The strike at Alliance Interiors, where they make carpets for GM's Lambda CUV triplets, is over after 16 days. The Detroit Free Press reports the new contract was approved by 96 percent of the workers and includes pay increases and 401(k) retirement accounts. However, the workers can't go back to their jobs yet, as another strike at the Lansing Delta Township plant where they build the Lambda mom-mobiles means GM doesn't need any of their carpets right now. Union officials think the GM strike will also be settled soon. Meanwhile, the AP [via Mlive.com] reports that the strike at American Axle may be nearing resolution. Workers say local officials have given them some details: shutting down forge operations in Tonawanda N.Y., $11/hour wage cuts for production workers and $6.50 cuts for skilled trades and $90K bribes buydowns spread over three years (to help workers ease the transition to the lower wages). If a worker agrees to sever all ties with the company, they'll get $140k over two years. Workers will probably approve the deal, as many of them are feeling the financial stress of the two-month-long strike.
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Should the average UAW worker on strike feel the stress? Don’t they get paid while on strike from the UAWs huge stike fund…funded by the automaker and I’m sure illegally used by corrupt UAW management for Elliot Spitzer type recreations and Vegas trips.
Strike pay is in the order of $100/wk.
Boy I really hate to introduce politics into yet another thread, but I wonder what Senator Clinton is going to have to say about a plant shutdown in New York. Ouch.
That does bring up something – I wonder how much is left of the UAW’s strike funds now that the AA strike has drug on and the other plants are striking.
Unions are required to file financial reports. You can research them here.
http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do
You don’t have to fill in all the search fields.
Choose UAW as the abbreviation and either choose International for the main union or local for the local
You may want to put in Michigan for the state
Local 235 which is one local mentioned in the Det News as of 12/31/07 had $224,482 cash and $465,835 in fixed assets.
They reported having 3847 members
Last year, the UAW’s strike fund was pushing $900 million. I doubt the $200/week the striking American Axle workers get is making much of a dent in it.
The question is do the worker get paid by the national union when the strike is called by the local over local issues.
The local mentioned in the Freep which just settled is Local 724 and represents 1,319 members and reported as of 12/31/07 cash of $188,768 and fixed assets of $148,564.
Sid Vicious:
Boy I really hate to introduce politics into yet another thread, but I wonder what Senator Clinton is going to have to say about a plant shutdown in New York. Ouch.
The same thing she said about her promise to re-vitalize upstate with 1/2 million new jobs. Not a damn thing. Or, it’s “Bush/Cheney’s” fault for $4/gallon gas, the decline of manufacturing, blah blah blah.
And she’ll get re-elected in the People’s Republic of NY until she becomes president, retires, or dies. That’s fine with me – people get the representation they deserve.
Yeah – we’ve had 8 years of representation this country didn’t deserve IMHO.
Wow, the UAW as a whole has a nice little war chest going there.
It’s not just Clinton. What can she/they do but make silly promises? Any politician who doesn’t will get blasted out of office by one who does. Never mind that none of them can make good on what they say and never mind that all the sentient voters understand this. But they have to show they ‘care’. Gas tax holiday anyone?
Maybe if things get bad enough for long enough people will get real. Obviously we’re not there yet.
And she’ll get re-elected in the People’s Republic of NY until she becomes president, retires, or dies. That’s fine with me – people get the representation they deserve.….
I, for one, feel that I deserve far better that what we have in the White House. 01/20/09 I like the sound of that…