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Friday, March 03, 2006
Chinese labor activist Xiao Yunliang released; Yao Fuxin remains in prison
The China Labor Bulletin reports that Xiao Yunliang was released from prison on February 23, 2005, 24 days short of serving a four year sentence. Xiao was one of two labor activists jailed for leading peaceful demonstrations protesting unpaid wages and benefits after the closure of the Liaoyang Ferroalloy Factory and five other factories. During his imprisonment Xiao suffered from virtual blindness in both eyes, chest pains and difficulty in breathing.
Yao Fuxin, who joined with Xiao in the peaceful demonstrations and was sentenced to seven years in prison, is not scheduled to be freed until March 2009. The UAW has fought to win the release of Xiao and Yao.
In letters to China’s leaders, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. and the governor of the prison where Xiao was held, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger demanded the recognition of worker rights in China. He called for an end to the repression of those like Xiao and Yao who simply exercised the right to peaceful assembly to demand respect for internationally recognized worker rights and for the rights of Chinese workers under Chinese law.
The release of Xiao reminds us that Yao Fuxin and countless other Chinese labor activists remain in prison for exercising rights that China’s repressive government claims to respect. The UAW commends Xiao Yunliang for his courage and strength in surviving four extremely difficult years in prison and we renew our commitment to fighting for the release of Yao Fuxin and for the right of all Chinese workers who fight for justice and fair treatment from their government and an end to repression and the violation of their legal rights.
Rocky
The fun income trend is to look at the top 1-5% (of wealth) vs everyone else...
I can see why GM is focusing on China and other markets...this one is going to be in less and less of a position to consume its products as time goes on.
Was this to cover up their inability to organize any Toyota or Honda plants here in the USA? We have enough problems here in the US to solve. Before Wal-Mart brought China into the 21st century those activists would have been shot. I wonder how many trips the UAW paid for to China. I would not want my union dues spent on trips to other countries for the sole purpose of political activism.
If a laid off steel worker settles for "flipping burgers" ( a teen after school job or hispanic illegal alien job)instead of going out and busting his butt doing something else or retraining himself we are all supposed to cry? Midwest manufacturing never fully recovered from the recession- the RECESSION OF 1982 24 YEARS AGO. It's time to stop crying becuase your party isn't in power and trying to convince us all the economy is so bad. If it were so bad we'd all know it we wouldn't need convincing.
I read that in the next 10 years there will be a huge demand for pharmacists and nurses (male or female), good paying jobs. You know how you become one of them? Ding ding ding you go to school for both of them. Specific courses to graduate and eventually become a nurse or a pharmacist. We don't like good jobs moving overseas. The fact is they do and it doesn't matter if the president has an (R) or a (D) next to his name.
I know you have a great dislike of unions. You think unions are corrupt. I agree not all unions are well organized, and that is a reflection of it's members. A well run union like the UAW, IUE-CWA, Teamsters, IBEW, etc. are on average well run unions. Yes there are individual sites where the union isn't well run and the people aren't on the same page. Yes there are individuals that are members that are looking out for themselves. We have this problem currently in are union. Old Timers vs. new. I'd however prefer to work out our internal conflicts than have are company determine my future which would be tripling of costs in health insurance for a start. Our company wants us to pay $400 a month of the premium by next contract. I guess what I'm saying is corporate greed will always try to get the job done at the lowest cost, but if all employers have this mentality everyone would be making poverty. Not all employers do, and thus not all have unions that they have to negotiate with. I as a employee want "fair" compensation for my work and thus have not much of a choice of being union.
BTW- our new management philosophy is this. If one person screws up, now everyone working in that area is getting written up or days off by serving in the punishment. This happened 2 weeks ago. Our union is being forced to file a grievance and it might go to arbitration. This is just another reason why unions are neccessary to balance corruption by some employers. Also the head guy that issued their fate/punishment got in trouble many years ago dragging a girl out of a bar at gunpoint. Tell me if we don't need a union now ?
Rocky
With the high number of people retiring the job market is wide open. Unemployment is very low. Finding people that are willing to get their hands dirty is a real issue in this job market. Mechanics can make up to $150,000 per year in the right dealership. Most of the building trades are being done by illegal aliens. They want to work hard and they are taking the jobs. If you are out of work from GM, learn to lay brick, block or tile and you have a job. It is not rocket science. It is hard work and that is something many Americans are not interested in doing.
