My guess is that the line workers will have less to worry about than the middle managers and engineers. But really, there may be some platform synergy, but I bet Chrysler will continue to be run as a separate entity for practical purposes. At least for a few years.
I think the slightest blip in Jeep/Ram sales and Chrysler will be history. Fiat is financing the buyout with Chrysler money. Will Marchionne accomplish what Cerberus failed to do? Fact is the only thing Chrysler has worth keeping is Jeep and Ram. Rest is way outdated and not keeping up. The promise of high mileage cars as reason to give Fiat Chrysler control by Obama has not happened.
Since then, Chrysler's profit recovery has been driven by sales of Jeep sport-utility vehicles and beefy Ram pickup trucks. The Fiat-designed Dodge Dart has been a sales dud as gas prices have fallen and its Fiat 500 city car is piling up on dealer lots.
Another part of the Fiat-Chrysler strategy is to use Chrysler's U.S. factories to build Fiat models and vice versa, helping to better distribute production and help fill Fiat's half empty Italian factories.
In the short run, Mr. Marchionne is getting high marks for his deal-making. Fiat and Chrysler agreed to pay $4.35 billion to the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits trust that holds the 41.5% of Chrysler that Fiat doesn't already own. But most of that cash is coming from Chrysler itself.
Is this what Unions devolve to? Or is it just the French way of doing things?
PARIS (AP) — Farm tires filled the doorway, and the two Goodyear managers were trapped in the conference room with angry workers demanding more money in exchange for the inevitable loss of their jobs. Monday's meeting was not going well.
Seeing what the executive class has pulled off in the past few decades, I am surprised there hasn't been similar, and worse, everywhere. Too bad they are going after usually useless managers rather than the real dealmakers. And pseudo capitalist Maurice Taylor gets to be mentioned again too - I am sure he knows about hard work, has toiled much in his life, and built things himself. Ugh. The French had the right idea in 1789 anyway.
@gagrice said:
Is this what Unions devolve to? Or is it just the French way of doing things?
PARIS (AP) — Farm tires filled the doorway, and the two Goodyear managers were trapped in the conference room with angry workers demanding more money in exchange for the inevitable loss of their jobs. Monday's meeting was not going well.
Looks like Unions are getting rejected in the USA and Germany. Maybe Germans are tired of paying high dues with little to show for it.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Delaware rejected a proposal Wednesday evening that would have created the retailer's first union organization in the United States.
The Delaware union vote is the latest worker uprising for Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500). Hundreds of Amazon staff in Germany walked off the job in mid-December in a long-running dispute over pay. The strike involved three of Amazon Germany's nine distribution centers. It was called by the Verdi labor union, which wants the company to negotiate.
"The workers want to get paid fair wages and they want to be treated decently by their employer," said Verdi Chairman Frank Bsirske. "We are not going to let a big American company come here and play Wild West. This is a clash of cultures."
More than 1,000 Amazon workers in Germany have signed an anti-union petition amid community worries that jobs could be moved elsewhere.
With an over abundance of labor in this country is it a surprise that Corps are pushing back against the Unions.
A labor union’s crash landing
It may seem odd, then, that the same 30,000 Boeing employees who understood firsthand the power of collective bargaining chose earlier this month to end their pensions plans, which came with guaranteed retirement payments, and accepted in their place riskier 401(k) plans, which guarantee nothing. But circumstances dictated that there wasn’t much else they could do.
Boeing is a company that pits state governments against one another to compete for larger subsidies and forces communities into a race to the bottom to see who can fight unions and lower wages the fastest. It is a prime example of 21st century business in the United States. As a result of these tactics, American workers, both unionized and independent, have little choice but to accept the lowered living standards their employers offer as conditions for their doing business.
This loss of leverage is evident in the story of a factory that Boeing owns in South Carolina. In 2007, before the Washington machinists last went on strike, the company announced plans to expand production, creating thousands of new jobs. After the strike, in 2009, the company took over a subcontractor in North Charleston, S.C. The employees at that plant promptly voted to decertify the union, with the intention of luring the announced project to their town, and the South Carolina state legislature promised Boeing a $900 million subsidy to lure the new jobs from Washington.
Sounds like in that one they are kind of being blackmailed with fear rather than abandoning something that gives them nothing. Walmart failed in Germany in part due to people disliking that idea.
Not dissimilar to the race to the bottom (which is in fact the key part of globalization) element of the following story - a slant on things that no mainstream American media source would dare preach so hawkishly. Race to the bottom so a cadre of so-called fellow citizens can consolidate usually unearned gold even more. Eventually, it will boil over, history has a way of being coincidental. Although I won't mourn the loss of those pensions, now it's time to do the same for the public sector - overblown Praetorian class included, one supposed part of the working world that still hasn't had to compete or prove its value.
More attention should be paid to the disaster-in-waiting that is the TPP than this. Open yet another Pandora's Box that will create more trickle-up economic movement.
@gagrice said:
More than 1,000 Amazon workers in Germany h
Maybe they are beginning to realize that having a job WITH pay is better than getting unemployment...let them fund their own retirement with their own money...
Thanks to unions, we do have 40 hour workweeks, work comp and many safety regulations that would not have been here except for unions, which, in the 30s and 40s, were necessary (altho the greatest growth this country ever had, I think, was the unfettered capitalism from 1870 -1900, when Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, JP Morgan, and, a little later, Henry Ford were doing their thing)...
Now the union is like the buggy-whip makers put out to pasture by Henry Ford (cars) and John D Rockefeller (gasoline)...not only "no longer necessary" but often a hindrance to business progress, paying the unskilled person over $35/hour to install a wheel on a car and tighten 5 lug nuts with a machine...
