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Comments
“There’s fear of what lies ahead. These people thought they would have a job for life, now they have to go through this,” Cebina said.
UAW is last group of people in the U.S. who "finally" have come to realization that rest of us found over last couple decades. Career writers in the media (magazines, newspapers, tv, etc) have been warning since at least early 90's that workers should expect to have to change jobs/careers many times in their working lives.
When was the last time the USA was a bully to Canada. We should have been when you destroyed our lumber industry by subsidizing your logging. We lost a lot of good paying jobs to Canadian subsidized lumber.
When I went to work in 1961 for Pacific Telephone that was the belief. You worked at the phone company till you were 65 and got a company pension. I was 18 and it did not take many years to see that whole idea unraveling. AT&T had a monopoly that kind of paralleled the US government. They were guaranteed 5.2% profit, no matter how much they spent on labor. So having twice as many workers as needed was not a financial problem. In the 1970s when AT&T was under the gun and headed for divestiture the story changed. When forced to make money the excess workforce became a liability. It just took the D3 longer to come to the same conclusion with their top heavy UAW workforce. AT&T management was wiser than GMs and they are now doing quite well with a much leaner workforce.
Even our bloated governments at the city, county, state and Federal level are going to have to get rid of redundant positions or face the consequences. They need to start with the state and Federally sponsored colleges and Universities if the Feds are going to pick up the tab for everyone to get a college degree.
What good is $11 per hour when the government takes half right off the old paycheck? My folks moved to Toronto in the 1960s thinking it was utopia. They left in 6 months as the taxes left them with a lower standard of living than they had in the States. The only reason my aunt and uncle stayed was he was a big time real estate mogul in Toronto. You can have your year wait for a hip replacement. Or even worse. Our health care may be expensive in the USA, it is FAR SUPERIOR to what is offered in Canada.
The UAW retirees are so spoiled they would revolt if forced to use a Canadian style health care system. You really need to do some research. I am beginning to think bmgpe is correct. Or are you really Wagoner spending your days blogging since losing his job?
Union rallies to fight possible closure at Spring Hill (Tennessean)
Coker didn't rate a mention.
It's also worth noting that this article appeared in the newspaper for a city that used to be famous for its steel mills.... until the same "Union is more important than the Company" put them all out of business in the 70's
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_606661.html
Your post continuously bash Americans,especially those in the South. Have you ever really lived in the USA?
Don't blame age for your communication problems. I'm 2 years behind you and still understand how to punctuate and create a sentence that most can comprehend. Of course the difference could be I've always had to think for myself. No UAW or CAW to do that for me. No short cuts or doing things, just good or bad enough to get by. That seemed to be the mindset of the assembly workers that built the last several UAW/CAW cars I owned ! Last one was a 98 Ram.
No reason to think their mind set has changed. Especially since they may have to make some concessions.
When someone talks sloppy and writes sloppy, chances are good they do other things that way.
Kip
I am sure my 1988 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 was built in Canada. It was the extended cab and a very good truck. I sold it to my Brother in law who may still have it in Alaska. The same goes for my 1990 3/4 ton 4X4. Very good trucks. The whole GM PU truck business went in the toilet about 1998. Oh, by coincidence that is when the UAW got greedy and "Brought GM to their Knees". They were not making a decent profit in 1998 and it was all down hill quality wise from that point on. No matter where the UAW/CAW built them My 1998 Suburban built in Mexico was the last decent GM truck I owned.
The currency was the other way around in the 1970s. Just the luck of the draw.
I understand completely. I think it was Lee Iococca that made the comment that UAW workers could not read at a 3rd grade level. I guess that includes WRITING and Spelling. I think what you are conveying is just confirming what most of US already knew. Union Auto workers were over paid for the skill levels. Now that they have killed the Golden Goose they are trying to justify their extravagant wages and benefits. Both on the job and in retirement.
Saturn was a sorry mistake by Roger Smith, for most of it's parts were supplied by the GM organization and costs were buried internally..It started out as a crummy car, and never caught my attention..Whatever the UAW experience was sure didn't do much for GM..
With the UAW taking over operations, and Obama running the show, we will be shown how not to do things, however TARP money is being funneled through 4 banks which undermines our entire private banking system and should be stopped by investor lawsuits..Time will tell.
Meanwhile Ford's success will bring the wrath of govt down on them, for they can't be allowed to succeed w/o some Tarp..