Rocky
Rocky
Rocky
I have a problem with Unions WHEN they demand additional concessions from management (or refuse to give up existing benefits) when their members have wages/benefits FAR in excess of non-union members. I have a problem with states FORCING individuals to join Unions if they intend to work in a particular trade/business.
Tripling of your health care costs doesn't get a lot of sympathy from me IF your costs have been next to ZERO for years and years. Just because an individual has been receiving essentially a free ride doesn't mean they are ENTITLED to that free ride forever.
"I as a employee want "fair" compensation for my work and thus have not much of a choice of being union."
Well sure, we all do. But you need to be honest about what is "fair" compensation. What skills do you bring to your employer and what is the labor pool of other people with that same skill set? How difficult (expensive) would it be for your employer to hire/train a replacement? If you make $30/hr and there are 10's of thousands of able prospects available to your employer willing to do the same job for $15/hr, which is "fair"? What value do you bring to your employer to justify the additional expense?
Carry it further - what value does the ultimate consumer derive to justify the additional expense?
This is why a union is needed. We've have allowed them to take, take, take, with nothing in return. :sick: I can't go into details obviously, but our employer has kept GM style management in office for to long. We had a very good guy in charge who took care of his employees when I first hired on. The people above him painted him as to friendly to his employees thus they asked him to resign. The morale was very high when he was our leader.
Rocky
I agree with that, but the country needs people who are willing and able to work on production lines and to assemble products, otherwise the country will have no manufacturing base whatsoever.
I am a white-collar business guy, but I am able to recognize that the economy will cease to function as we know it if none of us are willing to work in blue-collar trades, to work in routine mechanized jobs and follow instructions. I might not personally be willing to pound rivets into Pontiacs or Toyotas, but I'm glad that there are some other people are willing to do it, and those people need to get paid. If the management is abusive or neglectful, then I would expect the workers to unionize as a reasonable response to that attitude.
At this point, we have a few choices: outsource our production, import cheap labor from developing countries, or pay our own people a premium to do stuff that could probably be done more cheaply somewhere else. As a consumer, I want the best products possible at a reasonable price, but as a citizen, I would prefer to see people employed to standing in bread lines, and I can't expect a generation of people trained in assembly line work to suddenly transform themselves into entrepreneurial climbers or white collar number crunchers. That's simply unrealistic, and it isn't going to work en masse.
Rocky
With the high number of people retiring the job market is wide open. Unemployment is very low. Finding people that are willing to get their hands dirty is a real issue in this job market. Mechanics can make up to $150,000 per year in the right dealership.
Mechanics can make up to $150,000 per year in the right dealership.
Where ????? :surprise: Most mechanics in dealerships, and I know a few that are friends of mine make $ 30,000-$40,000 a yr. One of my friends in G.R. Mi. works at a UAW dealership makes in the $50's......My one friend Russell who teaches mechanics 101 in Laramine, Wyoming for BMW is pulling in $50,000. This $150K a yr. income is hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it. :surprise:
Rocky
Thanks
I wasn't trying delve into your PERSONAL employment situation; I was simply trying to assess this concept of "fair" compensation.
If in fact your group is amoung the lowest paid with the poorest benefits of others in the same labor pool, then perhaps you are not getting "fair" compensation. But how does all this relate to the topic "UAW and Domestic Automaker's"?
Are you saying that UAW members are currently the lowest paid with the worst benefits of labor in the Domestic Car industry? I think not. Are you saying that Ford/GM/DCX would be unable to hire able, qualified labor in this country UNLESS they paid UAW wages/benefits? Toyota/Honda et al seem to have no problem hiring plenty of well qualified people for wages/benefits less than what the Domestics are forced to pay.
So, is it "fair" that those UAW members get those wages/benefits? Or is it "unfair" that the import brands have the ability to hire qualified non-union labor?
I starting over would also have to start over on vacation
Rocky
I see a lot of people with degrees still working their high school jobs at the Gap or Abercrombie because the work just isn't there anymore. You say health care? Well, when everybody else is either unemployed or underemployed and has little or no coverage who goes to the doctor?