Although I won't mourn the loss of those pensions, now it's time to do the same for the public sector - overblown Praetorian class included, one supposed part of the working world that still hasn't had to compete or prove its value.
More attention should be paid to the disaster-in-waiting that is the TPP than this. Open yet another Pandora's Box that will create more trickle-up economic movement.
The public sector unions are the real problem. At least with private unions there is a balance. Not so in the public sector. Cities are starting to see how they can privatize services and not be buried under huge pension debt.
I also agree on TPP, which is going to send more jobs overseas. I don't see many on either side of the aisle raising a red flag. Other than the Tea party.
If the private sector is expected to contribute to their own savings, then so should the public sector. There's no way a normal saver/investor could get the returns of these pensions - it's ridiculous. And I include police and the military officer/leader class in this, too.
TPP is just another chapter in the globalization/free/unfair trade disaster. NAFTA for the new century, race to the bottom a little more.
@gagrice said:
I also agree on TPP, which is going to send more jobs overseas. I don't see many on either side of the aisle raising a red flag. Other than the Tea party.
Pension plans have gone the way of the dinosaur and for good reason! There is no such thing as a "guarantee". Companies go out of business everyday and the pension money is lost.
I would MUCH rather have a 401k plan that is well managed. Put my money in Mutual Funds, a few bond funds and give me some diversity.
Oh, wait...I did that and it worked quite well for me.
@isellhondas said:
Pension plans have gone the way of the dinosaur and for good reason! There is no such thing as a "guarantee". Companies go out of business everyday and the pension money is lost.
I would MUCH rather have a 401k plan that is well managed. Put my money in Mutual Funds, a few bond funds and give me some diversity.
Oh, wait...I did that and it worked quite well for me.
I agree with you. Too many pension plans were based on returns of 8% or more. Or the company went broke and the pension money was gone. Think Enron. Though they had a company 401k if memory serves and the employees were forced to buy Enron stock. That was criminal and sad. We had a 401k in conjunction with the Union pension which was very fortunate for me. I don't think the younger workers will be so lucky. My IRA is in Fidelity which seems as safe as any. Having the ability to take whatever risk you feel comfortable with is really the best way to go. And you can move it where you are employed.
"Companies such as Southwest Airlines, Kaiser Permanente and Ford have built partnerships with labor tailored to their specific needs. Southwest, the most highly unionized air carrier in the country, has also been the most profitable firm in the industry for three decades and is consistently near the top of Fortune's list of the best places in America to work."
@Stever@Edmunds said:
"Companies such as Southwest Airlines, Kaiser Permanente and Ford have built partnerships with labor tailored to their specific needs. Southwest, the most highly unionized air carrier in the country, has also been the most profitable firm in the industry for three decades and is consistently near the top of Fortune's list of the best places in America to work."
I think Ford would dump the UAW in a second if they could get away with it. They keep moving more work to Mexico which should tell you something. VW is crazy to get tied up with the UAW. The Union is too politically attached to the Federal government. Any disagreement would be in favor of the Union. And it looks like not all is rosy at SouthWorst Airlines and their unions.
**Southwest Airlines on Thursday defended its right to call an emergency and force absent Chicago ramp employees to prove they really were sick earlier this month.
Dallas-based Southwest said there was a perception that baggage handlers and other ramp workers called in sick or refused overtime work because they weren’t happy about contract talks.
“While Southwest cannot definitively identify the reason for the increased sick calls among ramp service employees in Midway at this time, it was widely perceived to be a coordinated job action to protest the slow progress in collective bargaining that had been ongoing since 2011,” the carrier said.
**
@Stever@Edmunds said:
Don't you use Kaiser? How are they doing?
Had my Medicare Physical interrogation last week. My Doctor is fed up with Medicare. He says they waste too much time filling out silly forms and asking stupid questions of the patients. 45 minutes with the doctor and less than 5 minutes being examined. Rest was all the questions he is required to ask. And it will not let him out of the program until all are answered. He spent 20 years in private practice and likes working for Kaiser. Made more money in private practice but with lots more stress. Works more hours now but has more time for vacation. Probably 10 minutes of the exam was my questioning the doctor. That's just the way I am. I like Kaiser a lot. And that would be a big issue if we got out of CA.
He is not the AMA, he is an Osteopath. I always choose them and think they are better trained. I don't know if it is true. Most of my GPs over the years have been Osteopaths.
As for the Union, looks like a lot of infighting between unions. CA really needs to become RTW and keep unions honest.
A high-stakes fight between one of the nation's largest unions and an upstart, homegrown rival over which one should get to represent thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers in California entered Round 2 this month.
I've been considering a 500 Abarth as well as a Fiesta ST- both of which are built in Mexico(although the Fiats's engine is assembled in Michigan- go figure).
Anyway, on one of the Fiesta ST Forums at least two cars have been delivered with parts missing. In one case the stability/traction control defeat switch was omitted and replaced with a blank trim plate. In the other case, the underdash lighting was missing, although the wiring was present and hanging down under the dash.
Perhaps the Mexican workers are trying to demonstrate that they are every bit the equal of stateside UAW labor...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
@gagrice said:
Think Enron. Though they had a company 401k if memory serves and the employees were
forced to buy Enron stock. That was criminal and sad.
Just a matter of clarification. Enron employees were not forced to buy Enron stock. Enron offered a very typical 401K plan and Enron stock was but one of 20+ investment options. Federal law prevents employers from forcing employees to buy company stock in their retirement plans.
As a point - when Enron unraveled, 62% of employee retirement money was invested in Enron stock. In other companies at that time the numbers were more staggering: P&G was 95% and GE was 77%.
