MSNBC reports that the United Auto Workers (UAW) have just walked out on Chrysler. Given that the UAW strike over at GM lasted the smaller part of two days and resulted in an agreement that gave the automaker pretty much everything they wanted, don't look for much hand-wringing excitement in this latest action against Chrysler for at least a week. By then we should know what gives, or more, precisely, who gives what. Is the UAW using the strike to soften-up 49k Chrysler workers for GM-like givebacks, or is this the real deal: an American automaker drawing a line in the sand? The fact that Cerberus, Chrysler's new master, is a privately-held company looking to strip and flip changes the fundamental dynamic considerably. Or not. In any case, once again, the union bosses aren't sayin' notin' to no one as to why they walked: “The company has thus far failed to make an offer that adequately addresses the needs of our membership,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said on Monday. So now you know.
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Let’s hope they strike long enough to draw down Chrysler’s inventory a bit. If Cerberus is actually there to make a profit out of Chrysler, now is the time to play hardball.
A good huntin’ dog smelled a strike comin’ at Chrysler. The same huntin’ dog is in the brush lookin’ for prey.
This one will be a little longer, the union is in a better bargaining position, and the company is not in an as good position with all these “new folks” expressing ideas, opinions, and forward looking statements.
It would be sad to see Tommy “hung up to dry” over this negotiation.
No big deal,Chrysler has dealt with consumer’s on strike for years.
Really? What a pain. This’ll be LaSorda’s last gasp, if I’m reading the signs correctly. He’ll hack something out (probably it’ll take longer than 2 days so the UAW doesn’t look as silly) and then take a leap before Nardelli can lace up his firin’ boots, pulling the cord on his golden parachute. GERONIMOOOOOO!
“No big deal,Chrysler has dealt with consumer’s on strike for years. “ Ouch. And yet, so very true…
Hopefully their long weekend will be just as pointless as GMs was.
Could it really happen, could they lock them out?
Nah, it never happens. I do wish we could get some good stories of union violence though. That would be good for the country.
“The company has thus far failed to make an offer that adequately addresses the needs of our membership”
I read that last word as ‘mothership’ and spit food all over my screen and keyboard. I thought that, for an instant, he admitted that he had been living on another planet for the past few years and that was his excuse as to why he thought that they deserved more money.
Knowing Cerberus’ modus operandi, I can’t imagine this having a happy ending for the UAW.
What harm is there in not making cars that you lose money on anyway? I bet Nardelli is swingin’ for the fences.
I read an article earlier that stated that Chrysler had shut down a few plants for a couple of weeks to help with the inventory problem. The funny part of it was the employees would be paid full wages during the downtime. Except they went on strike, so now they don’t get paid.
Talk about terrific timing for Chrysler at those plants. It makes you wonder if it wasn’t planned.
nardelli hates unions. that should be the first thing they realize. My prediction is, unlike the GM fiasco, this is going to go on for a while. After all, this is one way to get moribound metal off the lots, by not building any more of it.
Maybe 3Dawg has some fuzzies.
This was on the TV at the gym. I had to watch an interview with an older plant worker, who was sitting in his domestic car, put the blame for this situation on the American public for buying Kia’s, Honda’s, Toyotas and Nissans and that we need to stop buying these vehicles to save the workers.
Oh for crying out loud. Do these people blindy deny the fact that people buy imports because they’re usually better and more reliable? I can’t get over this.
And do these people realize that these makes have plants in America to either assemble or outright build them in America? Or is that conveniently forgotten.
If you want people to stop buying imports, build something that isn’t a damn humiliation. It can’t be that hard to figure out.
“The cars are even going over seas, it’s all about the money”. Well, duh.
Not the first to observe this, but has any management in the history of unions welcomed a strike as much as Chrysler must be welcoming this one? My lord, this might be the best thing that could have happened for Cerberus’ investment at this point.
This is not GM and I agree with Sajeev Mehta thay this will not go well for the union. I remember seeing Eastern Airlines workers showing up to man a picket line sad and confused weeks after their jobs and the company had gone away
BlueBrat–
I’m with you 100%. The next person who looks me in the eye and says “its the American consumers fault for buying that foreign crap” is going to get a knuckle sandwich.
They are soooo ignorant it isn’t even funny. Literally, it is so not funny, it is pathetic. They have never even stepped foot into a forin’ dealership, let alone driven one of their cars. It is total ignorance.
Come to think of it, Mulally and Nardelli drove luxury foreign marques in their prior lives. They are probably the only two guys who receive a Big 2.8 paycheck that understand that the ‘gap’ isn’t just ‘perception’, despite what they may say publicly. In fact, they probably fantasize about the day they get to use their golden parachutes….spending that afternoon going to their ‘old’ dealership.
Betcha neither the Detroit News nor Free Press reports that story….with pictures of Mulally in his brand new “LS”. LS460, that is…
After UAW uses the VEBA money to buy GM, they will have enough money left over to buy Chrysler.
Talk about “Strip and Flip”.
I wonder if this affects the Canadian plant that produces the 300, Charger, and Magnum?
How much inventory does Chrysler Jeep have laying around? At least this might clear that out (although at the pace they are selling, it might have to be a longish strike).
I’d like to know what the consensus here is…how much does the fact that a car company is involved in a labour dispute influence your a) perception of the company and b) your willingness to purchase a car/truck post-strike?
By-the-buy….any word on Chryco’s efforts to sell the performace parts division?
