending --> BigEarMarx, the man behind TOTUS)
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To: Oldexpat
You can buy “nice cars and trucks” made in the USA,I would`n`t take one for free.My next vehicle will have a maximum of foreign content and will be assembled as much as possible in a foreign nation.I`m going Galt as far as Barky`s union thugs are concerned.
17 posted on 05/10/2009 9:04:43 AM PDT by nomad
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To: safetysign

......UAW legislative director Alan Reuther wrote in a letter to Congress......

Hmmmm.... is there a whiff of nepotism in that statement?

Was not Walter Reuther the boss of th UAW that made the mess his son is now diddling in. Can a UAW boss get there by never having made an auto?

Did Alan Reuther and Harold Ickes grow up with union made silver spoons in their mouths?

Are they not American enemies.

Is not hte Democrat party a crimina enterprise.

Are not Reuther and Ickes criminals?


18 posted on 05/10/2009 9:06:20 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Crucify ! Crucify ! Crucify him!!)
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To: safetysign

I wonder what would happen if GM management followed the example of FRancisco d’Anconia and his Mexican copper mines?


19 posted on 05/10/2009 9:07:34 AM PDT by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: safetysign

the politicans and uaw can share alot of the blame for the demise but the attitude towards american cars is the main reason. there are lots of americans that simply wouldnt buy a ford gm or chrysler no matter what.


20 posted on 05/10/2009 9:10:20 AM PDT by 09Patriot (I am a MILITANT Conservative, compassionate conservatism got us NOWHERE)
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