Having lived in California most of my life I knew a lot of people who were with Kaiser including my parents. I never knew of a company that people either loved or hated more than Kaiser! It didn't seem like there was any middle ground. Go figure?
When my mother was in Kaiser for pneumonia I thought her care was OK except it was very difficult finding any nurses that spoke enough English that I could understand.
Of course, this was in So, Cal. Here in Washington State I don't think we have Kaiser.
My buddy who lives on Maui is very happy with Kaiser.
I have met people here that do not like Kaiser. My wife has two specialist that I would consider top of their field. They don't pay their doctors like some places. If you want the big bucks you work for a state run hospital or prison. Hawaii is where Kaiser opened their first facility, during WW2 from what I have read. It is one reason Hawaii is high on my list of states to move to. Hawaii does not tax defined Union pensions either.
Kaiser, I believe, is an HMO...I always sign us up for the PPO option with health insurance...if you find doctors you like in an HMO, you are lucky, and your out of pocket cost is usually less in an HMO...I like the PPO option because I still have freedom of choice for my doctors, both in-network (lower deductible and copay) or out-of-network (higher deductible and copay, but the freedom to go anywhere I want)...
I have known folks who had disasters at HMOs and are in love with their HMO doctors...as long as I have the option for choice, I will take the PPO option...right now, we have $1500 deductibles per person, then $30 copays...it is what I have preached for over 2 decades...since we rarely incur over $1500 each in treatment yearly, we pretty much pay for all of our care out of pocket, but anything major, we have coverage...with the deductible at $1500, I would call it better than catastrophic care, which, in my mind, has a $5000 per person deductible or higher...
The WSJ says that VW asked the NLRB to conduct the vote; that's not typical. And apparently some execs at VW of America weren't aware that the vote was being arranged.
I don't think VW will be so gungho once they have to deal with UAW at the bargaining table. They are used to the softies in the German company unions. The workers that are most likely to want a union are not in the mix. That would be the part time employees. This is all about King's legacy at the UAW. I hear the rank and file hate him for endorsing Obama's KORUS trade agreement. Which promptly sent $3 billion in GM parts contracts to Korea.
I hear the rank and file hate him for endorsing Obama's KORUS trade agreement. Which promptly sent $3 billion in GM parts contracts to Korea.
It's nice to know the UAW and other unions that donated so much time and so much value, not reported in many cases, to elect OBama both times also are getting "hurt" by his actions.
I wonder if the AFL/CIO and UAW will back Obama on the much bigger "TPP Free Trade agreement"? That will open up many more 3rd world countries to get cheap labor from.
The VW plant? It sounds like the parent company invited the UAW in the door and pushed for the election. Remember, they have union representation on their board of directors by law.
"As was noted last month, under Germany’s co-determination system, Volkswagen’s union has a unique position that is unlike any here in the United States in that VW’s German union officials, who sit on the company’s board of directors, actually have the ability to direct investment and veto expansions–like the one on the table in Tennessee."
It will be interesting. I think VW corporate is just crazy for opening pandora's box. Maybe misery loves company. In a RTW state like TN the anti union workers can just say no to paying dues. Still get the Benefits if any the UAW gains for them.
@isellhondas said:
If the UAW prevails I wouldn't be surprised if they just closed that plant.
It's not that easy to walk away from a $2 billion investment and the only plant that supplies your second best selling model in a market you are desperate to grow in.
UAW is in an interesting situation. If they get to tough with VW it will strengthen the will of the other foriegn name plates. If they don't get a contract noticeably better than what the workers are currently getting they may not get many members. It was the German Union leaders that threatened the Workers if they did not vote for the UAW. Of course this current NLRB is blind to any complaints except those against the companies.
There's gotta be some other pressures at the factory too.
"Volkswagen was one of the hardest hit automakers again last month. Volkswagen of America reported that sales fell 19 percent in January, with the Chattanooga-made Passat posting a nearly 30 percent decline over the same month a year ago."
@Stever@Edmunds said:
There's gotta be some other pressures at the factory too.
"Volkswagen was one of the hardest hit automakers again last month. Volkswagen of America reported that sales fell 19 percent in January, with the Chattanooga-made Passat posting a nearly 30 percent decline over the same month a year ago."
It is not that hard to imagine VW mothballing the TN plant if they are not making money there. Toyota has a couple like that in the USA. Weren't they going to build the Prius somewhere in the South?
The only thing that I can see that may have shot down Passat sales is the high prices. They don't seem to be offering any incentives right now. My dealer has 11 Passat TDI with only one less than $32k. Their zero financing is only on a couple 2013 models.
The Toyota Tupelo plant is up and running but I don't know how many shifts. Don't think the Prius is made there.
Ah, here we go. They're cranking out Corollas. And a German company is adding 600 jobs there for interior bits.
"The plant builds a Corolla every 77 seconds – more than 160,000 vehicles a year. Toyota expects to export 7,500 Corollas from Mississippi in 2014.
Toyota employs 2,000 workers at TMMMS, a level described as an official plan since the plant was announced. Another 1,500 work for seven other suppliers to the plant." (djournal.com)
Chattanooga had a big manufacturing base before I moved there in '74, and they never were completely union free. I'm pretty familiar with Tupelo too, and they always had furniture makers but I bet they had very few unions and would be less tolerant of them than Chattanooga.
It looks like TN will have the better HS students to draw from than any of the traditional Auto building states. I think this and the .gov reference may surprise a few people with preconcieved ideas about which states are teaching the children.
Best and Worst States: High School Graduation Rates
For the first time ever, new data details just how many students are not graduating high school in each state.
The data, released by the Department of Education, measures high school graduation rates by how many ninth graders graduate with a standard diploma within four years. The 2010-2011 results reveal that the achievement gap is more shocking than was originally thought.
