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The image is from the Charlie Chaplin classic, "Modern Times", which follows the Little Tramp through his trials and tribulations at a factory. 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...

In just two days of voting, the Canadian Auto Workers pulled off what the UAW was unable to do in weeks -- convince its membership to vote for yet another set of contract changes with Ford Motor Co. 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?..

Another historic UAW "victory" as workers at the Sterling Heights axle plant vote down the concessions Ford needs to stay competetive. 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...

Daniel Howes' column in the Detroit News nails it in his opening paragraph. Old Detroit lives! Here, in the week before Ford Motor Co...

I'm willing to bet that if you look up the etymology of the idiom, "cut off one's nose to spite one's face", you'll find references to the UAW. 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...

We all know that the automotive industry is in trouble. Bankruptcies at GM and Chrysler were the expected outcome. These two companies used the “excuse” of economic upheaval to radically reorganize themselves in ways that labor unions, stockholders, and franchise laws wouldn’t allow otherwise...

Our next contestant on The Price Isn't Right is UAW vice-president Bob King, come on down! You're playing for the autoworker jobs that are going to be a part of the restructured GM. The game is simple...

As reported in the Altanta Business Chronicle... 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...

Talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp central to a turnaround plan for the struggling automaker have broken down over the issue of retiree healthcare costs, a person briefed on the talks said on Saturday. UAW negotiators walked away from talks being held near GM's Detroit headquarters on Friday night because of differences over how to pay the health care costs of retirees, the person familiar with the talks said. We know the UAW doesn't want to make these concessions, but you'd think it would be better to negotiate the concessions rather than  have no control over them in the bankruptcy proceedings that seem to loom larger every day the UAW continues to think it still has the power...

As the white rabbit sang... I'm late, I'm late for A very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late 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...