How are they supposed to funnel $$$$ into R&D when they have so much going to retired workers and potential retired workers?

 

They should've thought about that when they signed the contract to agree to pay that. Just like you sign for a house mortgage, etc. Look, Ford and GM were doing great when gas was cheap. Now they are paying the price for the low quality of their cars.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/06/06/...ity/index.html

The domestics have made huge strides in fit, finish & quality of product.

 

When you signed your mortgage for your house did your house come back every 3 years and say it is worth more money & force you to pay

 

I'm in a union (District 751 IAM Seattle aeromachinists)
And proud to be so, some say the unions have had their time.
They have only established the 8 hr work day, overtime for weekends, health benefits, retirement, 401k etc...
Do you realize that non-union people benefited from what the unions in this country fought for?

Companies do not offer benefit packages out of their own hearts, they do so because union shops set the standard, and now the companies have to offer competing benefit packages to non-union workers.

With that being said there are plenty of non-union shops that treat their employees great, benefit packages etc..

The Toyota plants here in the U.S.A. are 90% union (the plant in CA where the trucks are built is union)
In the 24 yrs they have built cars and trucks in the U.S.A. they have never been on strike, they take care of their employees very well.
They refuse to off-load work to other companies because they believe their workers do best work in house.

I can't believe what I'm reading, each and every person (U.S.CITIZEN) that works a above the table job ( meaning you aren't being paid in cash) benefits from what the unions have fought for.
How would you like to be churning out truck parts in Mexico earning $1.50 a day living in a pallet house you built yourself.
Or take that shirt you paid $28.oo for at the GAP, it was made in Tiawain by a person making 0.15 a day.
Unions have made this country what it is, where a person can have a house, 3.5 kids, 2 vehicles etc...
You union bashers have lost touch with reality.
Move to Mexico and build my next truck, see if you have what you have here in the U.S.A. (a real life)
I work to live, not the other way around.

 

IAM 776 here. Union proud!

 

Right on Brother!!!
You going to Orlando in 08' (International Conference?)

 

Wasn't planning on it.

 

So what?


Those benefits were established 70 years ago.


The UAW costs add an extra 10-15% to the cost of a car.


How can the UAW justify gouging the average American who makes less then the average UAW member?


Because we owe you one?

 

We are in no way arguing that unions have never done any good. The American worker for a time frame was taken advnatage of, Unions came in and helped.

Your argument doesnt make any sense. Unions fight for rediculously high wages and benefits.. now if the workers market value was worthy of those wages would you really need to hide behind the union? the union may help you keep your job and make more money but it will not help the company you are leeching from remain profitable and be competitve in the market place> So the end result is your company closes plants and has lay-offs

 

I believe the concern is not with positive things the Union has done I believe it is they got greedy with wages. Most around here make $27/hr for non skilled laborer position. Compare that to the Toyota plant down the road and it pays $12-$15/hr for the same position. Hell I'm a engineer in the auto industry and work closely with Tier 1 part suppliers and don't make as much as most of the UAW workers make. The wages just don't make sense. The last time I checked the Princeton Indiana Toyota plant is not in the Union(I could be wrong but it wasn't when I interviewed there). With that being said I understand that they are upset because they are accustom to a certain lifestyle and it is now in jeopardy but something has to be done to cut costs.

 

That's because Toyota only offered that much and the employees took it because they needed the job. They settled for their lesser wages, and suffered with no union support to help them. They deserve more. Their jobs may be labeled as unskilled, but they are skilled. It's like the college educated are oppressing those who don't have a college degree. A form of discrimination if you ask me.

It's all about the almighty dollar. Those that make 7+ figures in upper management do not deserve their money. Those who do the blue collar jobs and build the cars and trucks work hard to earn their keep. They deserve their pay. Plug in mr. GM CEO into the moving assembly line and see how many quality vehicles he builds in comparisan to the number of employees it takes to add up to his outrageous salary. I bet the company goes under quick, fast, and in a hurry then, without a doubt.

 

Assembly isn't a skilled trade. They're working with a known product and a set blueprint; they get parts out of bin "A," install them into slots "B" and "C" and secure them with bolt "D." Doesn't matter what manufacturer it is.

Calling an assembly job a skilled trade is akin to calling the kid at McDonald's putting your Big Mac together an engineer.

edited to change auto worker to assembly

 

McEngineer

 

No, they offer benefit packages to attract competent and skilled workers. Would you work at a place that didn't offer anything? Nope. Companies have to be competetive to get the talent.

What are you smoking? This recent NYTimes article states "Unionizing the Georgetown plant would be an enormous victory for the U.A.W., as it would be the first time it had organized a factory wholly owned by a Japanese automaker."

Somehow your 90% claim and "first time it had organzied" do not see eye to eye.

It's an interesting article on just how sad the sense of entitlement has become and why unions will destroy the Big3, then leach on the Japs and so on..

Yeah, I haven't benefited one bit from a union. I have however, benefited tons from education and my own hard work.