Well, I have family teaching (or retired) in Tennessee. :-)
My brother's first job there was at a local community college. A few decades later one of his kids went to the same school for a new career and now is working for one of the new companies supplying parts for auto companies (not just VW). So they have a pretty good handle on "job skills" training.
His job isn't at a union shop. My SIL was union at her public school there in Chattanooga and they managed to dump an incompetent principal with the help of the union.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the quality of the diploma is worth more than the diploma itself. They all aren't equal - socio-economic achievements of the states prove that.
It does bring up an issue that can even relate to unions - the American high school age education system dearly needs a European/German style option for skilled trades and industrial work.
@gagrice said:
It looks like TN will have the better HS students to draw from than any of the traditional Auto building states.
Statistically that data they show is useless. It's the quality of what they've learned and how well they've learned to think and analyze that is meaningful. Maybe we can determine the quality of a state's correction system by how many inmates are released from prison within 4 years? Nicht wahr.
To extrapolate about the problem, the Columbus City Schools are reeling from publicity about having gamed the statistics on their students. Students who were absent a lot were withdrawn from the school and then re-enrolled. Same for students doing poorly. The result was/is that those students don't count on the State's fairly strict assessment system for learning--including the superintendent. Look for articles in Dispatch.com. So how valid are their graduation rates and assessment results used for State evaluation and ranking?
The information and statistics I'd be more interested in seeing would be the vocational school setup for TN and the content of their coursework and then the flow rate and long term suitability for students in those programs related to various kinds of jobs that are not the technical, professional, and intellectual jobs needed in society.
I agree that just pushing kids through to get them out of the system is not the answer. From what I see around here the quality of public education is near useless. Even in the states that are not totally inept at educating kids for real work and survival in the 21st century are lacking.
Vocational training is needed rather than college. Most of those schools are not up to date in what they are teaching. I see college and vocational schools today as money grabbing diploma mills, looking to get Federal loan money and a kid's signature on a line.
@gagrice said:
It is not that hard to imagine VW mothballing the TN plant if they are not making money there.
Again, it's hard to walk away from a $2 billion investment that makes your 2nd best selling product and is slated to make the CUV which could help it be profitable.
@robr2 said:
Again, it's hard to walk away from a $2 billion investment that makes your 2nd best selling product and is slated to make the CUV which could help it be profitable.
The prospect of closing over the UAW is very remote. I think VW made it clear what they expect from a Union. If the UAW cannot pull off what they have verbally agreed upon, VW can stall the process for years. I really don't expect those TN boys to vote for the UAW. If they do I would expect the ones that vote against the UAW just won't join. That is their right in the state of TN. That will be worse for the UAW than just losing the vote.
"Anti-union forces funded by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist are renting as many as 13 billboards in Chattanooga, Tenn., as Volkswagen workers prepare to vote next week to accept or reject representation by the UAW.
The first of the billboards went up earlier this week. One shows the crumbling Packard Plant ruins that have been shuttered for 55 years. The copy reads: “Detroit. Brought to you by the UAW.”
This story brings back memories to me because when I moved to Chattanooga in '74, most of the foundries had closed down (in Anchorage our fireplugs had been cast there). As I'd return every year to visit family, I got to watch the rehab. It literally took two to three decades for the old foundry and tannery sites to get cleaned up and repurposed into parks along the Tennessee River, a baseball stadium, shops and housing.
Not to mention all the old military buildings in disrepair and getting covered by kudzu out in the county where the ammunition factory was - now the home of Amazon and good old Volkswagen. Not only did it take five decades to get that stuff built, there's still lots of kudzu ruins out there that will need more remediation from the poisons they dumped on the ground.
I wonder if the other old-timers back there also have those memories .
It is the same old story of Unions hating corporations and the feeling being mutual. Our government has not helped as it is owned by one or both. There is little doubt that the UAW played a major role in the downfall of the Domestic auto makers. Their strikes and unwillingness to allow modernization in part brought on the bankruptcy of GM and C.
Speaking of Love/hate relationships. Maybe the government promotion of Kudzu was a positive in covering up old ugly buildings and landfills. And a boon to goat farmers.
Guess I'll have to harvest some vines next winter* trip south and try to weave some rugs. But they'd likely sprout and take over the living room.
(*it'll have to be winter - fewer snakes and mad possums hiding in there that time of year).
And yeah, Henry Ford's final capitulation to the UAW certainly led to the rapid downfall of the Big 3. Only took ~70 years (and we still have the big 2). (history.com)
In 1914 the Democrats praised Ford for raising wages above average. It was of course to keep good workers. 25 years later the Unions wanted more and more to justify their high dues and fatcat lifestyle of Reuther. Unions make a lot of false claims like establishing the 8 hour day. When in fact it was Henry Ford in 1914. No doubt the UAW was greedy when the foreign name plates came in they refused to give the D3 a break. It is simply a case of the Union killing the goose laying the golden egg. We have the same issue here with the ATA wanting the teachers to go on strike over wage & benefit cuts. The board only has so much money. They cut all the non union staff last July. And the Teachers got cut as of January 31st. Not sure what part of NO MONEY union people don't understand?
They are probably looking at all the tax breaks the bigwigs carved out for themselves.
And looking back at my billboard link with the Grover Norquist crowd, surely you noticed that they misspelled "politician". Maybe if they had paid attention in school or had fewer than 35 kids in the classroom....
Norquist is a NEasterner, Harvard MBA. Probably the Union Print shop error. I think "PolitiCAN" may be a better word for them. That is another part of the battle with our local ATA teachers. They want to maintain their 17 students per class with a full time Teachers aide. The Board wants to push them up to the San Diego average 22 Students per class room. The locals voted down the last bond issue as just kicking the can down the road. The Board and schools need to learn to live within their diminishing budget. We have 20% fewer students and the teachers don't want to close one of the four grade schools. None are close to capacity. And one is kept open for 185 kindergarten students.