The UAW members read only the $$$$s on their paychecks, and their writing skills could be limited to endorsement of the paycheck..The balance of the time they exercise the use of an "X"..
I don't think our president realizes that the Prius hybrid is sold at a great $$$ loss to Toyota, however the sales of their P/U's offset the red ink..Wasn't the Chev Volt to be priced around $40k ???
Obama is keeping the UAW alive with hope and change, and the American investor is bleeding from all this muck..
I do have THE answer, srs, but I do have some random thoughts...usually, the land used for the plant is in the middle of nowhere, so the cost of land is cheap, and it probebly was not producing much in ppty tax as farmland...so, giving a 10 year tax exemption probably costs the state/county nothing, as they received nothing before the plant was built...so, now we have roadways, railways, utilities...since they are usually off the interstate, the cots of the exits and 3 lane roads is also "nominal" compared to what the construction will bring in terms of jobs and payroll...I don't know who pays for railroad track, but if that much material goes in and out of the plant, I still believe that the cost of track is nominal, same with utilities...how hard is it to sink fiber optic lines for TV and telephone...I'd ask gagrice, but he ONLY knows how to do it in 60 below zero weather in the ice and snow, ordinary dirt may be "too easy" for him...
So, the actual "loss" to the state may be quite nominal compared to the millions of $$$ in payroll, plus the stores (convenience, grocery, bars) that grow up around the plant, plus the suppliers...if GM going under has a ripple effect, this would be the exact opposite, where the ripple effect is a tidal wave of economic activity where there was only farmland before...
Interesting letter in today;s Atl paper, about a guy who is fed up with the UAW (no, not me), and has purchased his last Big 3 vehicle, a minivan...when this van wears out, he is probably going to imports...sounded like the posters here that rocky does not "get"...multiple this guy by millions, and you will see why GM is no longer viable...this letter writer blamed the UAW (rightly or wrongly) and is going to imports because he is tired of union demands...
UAW better wake up, or there will only be a smaller GM for a year or two, and then it is Chapter 7 liquidation, and ZERO union jobs...they will never get it...
gagrice...it WAS Iaccoca who lamented that UAW workers could not read a simple sign that said "Keep your arms and hands out of these machines"...don't forget, these are the same people that rocky says were superiorly educated by the Michigan public school system...
gagrice: >"I understand completely. I think it was Lee Iococca that made the comment that UAW workers could not read at a 3rd grade level. I guess that includes WRITING and Spelling"
Absolutely
PMO: >"Then you understand the Auto workers went to work in the winter months in the dark and came home in the dark , had no mind of their own ....
There ya go!
Yep, I was sometimes there before the workers, getting a piece of equipment running at Hapeville Ford Plant, Lakewood Chevy Plant and Doraville BOP Plant.
I often times worked longer hours, and made a lot less money than my UAW friends. I also serviced equipment at suppliers for those plants. Their pay scale and bennefits were nowhere near that of UAW workers.
When the various UAW plants folded, it created hardships for those suppliers, but they discovered other avenues, and most are still in business. So is the company I worked for that pays my pension.
You discredit the B3 for moving facilities to other countries like Mexico. What about when they open plants in Canada? That is a foreign country also. And they hate us according to you. In reality, the cars/trucks built by CAW are imports when sold here. Think about that when you decide to criticize us for buying non domestic vehicles.
Why would we want a health system like Canada's. Canadians by the thousands come here every year for health services.
For years Canada has had a "welcome all" policy toward immigration. The young people are leaving in large numbers and coming here for jobs and better living conditions.. There are not enough young people staying to take over as the seniors retire. So Canada welcomes anyone with a pulse. No matter their country of origin.
Although lately they are beginning to see the error of their ways according to a news report I saw recently.
HonToy and others build plants in the Southern states so they can get good, hard working, people at a wage the manufacturers can afford to pay and still build a high quality car. Those workers are able to buy a home and pay for it. They are also able to have a lot of the "Extras" they want. Those are good jobs for high school graduates. They are proud of the products they build.
Kip
CINCINNATI (AP) - Meet the forgotten housing crisis. While most attention has focused on the wave of foreclosures sweeping mostly middle-class, suburban Sunbelt neighborhoods from California to Florida, the nation's emptiest neighborhoods have remained concentrated in the same place for nearly a generation: the mostly minority, poor, urban neighborhoods of the American Rust Belt.
