Hey, Reuters calls it the Detroit Auto Show. And it is an auto show in Detroit, no matter what the official organizers call it. And outside said event, United Auto Workers (UAW) employees protested the possibility that the union would comply with federal requirements on the $13.4b loan which saved GM from Chapter 11. “The group of some 50 or more workers marched up and down outside the conference center in chilly but sunny weather, chanting such slogans as “Bush says cut back, we say fight back” and holding signs including “No millionaire left behind” and “Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign.” And what’s with the MSM insistence on repeating the myth that the UAW’s ’07 contract contained “landmark givebacks on wages and health benefits”? Anyway, “The concessions that Bush wants us to make [that we’re not going to make and will remove from the loan agreement with Obama’s help anyway] are just a slap in our faces,’ said Tammy Jones, a furnace worker at Chrysler’s Hamtramck axle plant in Detroit.”
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I can’t even bash the UAW anymore because there’s so many examples of idiocy that I wouldn’t know where to begin!
Good for the UAW. Show some muscle. Unions are essential to protect workers. That is why we need card check so the labor movement can do for the rest of our business sectors what the UAW has done for the auto industry, the NEA has done for education and the steelworkers have done for the steel industry.
The UAW should seriously consider how the world has changed around them, adapt to the changes, and then take action.
There are plenty of auto workers who are not earning a fair wage or health care. They’re speaking various dialects of Chinese, Malaysian, Thai, Polish, Russian, etc.
So it’s time to rebrand the union. Call United Autoworkers Worldwide.
Then come back and see us.
The Dems are going to greatly increase UAW strength when they abolish the secret vote. The unions and the Dems think secret ballots are unfair.
I wonder how many of them called in sick to picket the auto show.
UAW before January 20th:
Bush is only for milionares, he’s asking for too much from “working” people, the stipulations are unfair, no justice no peace!
UAW after January 20th:
Obama is for the “working” class, he’s asking for a lot but we have to pony up to make it work, the stipulations are tough but we will do our part, a new day is dawning!
@WhatTheHel
I wonder how many of them called in sick to picket the auto show.
Maybe they’re all Chrysler workers. With the factories shut down (indefinitely?) what else do they have to do?
carveman :
January 12th, 2009 at 8:45 am
“Good for the UAW. Show some muscle. Unions are essential to protect workers. That is why we need card check so the labor movement can do for the rest of our business sectors what the UAW has done for the auto industry, the NEA has done for education and the steelworkers have done for the steel industry.”
The only thing that they are succeeding in is driving US business off shore.GM unveiled the 2010 Lacrosse ,designed in China and Oh, they are building a new Lacrosse assembly plant there. What a coincidence.
Ken Strumpf… yeah, I guess you’re right. I never thought of that.
Hopefully they taped Springer.
we had a machine shop in our town for over 50 years
during their last contract negotiation they were told that they had the final offer and if it was not excepted the company would have to close .. the uaw voted it down and the company was closed .. now they have nowhere to work i think they will do the same with the auto companies
“Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign.”
Are they referring to Fords made in Mexico, Chevrolets made in Korea, or Hondas made in Ohio and Alabama? I just can’t decipher this union nonsense anymore.
The wonderful joy of employing UAW workers:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/detroits-downturn-its-the-productivity-stupid/
From the link:
“Another employee in the plant urinated on the feet of his supervisor as a protest to discipline. He was, of course, fired … that is until the union negotiated and got his job back.”
“Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign.” One of the biggest threats to cars being developed and built in this country is the UAW. Every piece of crap that the UAW built in the 1970s and 1980s got Toyota, Honda or Nissan another customer.
With the possible (but remote) threats that the bailout posses to the lifestyle to which the UAW workers have become accustomed I expect UAW vehicle sabotage to return to 1970s levels.
Dear MR UAW member. News flash for you. YOU put yourself and the Detroit 3 in this situation. If you didn’t get so greedy over the past 25 years – the Detroit 3 would still make all their North American cars IN North America – but you got greedy and now they’re made in Mexico, China, Korea, etc. But because you make so much unearned money – they had to make cars elsewhere.
The only people to blame are the UAW workers – and now they want Uncle Sam to foot the bill for their excessive wages & benefits and continue to put American Car companies out of business. I sure hope Obama can see through the UAW member doo doo.
Jason :
On the other hand, those Fords made in Mexico seem fairly high quality and are proving pretty reliable. I know I’d be happy to add the Fusion to my short list and the fact that it’s *not* built by the UAW is just gravy. In a way purchasing a Fusion is a way to support a company that really is trying to straighten themselves out while simultaneously giving the UAW the finger.
You know what? Maybe I will start considering having a domestic bias in my buying. I have been biased AGAINST the UAW because they continuously try to import foreign political policies from socialist countries and implement them, but I may overlook that. Okay, when any of the 2.8 buy only domestic, so will I.
Ya, not really going to happen, I know. So the whole game is really about BS and THEM, the UAW members. If I had never heard of them, or from them, I suspect there would likely be a domestic car in my driveway now. They killed it before it even was born.