Comments
My guess is that the line workers will have less to worry about than the middle managers and engineers. But really, there may be some platform synergy, but I bet Chrysler will continue to be run as a separate entity for practical purposes. At least for a few years.
I think the slightest blip in Jeep/Ram sales and Chrysler will be history. Fiat is financing the buyout with Chrysler money. Will Marchionne accomplish what Cerberus failed to do? Fact is the only thing Chrysler has worth keeping is Jeep and Ram. Rest is way outdated and not keeping up. The promise of high mileage cars as reason to give Fiat Chrysler control by Obama has not happened.
Since then, Chrysler's profit recovery has been driven by sales of Jeep sport-utility vehicles and beefy Ram pickup trucks. The Fiat-designed Dodge Dart has been a sales dud as gas prices have fallen and its Fiat 500 city car is piling up on dealer lots.
Another part of the Fiat-Chrysler strategy is to use Chrysler's U.S. factories to build Fiat models and vice versa, helping to better distribute production and help fill Fiat's half empty Italian factories.
In the short run, Mr. Marchionne is getting high marks for his deal-making. Fiat and Chrysler agreed to pay $4.35 billion to the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits trust that holds the 41.5% of Chrysler that Fiat doesn't already own. But most of that cash is coming from Chrysler itself.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303870704579296312287689146
I think Jeep is the main reason Fiat wanted Chrysler.
Is this what Unions devolve to? Or is it just the French way of doing things?
PARIS (AP) — Farm tires filled the doorway, and the two Goodyear managers were trapped in the conference room with angry workers demanding more money in exchange for the inevitable loss of their jobs. Monday's meeting was not going well.
http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/24374207/restive-staff-seize-bosses-at-french-goodyear-site
Seeing what the executive class has pulled off in the past few decades, I am surprised there hasn't been similar, and worse, everywhere. Too bad they are going after usually useless managers rather than the real dealmakers. And pseudo capitalist Maurice Taylor gets to be mentioned again too - I am sure he knows about hard work, has toiled much in his life, and built things himself. Ugh. The French had the right idea in 1789 anyway.
Looks like Unions are getting rejected in the USA and Germany. Maybe Germans are tired of paying high dues with little to show for it.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Delaware rejected a proposal Wednesday evening that would have created the retailer's first union organization in the United States.
The Delaware union vote is the latest worker uprising for Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500). Hundreds of Amazon staff in Germany walked off the job in mid-December in a long-running dispute over pay. The strike involved three of Amazon Germany's nine distribution centers. It was called by the Verdi labor union, which wants the company to negotiate.
"The workers want to get paid fair wages and they want to be treated decently by their employer," said Verdi Chairman Frank Bsirske. "We are not going to let a big American company come here and play Wild West. This is a clash of cultures."
More than 1,000 Amazon workers in Germany have signed an anti-union petition amid community worries that jobs could be moved elsewhere.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/15/news/economy/amazon-union/
With an over abundance of labor in this country is it a surprise that Corps are pushing back against the Unions.
A labor union’s crash landing
It may seem odd, then, that the same 30,000 Boeing employees who understood firsthand the power of collective bargaining chose earlier this month to end their pensions plans, which came with guaranteed retirement payments, and accepted in their place riskier 401(k) plans, which guarantee nothing. But circumstances dictated that there wasn’t much else they could do.
Boeing is a company that pits state governments against one another to compete for larger subsidies and forces communities into a race to the bottom to see who can fight unions and lower wages the fastest. It is a prime example of 21st century business in the United States. As a result of these tactics, American workers, both unionized and independent, have little choice but to accept the lowered living standards their employers offer as conditions for their doing business.
This loss of leverage is evident in the story of a factory that Boeing owns in South Carolina. In 2007, before the Washington machinists last went on strike, the company announced plans to expand production, creating thousands of new jobs. After the strike, in 2009, the company took over a subcontractor in North Charleston, S.C. The employees at that plant promptly voted to decertify the union, with the intention of luring the announced project to their town, and the South Carolina state legislature promised Boeing a $900 million subsidy to lure the new jobs from Washington.
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/1/a-labor-union-s-crashlanding.html
Sounds like in that one they are kind of being blackmailed with fear rather than abandoning something that gives them nothing. Walmart failed in Germany in part due to people disliking that idea.
Not dissimilar to the race to the bottom (which is in fact the key part of globalization) element of the following story - a slant on things that no mainstream American media source would dare preach so hawkishly. Race to the bottom so a cadre of so-called fellow citizens can consolidate usually unearned gold even more. Eventually, it will boil over, history has a way of being coincidental. Although I won't mourn the loss of those pensions, now it's time to do the same for the public sector - overblown Praetorian class included, one supposed part of the working world that still hasn't had to compete or prove its value.
More attention should be paid to the disaster-in-waiting that is the TPP than this. Open yet another Pandora's Box that will create more trickle-up economic movement.
Maybe they are beginning to realize that having a job WITH pay is better than getting unemployment...let them fund their own retirement with their own money...
Thanks to unions, we do have 40 hour workweeks, work comp and many safety regulations that would not have been here except for unions, which, in the 30s and 40s, were necessary (altho the greatest growth this country ever had, I think, was the unfettered capitalism from 1870 -1900, when Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, JP Morgan, and, a little later, Henry Ford were doing their thing)...
Now the union is like the buggy-whip makers put out to pasture by Henry Ford (cars) and John D Rockefeller (gasoline)...not only "no longer necessary" but often a hindrance to business progress, paying the unskilled person over $35/hour to install a wheel on a car and tighten 5 lug nuts with a machine...