An analysis by The Associated Press, based on data collected by the U.S. Postal Service and the Housing and Urban Development Department, shows the emptiest neighborhoods are clustered in places hit hard during the recession of the 1980s - cities such as Flint, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Indianapolis.
"I'd move in a heartbeat if I had somewhere to go right now," said Cindy Olejniczak of Buffalo, raking trash from the lawn of a boarded-up house to keep it from blowing in her yard. Roughly every third home in her neighborhood is vacant. Not even pizzerias will deliver to the area now.
"It's almost like you wish they would just level the whole neighborhood," she said, "and start rebuilding again from scratch."
Federal lawmakers have designated nearly $6 billion over the past year for local governments to do just that - buy and either rehabilitate or demolish foreclosed and abandoned homes.
The AP's analysis, however, shows the money will only make a modest dent in the problem. As of March 31, there were about 4 million homes that have been empty for 90 days - a slight increase over last year's figures and about 3 percent of all U.S. homes.
The federal money will be distributed based on a complicated formula that considers local rates for foreclosures, high-cost mortgages and vacancies. There won't be enough money to completely fix places such as the neighborhood in western Columbus that is the nation's emptiest. A mostly vacant apartment complex with chained-off parking areas shares a drab stretch of asphalt with a strip club, payday lender and abandoned retail stores. About 70 percent of the neighborhood's housing is empty.
The number of abandoned homes scattered throughout the nation's 65,000 neighborhoods concerns federal officials because of the potential to prevent the economy from recovering. Empty housing feeds upon itself. Experts say as more houses stand vacant, property values and tax revenues drop. The drop in property values lead to fewer buyers, which lead to more vacancies.
"It becomes a vicious cycle," said Jennifer Vey, a researcher with the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Vey said people have been shoved out of the Rust Belt by the collapse of the manufacturing economy for more than a generation now, and drawn to the temperate Sun Belt by more jobs and a lower cost of living.
The cycle makes residents in hard-hit neighborhoods feel as abandoned as the vacant buildings that surround them.
In places like Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, roughly two of every three homes are vacant or used by squatters. The area is more than 70 percent black and poor, with unemployment often around 50 percent. It's a place where simmering resentment and frustration boiled up into three days of rioting in 2001 after police fatally shot a young, unarmed black man fleeing arrest on traffic warrants.
The neighborhood, which took its name from early German immigrants, is highlighted by its 19th century Italianate architecture. On a cool morning on Elm Street, people sat on front stoops, chatting amiably with each other and greeting passers-by on what at first glance looked like a thriving, friendly residential block. But a look up at windows with only darkness behind them and doors with "No Trespassing" police orders gave it a Potemkin village feel.
"All those are empty," said Joe Griffin, 50, who is homeless and spends nights in a shelter and public park.
In Olejniczak's Buffalo neighborhood, homes across the street and on one side have been torn down, along with the house on the diagonal corner. The house on the other side of hers is standing but boarded, its lawn a tangle of overgrown weeds, pizza boxes, liquor bottles and wrappers. It's an eyesore she got tired of looking at. So, on a recent afternoon, she grabbed a shovel, rake, broom and a box of trash bags and, with her 81-year-old mother, got to work.
"I couldn't stand looking at this any more. I look out my window at it everyday," she said, nodding across to her own neatly kept home where daffodil shoots were sprouting after a long winter.
In Buffalo, there are as many as 10,000 vacant, abandoned homes. Suburban sprawl, an aging population and manufacturing losses have left the city with a population under 300,000 - about half what it was during the 1950s.
Things may be even worse in Flint, Mich. Jeffrey Taylor, 51, moved to a vanishing neighborhood in the late 1960s, when his father worked for General Motors. Taylor, a handyman, lives just north of a huge concrete slab once home to a 130-acre GM complex known as Chevy-in-the-Hole.
At its peak, the factories employed thousands. Now, all but one of the 20 factories and buildings in the industrial valley have been closed and torn down, driving residents from his neighborhoods. City officials are thinking about bulldozing large swaths of the city. Taylor's is one of the state's emptiest neighborhoods, with nearly one in three homes vacant.
"Once these shops are gone, these people start going back home, they start heading back south," Taylor said.
The abandoned homes draw thieves who steal whatever metal they can to sell for scrap, so Taylor pulls vehicles into the driveway of the empty house next door to make it look occupied.
Cities across the region are trying to reverse the tide, buying and either rehabilitating or bulldozing empty homes. