UAW boss Bob King is taking the fight abroad, visiting Fiat’s Italian plants in order to take a look at the World Class Manufacturing system that apparently has not yet sufficiently taken hold at Chrysler’s plants to be viewed there. But the visit isn’t purely social. King tells Reuters that
We’re going to be pitching to suppliers that they should come and locate here in Michigan.
Because clearly everybody wants to do business with the UAW. Heck, American supplier firms are falling over themselves to move production to Michigan, but King just thought it would be nice to give the Italians a first crack. On the other hand, Italy hasn’t exactly been free of auto-sector labor strife itself. At least King can pitch Italian suppliers by explaining that, as majority stakeholder in Chrysler, the UAW makes Fiat-Chrysler’s US labor environment a lot less complex: all you have to do is keep the union happy. So much for Marchionne’s “culture of poverty.”
Perhaps Bob is going to ask the Italian unions how to strike properly.
Perhaps he can travel to China next and expose them to the folly of buying GM.
Maybe he’s halfway on his way to China. Equal rights for auto workers and human rights for auto workers should be the same, regardless of where on the globe an auto worker works. Good luck in Italy.
Geez. Must feel great to have a clear-cut world view with good guys and bad guys and all that. However, why not try just for five minutes to understand what the real world looks like, and what his motives and rationale might be, before posting yet another piece of mindless union bashing stereotype.
As the utilization of Fiat platforms spreads from Italy to Michigan, the suppliers will face a choice between supplying both places from their existing facilities in Italy, or to set up shop next to the new sites in Michigan. Persuading them to do the latter is worth a shot, isn’t it.
Whether King succeeds or not, his attempt shows a more constructive attitude and more brains than TTAC reveals in its usual political commentary, if we want to call it that.
Wait, I thought he was too busy picketing American Toyota dealers [that sell many cars made by American workers]? Yeh, he loves American workers, as long as they are union.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/king-s-toyota-picketing-begins-in-cali-ny-22376.html
From what I’ve read, the UAW seems tame compared to the Italian auto unions.
No doubt Bobby hopes to gain some lessons about how the REAL Mafia does things.
Or the Germans too.
What does Bob King know about “World Class Manufacturing”? He is just a begging “socialist” parasite.
my first thoughts when i saw that pic is “what a world class d-bag” just like gettelfinger
there’s no positives to relocating to Illinois
Maybe we’ll get lucky and a last minute flight plan correction dumps his sorry ass in Siberia.