Although I won't mourn the loss of those pensions, now it's time to do the same for the public sector - overblown Praetorian class included, one supposed part of the working world that still hasn't had to compete or prove its value.
The public sector unions are the real problem. At least with private unions there is a balance. Not so in the public sector. Cities are starting to see how they can privatize services and not be buried under huge pension debt.
I also agree on TPP, which is going to send more jobs overseas. I don't see many on either side of the aisle raising a red flag. Other than the Tea party.
If the private sector is expected to contribute to their own savings, then so should the public sector. There's no way a normal saver/investor could get the returns of these pensions - it's ridiculous. And I include police and the military officer/leader class in this, too.
TPP is just another chapter in the globalization/free/unfair trade disaster. NAFTA for the new century, race to the bottom a little more.
Pension plans have gone the way of the dinosaur and for good reason! There is no such thing as a "guarantee". Companies go out of business everyday and the pension money is lost.
I would MUCH rather have a 401k plan that is well managed. Put my money in Mutual Funds, a few bond funds and give me some diversity.
Oh, wait...I did that and it worked quite well for me.
I agree with you. Too many pension plans were based on returns of 8% or more. Or the company went broke and the pension money was gone. Think Enron. Though they had a company 401k if memory serves and the employees were forced to buy Enron stock. That was criminal and sad. We had a 401k in conjunction with the Union pension which was very fortunate for me. I don't think the younger workers will be so lucky. My IRA is in Fidelity which seems as safe as any. Having the ability to take whatever risk you feel comfortable with is really the best way to go. And you can move it where you are employed.
"Companies such as Southwest Airlines, Kaiser Permanente and Ford have built partnerships with labor tailored to their specific needs. Southwest, the most highly unionized air carrier in the country, has also been the most profitable firm in the industry for three decades and is consistently near the top of Fortune's list of the best places in America to work."
The Volkswagen way to better labor-management relations (latimes.com)
Nice pic of the factory floor in Chattanooga in the current version of the opinion piece..
I think Ford would dump the UAW in a second if they could get away with it. They keep moving more work to Mexico which should tell you something. VW is crazy to get tied up with the UAW. The Union is too politically attached to the Federal government. Any disagreement would be in favor of the Union. And it looks like not all is rosy at SouthWorst Airlines and their unions.
**Southwest Airlines on Thursday defended its right to call an emergency and force absent Chicago ramp employees to prove they really were sick earlier this month.
Dallas-based Southwest said there was a perception that baggage handlers and other ramp workers called in sick or refused overtime work because they weren’t happy about contract talks.
“While Southwest cannot definitively identify the reason for the increased sick calls among ramp service employees in Midway at this time, it was widely perceived to be a coordinated job action to protest the slow progress in collective bargaining that had been ongoing since 2011,” the carrier said.
**
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20140116-southwest-airlines-defends-making-union-members-prove-illness.ece
Don't you use Kaiser? How are they doing?
Had my Medicare Physical interrogation last week. My Doctor is fed up with Medicare. He says they waste too much time filling out silly forms and asking stupid questions of the patients. 45 minutes with the doctor and less than 5 minutes being examined. Rest was all the questions he is required to ask. And it will not let him out of the program until all are answered. He spent 20 years in private practice and likes working for Kaiser. Made more money in private practice but with lots more stress. Works more hours now but has more time for vacation. Probably 10 minutes of the exam was my questioning the doctor. That's just the way I am. I like Kaiser a lot. And that would be a big issue if we got out of CA.
So your doc is union?
(Guess I should clarify - wondering if your doc is a member of a Kaiser union, not just the AMA).
He is not the AMA, he is an Osteopath. I always choose them and think they are better trained. I don't know if it is true. Most of my GPs over the years have been Osteopaths.
As for the Union, looks like a lot of infighting between unions. CA really needs to become RTW and keep unions honest.
A high-stakes fight between one of the nation's largest unions and an upstart, homegrown rival over which one should get to represent thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers in California entered Round 2 this month.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/28/5375424/unions-battle-to-represent-45000.html
I've been considering a 500 Abarth as well as a Fiesta ST- both of which are built in Mexico(although the Fiats's engine is assembled in Michigan- go figure).
Anyway, on one of the Fiesta ST Forums at least two cars have been delivered with parts missing. In one case the stability/traction control defeat switch was omitted and replaced with a blank trim plate. In the other case, the underdash lighting was missing, although the wiring was present and hanging down under the dash.
Perhaps the Mexican workers are trying to demonstrate that they are every bit the equal of stateside UAW labor...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Just a matter of clarification. Enron employees were not forced to buy Enron stock. Enron offered a very typical 401K plan and Enron stock was but one of 20+ investment options. Federal law prevents employers from forcing employees to buy company stock in their retirement plans.
As a point - when Enron unraveled, 62% of employee retirement money was invested in Enron stock. In other companies at that time the numbers were more staggering: P&G was 95% and GE was 77%.
The lesson - never invest so much in one vehicle.
Having lived in California most of my life I knew a lot of people who were with Kaiser including my parents. I never knew of a company that people either loved or hated more than Kaiser! It didn't seem like there was any middle ground. Go figure?
When my mother was in Kaiser for pneumonia I thought her care was OK except it was very difficult finding any nurses that spoke enough English that I could understand.
Of course, this was in So, Cal. Here in Washington State I don't think we have Kaiser.
My buddy who lives on Maui is very happy with Kaiser.
I have met people here that do not like Kaiser. My wife has two specialist that I would consider top of their field. They don't pay their doctors like some places. If you want the big bucks you work for a state run hospital or prison. Hawaii is where Kaiser opened their first facility, during WW2 from what I have read. It is one reason Hawaii is high on my list of states to move to. Hawaii does not tax defined Union pensions either.
