Posted on 09/09/2012 4:43:06 AM PDT by Salman
The Canadian Auto Workers union is turning up the pressure in contract talks with the Detroit Three auto makers, saying it is prepared to go on strike against all of them at the same time if no deal is reached by the Sept. 17 deadline.
“The corporations are refusing to add any costs whatsoever – instead they insist on cutting costs from our existing agreements,” the CAW said in a leaflet distributed Wednesday at Canadian plants operated by Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. “None of the three companies have demonstrated that they are serious about reaching an agreement.”
The common message from the companies is that anything that increases wages or costs – such as signing bonuses – must be offset by cost reductions in other parts of the agreement, the leaflet said, adding that the positions taken by the companies show a “co-ordinated effort” to hold the line.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
fire them and hire new
Commie union leaders...they’re *everywhere*.Kinda like syphilis.
on another note, the rumor around here is that the East Coast dock workers are set to strike the end of this month and export trade jobs will be radically affected as goods back up on the loading docks and the ports.
Since GM is own by the union and government, I wonder how this will play out?
“None of the three companies have demonstrated that they are serious about reaching an agreement.”
They are serious about reaching an agreement that allows them to remain competitive in a Global Market.
The no longer Big Three are competing on global market with companies that have far lower labor cost and very comparable quality products.
The American car companies may have reached the point that they either lower labor cost or go out of business.
I think the GM and Chrysler bailouts of 2009 show that
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:.
the gutting of the UAW,
the slaying of SEIU
and the gelding of the NFT.
on another note, the rumor around here is that the East Coast dock workers are set to strike the end of this month and export trade jobs will be radically affected as goods back up on the loading docks and the ports.
So much for Christmas inventories....
Too bad GM didn’t take a good long strike back in the 1980s when their cars were junk and not selling well.
They can either keep their employers competitive, follow their jobs to China, and be a “Union” man there, or serve as an unpaid agitator for a losing tariff war.
The big unions have political clout. Strikers do not pay taxes so the local governments get pissed. If the strike goes on long enough strikers don’t pay bills so banks get pissed.
CEOs all think of these effects before they push negotiations to the point of a strike. They have to because they get phone calls from politicians trying to pressure them to fold.
I am sure the CEO of GM back in the 80s got such calls we all know that the GM CEO to day will be getting an Obama call about this.
The flip side is, GM knew its competitor (Ford and Chrysler, for the most part) would get the same UAW bump every two or three years so there was little incentive to fight back. The UAW knew this, too.
Pity they ignored Honda, Toyota, etc that moved in and cleaned their clocks.
The automakers would love for a strike to happen, I’ guessing. They’ve channel-stuffed their inventory into dealerships to the point where there is such a large supply of cars that a 30, 60, even 90 day strike would be welcome. They can reduce inventories, and blame someone else for stopping production.
Hey, come on, Uncle Sam will come through again. These guys are idiots. I suppose they don’t recognize that there is serious glut of automobile production capacity in the world right now. All the cars not made in Canada will be replaced by ones made in Alabama or Detroit or Stuttgart.
very comparable quality products?
The quality of Chevy, Dodge, (Ford is getting better but still), is far inferior to that of most imports, and has been that way for some time. These unions don’t care about the products. They only want money in their pockets.
You simply can’t compare a mid size chevy to a mid size Honda or Toyota, it doesn’t pan out. The unions have ruined what used to be good vehicles.
You missed one very important point, Obama is the CEO of GM and he is the head of the UAW operations for GM at the same time. So is that funny picture of him holding the wrong end of the phone to his ear a perfect example that he cannot even listen to himself?
The Japanese deliberately limited imports in response to U.S. political pressure in the 1980’s, but subsequently opened plants in the U.S. Automobiles in the U.S. market are at best probably only about 50% domestic content anyway. The assembly step is one of the least value added, compared to production of engines, transmissions and components. When you buy an “American” car it is likely that it was assembled in Canada or Mexico out of parts made in Japan, China and Germany.
We have a 2012 Ford Fusion.
Motor is US.
Transmission from Japan.
Assembly in Mexico.
The Chrysler van we just bought was assembled in Ottawa.
It’s not unlikely that the brake rotors came from another country, the water pump somewhere else, etc...
Did Saturn follow the practice of farming out their componets? I have a 2006 Vue that I absolutely love. We take it in for it’s scheduled oil changes and that’s it. Never had a problem with it. It’s got 28,000 miles, but only because my hubby had to get rid of his brand new truck when he lost his job last year.
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