UAW isn't the only union and those issues listed were not all solved by the UAW. If you think employers will never abuse their workers again then you are pretty naive.

 

I think this is the perfect time for the Big 3 to wait out the union. The union asked for 46% raises and as of the latest offers the Big 3 have offered 23%. Ford even said this is their final offer on wages. The union according to some sources his holding out for 35%. You can't blame the union for asking for the moon but they need to get real and settle for a more realistic wage. I worked for one of the Big 3 for 35 years. 23 years hourly UAW represented and the last 12 years salaried so I have seen the issues from both sides.

The UAW demands are not realistic. 46% wage increase. 32 hour workweek for 40 hours pay, totally unrealistic. Chrysler has threatened to move all their truck production to Mexico. I could see that happening as they already build some of them there. I know the Big 3 can't get together per se as that would be collusion. I think all of them should tell the UAW we agree to 23% raises over the course of the contract. Take it or leave it.

If they refuse then maybe it is time to break the union and bring in new workers. Guardian Glass here in Michigan did just that many years ago. They were non union. The UAW did get in to organize the workers. They called a strike. Guardian called in new workers and broke the UAW's hold on that business. Some of the UAW workers did take up the offer to return to Guardian as non union employees. Others didn't. I personally know some who did and some who did not return.

The UAW is on a road to their demise. They just don't know that yet.

 

Sounds like Fain and his Socialists (The group formally known as the UAW) have dropped their demands from 40% to 25% increases. As long as they haven't adjusted their other demands too far, I think they'll have a tentative agreement within a day or two. Funny how quick those extreme demands dropped once the UAW workers were being interviewed complaining about Fain and saying they wanted to vote.

 

Unions dont just hold their employer hostage, they hold their workers hostage too.
I believe this will end soon. Peoples eye are opening up to where this economy is heading now and vehicle sales are falling quick. The big 3 are looking at low sales number for 2024 and wondering what to slash. I just got $2k ford cash in mail, so ford is feeling it. So strike ends, back to work, get laid off.

 

Fain isnt feeling any pain with a strike. so he can make crazy demands while making 200k plus a year.

 

Between my wife's family and my own, there are quite a few union members, several being in the UAW most of their lives. Her dad retired from Ford. My uncle retired from Ford. My dad was a member of the IBEW for over 70 years. We've bought Fords primarily, and always a big 3 vehicle. With this latest UAW strike, and Fain's strong socialist ties to Bernie, it's soured our support. Last night my wife said "I don't think I'll ever buy a UAW built car again". I was shocked because she's always been a strong advocate of them, and she'll probably soften that view as time goes by, but if SHE says something like that I am sure there is a good percentage of buyers thinking the same thing.

 

There are Unions that protect everyone, not just the workers. IBEW is one of them. Thats the Electricians union. They WONT let a mediocre worker last because that can lead to people being injured or killed. A few other Unions, like pipe fitters, etc. do the same. UAW however could disappear and no one would care. All 3 of the manufacturers can bring non union workers in, and tell UAW to beat pavement. How long would Fain last if that were to happen? How about a new sensible Union were to form and all the workers went there instead?

In todays world the UAW is a dead horse and should be buried like one.

 

Maybe next time around the big 3 can march in robots to replace them all.

 

Yeah, IBEW doesn't play around. When their members screw up, people die and the union's reputation is on the line.

In one of my previous lives, I was working at a facility overhauling aircraft that was chronically overrunning deadlines and budget. a couple of things that was common among the union hourly workers:

-the facility was on the coast. So if it was a nice day and good fishing weather, the work stations in the hanger were ghost towns, all the hourly workers just don't show up. no one ever gets in trouble.

-a couple of guys got caught watching really nasty **** on federal computers, others harrassed female workers on the job no one got fired, they got moved to a workshop where no computers are needed, and that shop is chronically the bottleneck of the whole facility. Turns out as long as they don't take things home and sell them, management couldn't fire anyone.

-guys would skip the parts allocation process and take parts from each other to "expedite" their own process, yet no one uses the locking cabinets to store critical parts. Why? They store their own snacks in the locking cabinets and that's more important than the aviation parts which sit in the open in hallways for anyone to grab. the local DLA people gave up long ago trying to track parts once they arrive.

-the floor guys loved snitching to the union about salary employees if we ever say, hand a wrench to someone, not wear steel toe boots when walking cross the floor lines, or even touch anything that is a tool. Because why not.

-we lose about 30 minutes each day at the end of the shift because guys would hide in bathrooms near the exit so they can be the first out the door to the parking lot and beat the line out of the base. You ever want to see the crippled run a 400 meter steeple chase? 3:30 PM every day, miracles abound.

And so on.

If I told you the more crazy stuff I am not telling here, you'all won't believe me unless you were there.

 

Problems described are hard to fix. Unless you can fire them, you can say anything you want but short of firing them, it not going to work. I can't even give you a bad review and lower your raise. I am definitely against giving you a raise because you are there for a certain amount of time. Earn it. If I feel I deserve more and you won't, I'll find someone else who will since I work hard and have a good attitude.

 

The Union has insurance for medical during strike, it's one of the things dues cover. Not sure how much coverage since I didn't need to use but did sign up for when given picket duty cards. It covered wife and I and assumed it would cover dependents. The credit unions were at the hall offering to defer payments during strike. Again, I was fortunate to not need. As a whole the UAW and members operated like a well-oiled machine.

 

Going to be expensive for both sides by the time it’s over. Long term results will be lost American jobs.

 

I’ll try to refrain from going too far into my view points on this. But the fact of the matter is, whether the people are worth what they are asking or not, we are in a global environment. How hard can UAW push before all the jobs are across the borders? Thats what these union members in general need to realize. Manufacturing is still happening in other countries and by pushing too hard, there just wont be a job to return to, period. Get what you want now and in a short period of time down the road, the job just isn’t here anymore. This country is already less appealing to produce in because of all the costs associated to do so that aren’t shared in other countries producing the same things. Tariffs aren’t anywhere close to deterring manufacturing abroad and importing in.

 

Sink or swim. I see the writing on the wall and I can decide to keep milking this job for all I can and when it collapses, stuck my hand out or find something the other guy can't do YET. What do you do when Walmart comes to town? Try to hold off the inevitable or find something they cannot do? You can't adapt, Darwin has an answer. I got no sympathy for you.