Kaiser, I believe, is an HMO...I always sign us up for the PPO option with health insurance...if you find doctors you like in an HMO, you are lucky, and your out of pocket cost is usually less in an HMO...I like the PPO option because I still have freedom of choice for my doctors, both in-network (lower deductible and copay) or out-of-network (higher deductible and copay, but the freedom to go anywhere I want)...
I have known folks who had disasters at HMOs and are in love with their HMO doctors...as long as I have the option for choice, I will take the PPO option...right now, we have $1500 deductibles per person, then $30 copays...it is what I have preached for over 2 decades...since we rarely incur over $1500 each in treatment yearly, we pretty much pay for all of our care out of pocket, but anything major, we have coverage...with the deductible at $1500, I would call it better than catastrophic care, which, in my mind, has a $5000 per person deductible or higher...
I like what we have...
Red letter day coming up and I don't mean Valentine's.
Volkswagen Tennessee workers to vote on UAW February 12-14 (Reuters)
The WSJ says that VW asked the NLRB to conduct the vote; that's not typical. And apparently some execs at VW of America weren't aware that the vote was being arranged.
I don't think VW will be so gungho once they have to deal with UAW at the bargaining table. They are used to the softies in the German company unions. The workers that are most likely to want a union are not in the mix. That would be the part time employees. This is all about King's legacy at the UAW. I hear the rank and file hate him for endorsing Obama's KORUS trade agreement. Which promptly sent $3 billion in GM parts contracts to Korea.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billkoenig/2014/02/03/uaw-leaders-legacy-is-at-stake-with-tennessee-vote/
I hear the rank and file hate him for endorsing Obama's KORUS trade agreement. Which promptly sent $3 billion in GM parts contracts to Korea.
It's nice to know the UAW and other unions that donated so much time and so much value, not reported in many cases, to elect OBama both times also are getting "hurt" by his actions.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I wonder if the AFL/CIO and UAW will back Obama on the much bigger "TPP Free Trade agreement"? That will open up many more 3rd world countries to get cheap labor from.
If the UAW prevails I wouldn't be surprised if they just closed that plant.
The VW plant? It sounds like the parent company invited the UAW in the door and pushed for the election. Remember, they have union representation on their board of directors by law.
"As was noted last month, under Germany’s co-determination system, Volkswagen’s union has a unique position that is unlike any here in the United States in that VW’s German union officials, who sit on the company’s board of directors, actually have the ability to direct investment and veto expansions–like the one on the table in Tennessee."
Interesting take on the situation here. (redstate.com)
It will be interesting. I think VW corporate is just crazy for opening pandora's box. Maybe misery loves company. In a RTW state like TN the anti union workers can just say no to paying dues. Still get the Benefits if any the UAW gains for them.
It's not that easy to walk away from a $2 billion investment and the only plant that supplies your second best selling model in a market you are desperate to grow in.
UAW is in an interesting situation. If they get to tough with VW it will strengthen the will of the other foriegn name plates. If they don't get a contract noticeably better than what the workers are currently getting they may not get many members. It was the German Union leaders that threatened the Workers if they did not vote for the UAW. Of course this current NLRB is blind to any complaints except those against the companies.
There's gotta be some other pressures at the factory too.
"Volkswagen was one of the hardest hit automakers again last month. Volkswagen of America reported that sales fell 19 percent in January, with the Chattanooga-made Passat posting a nearly 30 percent decline over the same month a year ago."
Chattanooga-made Passat sales plunge; other auto sales mixed in January (timesfreepress.com)
It is not that hard to imagine VW mothballing the TN plant if they are not making money there. Toyota has a couple like that in the USA. Weren't they going to build the Prius somewhere in the South?
The only thing that I can see that may have shot down Passat sales is the high prices. They don't seem to be offering any incentives right now. My dealer has 11 Passat TDI with only one less than $32k. Their zero financing is only on a couple 2013 models.
The Toyota Tupelo plant is up and running but I don't know how many shifts. Don't think the Prius is made there.
Ah, here we go. They're cranking out Corollas. And a German company is adding 600 jobs there for interior bits.
"The plant builds a Corolla every 77 seconds – more than 160,000 vehicles a year. Toyota expects to export 7,500 Corollas from Mississippi in 2014.
Toyota employs 2,000 workers at TMMMS, a level described as an official plan since the plant was announced. Another 1,500 work for seven other suppliers to the plant." (djournal.com)
Chattanooga had a big manufacturing base before I moved there in '74, and they never were completely union free. I'm pretty familiar with Tupelo too, and they always had furniture makers but I bet they had very few unions and would be less tolerant of them than Chattanooga.
It looks like TN will have the better HS students to draw from than any of the traditional Auto building states. I think this and the .gov reference may surprise a few people with preconcieved ideas about which states are teaching the children.
Best and Worst States: High School Graduation Rates
For the first time ever, new data details just how many students are not graduating high school in each state.
The data, released by the Department of Education, measures high school graduation rates by how many ninth graders graduate with a standard diploma within four years. The 2010-2011 results reveal that the achievement gap is more shocking than was originally thought.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/high-school-graduation-rates/best-and-worst-states-high-school-graduation-rates
Well, I have family teaching (or retired) in Tennessee. :-)
My brother's first job there was at a local community college. A few decades later one of his kids went to the same school for a new career and now is working for one of the new companies supplying parts for auto companies (not just VW). So they have a pretty good handle on "job skills" training.