Heck, maybe we should all just join the military services. With a massive military, maybe we can get the power to turn on all these cowardly corrupt politicians and place real leaders in power!
Rocky
Instead of horsepower, we'll have "foot power"....I wonder if that will be SAE certified ?
Rocky
You and many others are in a box. You need to think out of the box. Not go to work installing tile for someone else. Do it yourself. Hire someone to help you. Live the American dream man. Have you tried getting a contractor to do anything lately. It is close to impossible. They are all booked up. You like cars go to work as a mechanic. You get dirty hands, but you make a decent wage if you are any good. Don't think Jiffy Lube or Wal-Mart. Think specialist at the local Ford agency. How about network specialists. There are businesses crying to have someone setup their network and maintain their computers.
You are right about college being for the wealthy. When I graduated from HS in 1961 the chances of me getting into Stanford or Harvard were less than 1 in a million. If you are real smart you can get a scholarship even today. My nephew just got a full one to Notre Dame law school. Borrowing is an option that I was not willing to take. So I worked for someone else. I was lucky and now I have a good union retirement. My children will not have that opportunity. It is all but gone.
Rocky
First, in reguards to "There are businesses crying to have someone setup their network and maintain their computers". As someone that works that that industry, just let me say, where?
Second, about college being for the wealthy, three words, grant, and community college.
Your words have a prophetic ring of truth to them. Look at some of the EU and you will see that being played out today. Denmark and Holland are countries with near zero native population growth. Check out who is making all the babies. It is not the upper middle class.
Rocky
If you didn't already know prez Bush cut pell grants once again, and community colleges are getting as expensive as some university's. :sick:
I also have friends that didn't get there McDegree from one of the major university's thus being passed over by someone who did. It was braught up during his interview.
Rocky
I get people asking me to work on their home and small office networks here in CA all the time. I usually turn them down. You have to get out and meet people. Go to a local Karaoke bar. They are loaded with business men. Just don't get drunk and act stupid. Sip "n" mingle.
I did not get back to you on the high paid mechanics. When I bought my VW from Armstrong Buick VW in Oregon, the salesman was lamenting the loss of their top mechanic. I guess he was a whiz on computer diagnostics. He quit that job and took one at the local Cadillac dealership. He made $150k the year before he quit. Most dealers pay a percentage of the charges. So if you are a fast, good mechanic you make lotsa money. If cars keep coming back that you worked on you do not make so much.
Rocky
With a daughter going off to college this fall, I am acutely aware of the ROI of the current generation attending college. She wants to be a vet, but is going to have an undergraduate major in Microbiology. I have no idea what the job prospects are in that field should she decide to stop after obtaining her Bachelor's degree.
As I have previously mentioned, I have a cousin whose husband worked for the GM plant in OK City .. I wonder if he's part of the 'job bank' that is being talked about in this forum. I know that he has requested a transfer to the Moraine, OH plant, but don't know where he stands, seniority wise, with that request.
If he's a UAW member, then your answer is yes. My father has a request in for the Janesville, Wisconsin GM assembly plant and the Grand Rapids, Mi. stamping plant. He is yet to hear. He is trying to transfer from Delphi to GM and is hoping he either get's a buyout/early retirement or a transfer back to GM.
Rocky
P.S. how many years does your cousin have in the OKC plant ?
If the transfer request goes through, they'll pick up and move to Ohio. This is my cousin, her husband, her mom (my aunt) and at least one child (my cousin has a 20-something daughter who graduated from Oklahoma State last year, in addition to a school aged daughter).
Rocky
The good news is that she's going to attend Colorado State, which has a pretty good vet program. If all goes well, she'll just be living in Fort Collins for the next 6-7-8 years and get all her schooling over with in one place.
The Microbiology degree opens up some interesting doors; when we visited the campus last fall, they were talking about Homeland Security type stuff - biological warfare, etc. Not to mention the ability to work for the CDC.
"Lost another one to Ditec" :P
Rocky
I think you have to be one sharp kid to make it into one of those programs. It is a good thing though. Kind of gives the lower classes some hope of an expensive education. I was always too lazy to get good grades in HS. I was just lucky at getting the right job at the right time.