Sooooo if this isn’t a “perception gap” but a quality,reliability,drivability and all the other ities than is it a toothless gap? That is do all the stoopid people buy domestic and all the highly educated enlightened flock to the equally smart import branded cars?
They don’t make ’em like they used to. Two days? That’s all the UAW can hold out these days? It’s a sad day in America when the average Frenchman can hold out longer in a strike than Americans can. :-)
Perhaps the current lifestyle of living under a mountain of consumer debt makes the long term strikes of old near impossible.
An odd juxtaposition of news this week, with the UAW/Chryslerebus standoff vs. advance photos from the Tokyo Auto Show coming out.
The sad oversimplification: no cars vs. cars.
d996: No, people rationally buy something other than Toyota or Honda when the price gets low enough. But the price must be lower. Which is why Toyota and Honda are making money while Ford, Chrysler and GM are not.
NickR: The NY Times this morning said that the Jeep plant in Toledo that makes the Wrangler has a different contract from the rest of the plants, so it’ll keep operating through the strike. One of the two plants making the new minivan is in Windsor, ON, so it’ll keep operating, too. Besides those two hot[ish] new products, Chrysler has a 3 month stock of vehicles. So I don’t think we’ll see any effect at all from the consumer end, at least not for a while. And this could end up being a very good thing for Chrysler, especially if it means they can clean out some of that inventory without paying their laid-off workers.
Never mind. I just read the update. The Windsor plant, which makes the minivans, will probably run out of parts sometime tomorrow and be forced to close down. The plant in Brampton, ON that makes the 300, Charger, and Magnum has enough parts to operate for a couple more days.
Showdown between private equity and big labor – excellent. Lots of uncompetitive sheep versus a lean three-headed-dog. Bets anyone?
The UAW excluded the 5 plants that were already idle. Not that it makes a difference. Cerberus already made the decision that it was more cost effective to pay them to do nothing. How’s that for job security?
brownie: Aren’t the domestics 10-20% lower new with incentives, dealer cash etc? Every month less people buy them, thats why I said there must be other factors- what % of post HS education drive domestics? I say under 35%.
RyanK02:
The sad thing is many of them probably think that *is* good job security. and it is…today. and maybe tomorrow.
even if i was still drawing a paycheck, if my plant went idle, i’d *seriously* consider looking around–even moving halfway across the country if i have to.
If this strike lasts a while will the incentives get better or worse on the cars in stock? If the stock starts to dwindle will they reduce the incentives or will they pile on even more if people still aren’t buying.
I am waiting for the deal of a century in the next few months, something with a Hemi and a late 80’s price tag.
This company is headed for shutdown. Cerberus is not known for keeping train wrecks around for long.
The question is: Will the US bail them out agian?
It was just on the Toronto News that the Brampton, Ontario plant can keep going till the weekend! They make the 300 there.
NICKNICK:
Same here. I am not anti-union (or necessarily pro-union), but I can’t see how any of the union powers thought a jobs bank would be sustainable. It sounds good, but once you let too many people on the ship, it is going to sink.
I, personally, think the only way the UAW (or any other union) is going to maintain or gain any strength in the future is if they self-police. That way they offer a lean, trained, well disciplined force to the automakers, and in return, the get good pay and benefits. If someone’s work is substandard or they aren’t capable, the union losses them. No jobs bank. Just present a lean, educated workforce. You still have the strength of numbers, but without the leprosy of the do-nothings in your ranks.
I would be shocked if Chrysler agreed to the kind of product roadmap commitments GM gave the UAW. My theory remains that Chrysler is on the road to being transformed into a company which does little of it’s own manufacturing. If I’m right, they are not going to sign up for a commitment to keep most of the current hourly workers on hand or to commitments to make big investments in their US plants.
The new owners of Chrysler are disciples of Neutron Jack Welch’s GE, as is Nardelli. LaSorda really has himself in the middle on this one. Old guard Chrysler executive made point man in the UAW negotiations. Not a good spot to be in.
My money is on this strike looking more like Caterpillar and less like GM. Ford is lucky to be third in line.
d996: Sorry, thought you were saying something completely different!
Cerberus knew this would happen before they even bought the company. It is all part of their grand plan. I can’t wait to see it all unfold!
I’m with Landcrusher. I’d like to see Detroit SWAT come on out and get some cool new pictures of good old fashioned Union Violence.
Excuse me, but aren’t D996’s comments very close to those related to Britsh food and dental work that caused so much angst a few weeks ago? Seems to me that then there was a lot of high-minded words about not wanting people painted with a broad brush here . . . we want to keep the discourse ‘civil’.
Now I see that anyone who buys a domestic vehicle must be an uneducated, toothless dropout (or at least 65% of ’em).
I’m glad our discourse remains civil, and even-handed.
Well, that was fast. It’s over already.
At this rate, will the anticipated UAW strike on Ford last more than a couple of hours?
Six hours. Some strike.
Well, it looks like I might be completely wrong. The news that the strike is already over surprises me.
It ended too fast…
The poodle rolls over and plays dead.
dkulmacz: Sorry if my comments appeared to mock domestic buyers. I couldn’t resist using toothless and gap in the same sentence. My point was not to belittle the domestic buyer but to highlight the growing gap between the domestic/import purchaser. In many instances the domestic model is the better choice but the import will win out. If the reliability,quality,appearance,value etc is not the determinant than what is ? The bias against domestics by educated people was what I was trying to get across.