His job isn't at a union shop. My SIL was union at her public school there in Chattanooga and they managed to dump an incompetent principal with the help of the union.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the quality of the diploma is worth more than the diploma itself. They all aren't equal - socio-economic achievements of the states prove that.
It does bring up an issue that can even relate to unions - the American high school age education system dearly needs a European/German style option for skilled trades and industrial work.
Statistically that data they show is useless. It's the quality of what they've learned and how well they've learned to think and analyze that is meaningful. Maybe we can determine the quality of a state's correction system by how many inmates are released from prison within 4 years? Nicht wahr.
To extrapolate about the problem, the Columbus City Schools are reeling from publicity about having gamed the statistics on their students. Students who were absent a lot were withdrawn from the school and then re-enrolled. Same for students doing poorly. The result was/is that those students don't count on the State's fairly strict assessment system for learning--including the superintendent. Look for articles in Dispatch.com. So how valid are their graduation rates and assessment results used for State evaluation and ranking?
The information and statistics I'd be more interested in seeing would be the vocational school setup for TN and the content of their coursework and then the flow rate and long term suitability for students in those programs related to various kinds of jobs that are not the technical, professional, and intellectual jobs needed in society.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/topic/special-reports/2012/counting-kids-out.html
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I agree that just pushing kids through to get them out of the system is not the answer. From what I see around here the quality of public education is near useless. Even in the states that are not totally inept at educating kids for real work and survival in the 21st century are lacking.
Vocational training is needed rather than college. Most of those schools are not up to date in what they are teaching. I see college and vocational schools today as money grabbing diploma mills, looking to get Federal loan money and a kid's signature on a line.
http://townhall.com/columnists/tawehbeysolow/2014/02/03/colleges-and-congressmen-are-why-your-degree-is-worthless-n1787906?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
I wish there was a way to embed a poll in the actual discussion, but until then, please visit this link and place your bets.
The Chattanooga UAW vote
Again, it's hard to walk away from a $2 billion investment that makes your 2nd best selling product and is slated to make the CUV which could help it be profitable.
The prospect of closing over the UAW is very remote. I think VW made it clear what they expect from a Union. If the UAW cannot pull off what they have verbally agreed upon, VW can stall the process for years. I really don't expect those TN boys to vote for the UAW. If they do I would expect the ones that vote against the UAW just won't join. That is their right in the state of TN. That will be worse for the UAW than just losing the vote.
"Anti-union forces funded by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist are renting as many as 13 billboards in Chattanooga, Tenn., as Volkswagen workers prepare to vote next week to accept or reject representation by the UAW.
The first of the billboards went up earlier this week. One shows the crumbling Packard Plant ruins that have been shuttered for 55 years. The copy reads: “Detroit. Brought to you by the UAW.”
This story brings back memories to me because when I moved to Chattanooga in '74, most of the foundries had closed down (in Anchorage our fireplugs had been cast there). As I'd return every year to visit family, I got to watch the rehab. It literally took two to three decades for the old foundry and tannery sites to get cleaned up and repurposed into parks along the Tennessee River, a baseball stadium, shops and housing.
Not to mention all the old military buildings in disrepair and getting covered by kudzu out in the county where the ammunition factory was - now the home of Amazon and good old Volkswagen. Not only did it take five decades to get that stuff built, there's still lots of kudzu ruins out there that will need more remediation from the poisons they dumped on the ground.
I wonder if the other old-timers back there also have those memories .
Images of Detroit blight used on billboards by anti-union groups in Chattanooga (Detroit Free Press)
It is the same old story of Unions hating corporations and the feeling being mutual. Our government has not helped as it is owned by one or both. There is little doubt that the UAW played a major role in the downfall of the Domestic auto makers. Their strikes and unwillingness to allow modernization in part brought on the bankruptcy of GM and C.
Speaking of Love/hate relationships. Maybe the government promotion of Kudzu was a positive in covering up old ugly buildings and landfills. And a boon to goat farmers.
http://maxshores.com/the-amazing-story-of-kudzu/
Guess I'll have to harvest some vines next winter* trip south and try to weave some rugs. But they'd likely sprout and take over the living room.
(*it'll have to be winter - fewer snakes and mad possums hiding in there that time of year).
And yeah, Henry Ford's final capitulation to the UAW certainly led to the rapid downfall of the Big 3. Only took ~70 years (and we still have the big 2). (history.com)
In 1914 the Democrats praised Ford for raising wages above average. It was of course to keep good workers. 25 years later the Unions wanted more and more to justify their high dues and fatcat lifestyle of Reuther. Unions make a lot of false claims like establishing the 8 hour day. When in fact it was Henry Ford in 1914. No doubt the UAW was greedy when the foreign name plates came in they refused to give the D3 a break. It is simply a case of the Union killing the goose laying the golden egg. We have the same issue here with the ATA wanting the teachers to go on strike over wage & benefit cuts. The board only has so much money. They cut all the non union staff last July. And the Teachers got cut as of January 31st. Not sure what part of NO MONEY union people don't understand?
They are probably looking at all the tax breaks the bigwigs carved out for themselves.
And looking back at my billboard link with the Grover Norquist crowd, surely you noticed that they misspelled "politician". Maybe if they had paid attention in school or had fewer than 35 kids in the classroom....
Norquist is a NEasterner, Harvard MBA. Probably the Union Print shop error. I think "PolitiCAN" may be a better word for them. That is another part of the battle with our local ATA teachers. They want to maintain their 17 students per class with a full time Teachers aide. The Board wants to push them up to the San Diego average 22 Students per class room. The locals voted down the last bond issue as just kicking the can down the road. The Board and schools need to learn to live within their diminishing budget. We have 20% fewer students and the teachers don't want to close one of the four grade schools. None are close to capacity. And one is kept open for 185 kindergarten students.