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As a man thinks, so he is. Some people are never. Recent Posts
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CarSpace Alternate RouteTurn off the nav system, crumple up that MapQuest printout, and let's find out where the next random turn may take us! Nov 5, 2009 - That's MY Job
I was reminded of the film while reading an interesting op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about how Ford is making it comeback, and how the UAW is throwing a real monkey wrench into the works. The real issue is the job classifications. Ford's UAW contract has lots of them, governing who can and who can't perform specified tasks on the factory floor. So if a machine breaks down, an assembly line can come to a halt while everyone waits for the worker with the proper classification to arrive at the scene. If other workers nearby are perfectly capable of fixing the machine, well, that doesn't matter. The number of job classifications is less than it was a decade ago, but it's still far too many to maximize a factory's efficiency. The classifications and attendant work rules are enforced by union bureaucracies—members of each plant's shop committee, grievance committee, health and safety committee, etc. They're all paid by the companies, as are their legions of corporate counterparts. One man's feather-bedding is another man's job. All this begs a fundamental, and uncomfortable, question. Can a UAW-represented car company compete effectively, long term, with its nonunion competitors? At the very least, companies organized by the UAW have lots of extra costs to bear at their factories located in the U.S. The UAW members at Ford may want it to still be the heydey of their power and influence, but they really need to catch up with modern times before they're left behind wondering what happened to their jobs. Read the entire article at wsj.com
Nov 2, 2009 - What A Difference A Bridge Makes
Not only did they agree to the changes in the contract that put them in line with the deals with GM and Chrysler, they did so by voting 83% in favor as opposed to roughly the same percentage in opposition at the UAW plants. Will Ford start to migrate work to Canadian plants? It's not that long a trip over the Peace Bridge to the competetive side of the falls. Read the entire article at freep.com
Oct 30, 2009 - Let The Celebration Begin
Under the terms of the agreement, Sterling Axle was supposed to get new rear-wheel drive work that would have added about 100 jobs. Now, union sources fear that work will be given to Getrag Corp., a German supplier with a nonunion factory in North Carolina. Local union leaders also were told Ford is considering outsourcing other components made at the plant, where 80 percent of workers voted against ratification. "I don't think people here really understood that the work we had been promised was contingent on ratification," said Sterling Axle UAW member Brian Pannebecker, who voted in favor of the agreement and is now helping to organize a petition in support of revote. Exactly what did you think was going to happen here guys? I'm hopeful in that there seem to be at least of few UAW members who realize that the choice is between "winning" and working. Read the rest of the article at the Detroit News
Oct 27, 2009 - Glory Daze
Old Detroit lives! Here, in the week before Ford Motor Co. hopes to maybe, sorta' report encouraging third-quarter earnings, a faction of its United Auto Workers membership is on course to torpedo a revised labor agreement -- proving, yet again, that bankruptcies and painful retrenchments aren't enough to shake some real-world sense into a deeply engrained sense of entitlement. I'm not sure what thought process (if any) is going on in the heads of those union members leading this charge to derail the labor agreement, but they are sadly mistaken if they think the UAW is the power that it once was. This all reminds me of an A&P grocery store that we used to have here in town. The local union went on strike, demanding, among other things, ridiculously higher wages for grocery baggers. And they were not going to budge one inch off their position. The store informed them of the impossibility of their demands and that the store would close if some kind of deal couldn't be worked out. The union voted to not give in, the store closed and has been empty over 25 years. But hey, they stood their ground and faced down the company. Nice moral victory guys. I almost forgot... we're also getting along fine without the A&P, buying our groceries at the other stores that moved in to fill the void. Even Ron Gettlefinger gets it. If the union drives the company into the ground, you can't stock the fridge with a moral victory. Read the rest of Daniel Howes' at detnews.com Meanwhile, in the real world... AR Index 601.28 -11.80 (-1.92%) Stocks of individual interest Dow 9867.96 -224.23 (-2.22%)
Oct 23, 2009 - Useful Idioms
Is it just me, or are we in challenging economic times, particularly in the auto industry? On October 13, Ford and the UAW reached a tentative agreement on a contract. The deal, which runs until 2011, gives workers a bonus if they ratify the agreement and guarantees new vehicles for five assembly plants. But it also bans strikes over wages or benefits, freezes entry-level wages and changes work rules to require some skilled-trade employees to do more than one job. Naturally, the rank and file thinks it's 1958 and business is booming, so they're not happy about it. "People are very upset, and they let King know it," said Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at the Dearborn Truck Plant and a leader of dissidents at the Rouge. "We are urging everyone to vote down these concessions." Just call them the noseless wonders. Read more at MSNBC and The Detroit News
May 7, 2009 - Lower, Lower Game
Mar 11, 2009 - First Cut
United Auto Workers union members at Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. plants have ratified concessions in the union’s labor contract with the company and changes to retiree health care funding. Nearly 60 percent of the votes favored the measure, the international union said in announcing the approval Monday. The deal allows Ford to use stock to fund up to half its obligations to a retiree health care trust. “Once again, UAW members have stepped up to make the difficult decisions necessary to deal with the reality of the current economy, the deteriorating auto industry as a whole and specifically the negative impact the economic climate is having on Ford Motor Co.,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement. The UAW said 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades workers approved the agreement. To rebuild the U.S. auto industry, Gettelfinger again called for “shared sacrifice” from other stakeholders, such as company executives, directors, shareholders, bondholders, dealers and suppliers. I'm not sure you should turn off that saw just yet Mr. Gettlefinger. If I was a betting man, I'd say that there are more cuts to be made on the concession log.
Feb 15, 2009 - No More Rope
Jan 8, 2009 - Very Important Date
I'm late, I'm late for It's getting to be crunch time for reworking the contract between the automakers and the UAW. While the loan deal gives GM and Chrysler until March 31 to finalize changes to the labor contract and get them approved by UAW members, the companies are required to present key elements on Feb. 17. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said he plans to work with the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office Jan. 20, to have the wage and benefit demands removed. Is it just me, or is it obvious to everyone that wage cuts are a deal breaker in this? What does "changes in the labor contract" mean if it doesn't mean wage and benefit cuts? Seems to me Mr. Gettelfinger is starting to live in a Wonderland. Read the entire article here
Dec 24, 2008 - Push Comes To Shove
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Monday that the union was shut out of discussions between the Bush administration and the companies over federal loans. The provision that requires the car companies to match wages at their Japanese rivals is the sticking point. "Look, our research department put pen to paper and come up and said, 'Look, if we work for nothing, nothing, that's not going to fix the problem,' " Gettelfinger said. "You can't wring it all out of the working men and women." Nobody is asking you to work for nothing Mr. Gettelfinger. But if you think that this restructuring can take place with no pain for the union in terms of reduced wages and lost jobs, then the UAW may go the way of the dodo. Read more at the Washington Post and freep.com
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