Topic: UAW: Will the stupidity ever end?

[rrocket]

United Auto Workers president Bob King wants to reverse the UAW's eroding course, and one of the best ways to strengthen its position is through increased membership. The Detroit News reports that King and company are looking to bring the power of one to the nearest transplant automaker producing vehicles in the U.S. King says that he wants foreign automakers to know that the UAW has learned from past mistakes and that the rank and file is not "the evil empire." Good to know, right? Well...

After King informed the transplants that the dark side has no power over the UAW, he then went on to tell automaker management at Toyota and Honda that efforts to block the right to fair bargaining will be branded "human rights violators." King reportedly went on to accuse some transplants of spending millions to keep unions out of plants, adding "I would not want to be a company that was branded as a human rights violator." And what happens if the UAW feels the automakers are continuing to block workers' rights to vote for or against the right to organize? King says the next step is to stage global protests that could cost automakers "hundreds of millions of dollars" to combat.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/13/report-uaws-king-threatens-to-expose-carmakers-who-avoid-union/

[Mike]

I lived in Windsor for nearly 5 years and had a good first account of the UAW from many sides.  I have no sympathy or support for this union as all I witnessed them do was brainwash thier members, slow down production (strikes all over North America kept shutting down the Minivan plant every now and then).  I had many interactions with Union workers and former forman:

• Customers at the rental car place I worked at refused to drive the Corolla's and Civic's we had for rent 'cause they aren't domestics!' but were more then willing to drive the PT Cruiser.  Trying to explain the civic and corlla were made in Ontario and the PT was made in Mexico was pointless......
• I had a professor who taught a course on Labour Laws.  He was an ex-shop steward.  You can guess how objective his teachings were (and the marking as well).
• On a positive note I did have one customer who worked the line at Chrysler's Minivan plant.  He was a true car guy and we talked cars a lot.  He owned a Mustang and a Celica GTS (wife's).  He told me even though both cars had to be parked in the far away parking lot because they were 'other makes' we would never drive his Celica because a co-worker had thier Supra vandalized there once.  He rented cars whenever it snowed since his Mustang couldn't make it in.  H

[rrocket]

I was thinking...since UAW is part of GM, that means the UAW owns a number of plants in China.  Since the UAW wants to get in on the "human rights" bandwagon, maybe they should start with paying their Chinese workers in their plants UAW wages??

[triuman]

The unions, UAW included, are supposed to further and enhance the working conditions of their membership thru constructive bargaining agreements w/management, and that is to include having a working communication system that allows the flow of information. This crazy statement by the UAW shows how out of touch they are, and how far they are willing to go to attempt to further their membership.

[TopGun]

The unions, UAW included, are supposed to further and enhance the working conditions of their membership thru constructive bargaining agreements w/management, and that is to include having a working communication system that allows the flow of information. This crazy statement by the UAW shows how out of touch they are, and how far they are willing to go to attempt to further their membership.

+1.  They had their time...and they were necessary to bring about basic safety in the workplace...but that was a long, long time ago.

This is simply about self-preservation now.  Hopefully the "gains" made by the Big 3 will not be given back...no second/third/fourth chances.

[Mike]

The unions, UAW included, are supposed to further and enhance the working conditions of their membership thru constructive bargaining agreements w/management, and that is to include having a working communication system that allows the flow of information. This crazy statement by the UAW shows how out of touch they are, and how far they are willing to go to attempt to further their membership.

Couldn't agree more

+1.  They had their time...and they were necessary to bring about basic safety in the workplace...but that was a long, long time ago.

This is simply about self-preservation now.  Hopefully the "gains" made by the Big 3 will not be given back...no second/third/fourth chances.

[DKaz]

I would choose to work at Honda or Toyota anyday over the unionized plants.