PS
I was shocked at the $150k mechanic also.
Are you saying that Ford/GM/DCX would be unable to hire able, qualified labor in this country UNLESS they paid UAW wages/benefits? They are able to hire workers that are qualified because good paying jobs are very scarce and they want to avoid the UAW
Do you think if it wasn't for the fear of the UAW they would pay such high wages ???
Toyota/Honda et al seem to have no problem hiring plenty of well qualified people for wages/benefits less than what the Domestics are forced to pay. True (see above)
So, is it "fair" that those UAW members get those wages/benefits? Or is it "unfair" that the import brands have the ability to hire qualified non-union labor?
It's unfair that this country do to greed both private and federal have allowed our country to be baught up by foreign country's that are lining politicians pockets. :sick: Yeah if Toyota was hirring and I needed a good job to support my kids, then yes I'd take it. However I'd pray that medicare and medicaid were around so I don't suffer once I get old.
Rocky
Rocky
I didn't know about The Trade Act until a fellow employee getting laid off with me at Boeing told me about it. Boeing sure didn't talk about it, yet Boeing lobbyists worked over Washington to get the airplane maker included in the program.
Evidently The Trade Act was started during the Carter Administration in 1976 or thereabouts. It is to those laid-off "due to foreign competition." Of course, Boeing's foreign competition was Airbus and it was very real competition. The Trade Act pays for your tuition and books(federally funded) while you receive unemployment insurance weekly(paid for by the state you got laid off from) and you study a new trade to involve yourself with. I chose Respiratory Therapy, which, in 2003 when I got started in college, was determined to be growing at a 45% rate through 2008, or some such thing. Nursing is growing at a 50% rate. The need is because of the aging workforce and the increasing need to take care of baby boomers who are also aging. My wife and I put our house up for sale in western Washington(it sold within 45 days, the sale was done with cell phone and fax by a great RE agent)and tugged a 4x8' utility trailer with the goods we most wanted to keep and we moved to rural Missouri, where my school was located and where it is cheaper to live.
It worked! I'm a Certified Respiratory Therapist and there is work all over the nation.
My thought is I wonder why Ford, GM and half of DCX's workers can't avail themselves of this opportunity? Don't expect your company to tell you about it, though. Boeing talked about it with me after a co-worker, who was considering it, told me about it. Foreign competition would be, umm...Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, etc.
All I did was study and go to college and clinical training sessions at 6 Missouri hospitals. U.I. paid me weekly and my wife did get some jobs while we lived in Missouri. It may be something for potentially laid-off auto workers to consider, eh? Who's in charge of your lobbying? Not that I really knew who lobbied for me while I worked at Boeing, but it might be something to consider finding out.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-03-17- T033104Z_01_WEN2925_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-AUTOS-GM-DC.XML
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B64C5985C%2D2F3B%2D437C%- 2D8EA5%2DEB771CB7F639%7D&dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&keyword=
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5647497/c_5627818?f=home_todayinfinance
Dreaming about jobs is a pass-time for kids before they turn 16. Grown adults should think about monetizing their own skills and talents. Setting up a car dealership as a new comer is just about the worst business there can be right now . . . the fact that such a new dealership is infeasible to set up is the best sign yet that the market is working; why let the society waste capital on that? Starting a business is not particularly risky, no worse and actually a lot better than trusting one's future retirement to some Ponzi Scam (that's what union contracts are). Starting a business with a brain dead business plan is risky; damn well should be.
Finding the right product or service to market is the key.
BINGO!
That is the hard part.
Not really. I'm sure anyone go through daily life thinking they can do a better job at whatever they think is being done sub-par; seeing the ease with which some of us pillory many an auto executives, this behavior may well be second nature to some of us. Just get off your (rhetoric you, not you Rocky personally) duff and try your own hand at it.
Our daughter is now 32, married, with two children of her own. They live nearby, so we see them about twice a week. Our son is 28 and engaged to a wonderful young lady.
Of course, they can drive you nuts at times. I heard that insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids.
Give me a membership card to the good old boys club, and I'll gladly step up.
Boo hoo those poor execs, being second guessed for their failures and astonishing ability to lead companies into junk bond status.
Good for you, Bright. We men shouldn't have to grow up. That's why we get married.