If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen, that it may live
And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt, that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!King Lear Act 1, scene 4, 281–289
It is best to begin this adventure near the end of this long and contentious thread:
county worker (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 11:51 AM
Response to Original message
28. I would like to see union workers everywhere boycott GM products.
I'm not going to buy a car from a low wage plant if I can help it.
Recursion (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #28
37. So then they all lose their job?
Odd notion of solidarity you've got there
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9382273And now to begin again, the OP.
Hannah Bell (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 02:40 AM
Original message
UAW deal paves way for 100 percent low-wage workforce at Michigan GM plant
The deal announced earlier this month by the United Auto Workers will allow General Motors to get rid of all of its higher-paid “legacy†workers at the Lake Orion assembly plant and transform all 1,300 workers at the suburban Detroit factory into a cheap labor workforce....
At an October 3 local union meeting, UAW Local 5960 Shop Chairman Mike Dunn told angry workers that 60 percent of the workforce at the idled plant would be hired back at full wages, while the remaining 40 percent ― roughly everyone with under 11 years corporate seniority ― would be paid the lower “tier-two†wages. Dunn added, however, that once rehiring of laid-off Lake Orion workers was completed no higher paid workers from other plants would be allowed to transfer into the facility. All new hires would be low-wage workers.
“We have become ‘red circle,’†Dunn said. “No other tier-ones will be able to transfer into Orion. The object of Orion was to become an all tier-two plant, as long as it was small car,†Dunn said in the webcast posted on the UAW Local 5960 web site...Local members will not be allowed to vote on the deal, Dunn announced, because the current UAW-GM agreement allowed the union and the company to implement “innovative staffing†proposals at factories producing small cars.
Hundreds of laid-off Lake Orion workers were given until Monday to decide whether to take a job in Lordstown, Ohio―250 miles away―and keep their current wage, or risk having their wages cut in half once hiring is complete at the plant. Workers who are unable to find a spot at another plant will not qualify for supplemental unemployment benefits and would only receive $382 a week in jobless pay. The Obama administration and the UAW wiped out the “Jobs Bank,†which subsidized laid-off workers while they waited for transfers.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/lake-o21.shtm...
A two tier society ? Et tu Obummer?
Hannah Bell (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 02:55 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. The leadership of UAW International voted themselves a raise as well, &
took control of the (no) strike fund....
Unions, like governments, can't be left to "professionals".
Now this sounds like tea party talk nicht wahr?
Romulox (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 10:44 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. It's their own government doing this to them--GM is under U.S. control!
Whoa, don't let the other dummies know.
DainBramaged (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #30
31. It's a race to the bottom, and quality will suffer as will Gm and the UAW leadership
GM and UAW leadership want to **** with the members, in the end, they lose. It will be 1974 all over again. Nothing but Vega quality from GM until they become dust.
I remember a buddy working for GM back then, they could bring a Vega in for an oil change and hone the cylinders without the customer being none the wiser.
Trey9007 (18 posts) Mon Oct-25-10 12:12 PM
Response to Reply #31
34. I dont agree...
with you assesment here. I acknowledge the country as a whole is winning the race to the bottom. But in this case, the UAW was able to temporarily keep top-tier wages, at a plant that makes a slim profit product. Race to the bottom occurs when companies increase profits by cutting wages, and try to pass it off as capitalism. GM has been knocked down a notch or two. So its natural that the workers may have to take haircut. But they did right. The haircut is being taken most by the less senior workers.
I can go on & on about why it can be good thing that less senior workers go through something like this.
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You two go fight over there.
DainBramaged (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #34
35. Having been a UAW member since 1984 I disagree with your assessment
let's get more 20 something clueless no experience workers in there at $14 an hour building cars and watch what happens to quality. GM and the UAW don't want to invest in the workforce, **** 'em.
By the time you corporate hacks reach bottom and we become a third world country, I'll be dead and buried. Great legacy you're leaving my kid.
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Ah how one misses the intrigue of union stewards.
Trey9007 (18 posts) Mon Oct-25-10 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #35
49. Heres what you forget......
In 1984, you and/or your co-workers were probably 'clueless' as well. UAW legacy members negotiated good wages through out time. UAW members have worked hard over the years to make the company as great as it is, and it is those legacy workers who should continue to enjoy all the things they have earned.
The problem is new members who wern't around for all the tough times, become soft members. They walk into a shop with excellent working condition and did not have to fight.qdgjsd.[] IMO, it's better when each generation learns to fight. The newbies of today are the ones who will negotiate the retirement packages of tommorow.
IMO, I think there are times that unions must 'reset' themselves. That time comes when the past efforts of legacy employees must be replaced by a new younger workforce. You know that time has come, when companies with great pasts hit rock bottome. The younger workforce must learn/expeirence what it takes to make GM great. As GM recovers, the younger workers should work hard to regain the concessions made. IMO, it keeps a union strong. When you allow the younger workforce to live off the success of the legacy workers, they become 'soft'. Then, when the legacy workers are all retired, the REAL union busting begins. You risk leaving GM to batlle with workers who have never had to fight. If you havent had to fight for something, you're more likely to let someone take it from you..
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DainBramaged (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 04:03 PM
Response to Reply #49
59. Bullshit, you're pro-management, you don't do a good job of hiding it either
Every wage depreciated, every benefit lost is never recovered.
Go preach to the Republicans, you shouldn't be preaching to me.
They are entertaining.
Ikonoklast (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 06:51 PM
Response to Reply #43
66. Are you completely daft?
The bondholders got next to NOTHING.
Shareholders took a haircut at about the ankle level.
THAT IS REALITY.
Name-calling cannot change what actually happened.
Dog some people here are completely bonkers.
Did someone call Domino's?
Hannah Bell (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-25-10 02:41 PM
Response to Reply #12
52. no. US Toyota workers (& other import workers) make a good deal more than $14/hr.
Edited on Mon Oct-25-10 02:56 PM by Hannah Bell
Assembly workers for Detroit automakers last year remained a bit ahead of Honda's U.S. hourly workers, who made an average $24.25 an hour, or $26.20 with the $4,485 bonus they received. In November, Honda paid bonuses for the 21st consecutive year, the longest streak in U.S. auto history, said Ed Miller, Honda spokesman.
Nissan workers are paid $24 an hour in Mississippi and $26 an hour in Tennessee, but company officials would not disclose employee bonuses. (Most of the asian imports use the bonus system which is usually equal to one month or more of wages)
http://www.aftermarketnews.com/Item/28594/uaw_losing_pa...
But we can expect those workers will be taking cuts soon to keep up with GM.
GM now has more TEMPS working than UAW members. they have UAW members on layoff, but they're calling in temps.
what a sad day.
Now wait a darn minute lets not inject truth into this. (By the way kiddies get those union dues in we need to elect more democrats to save Chrysler workers too.)
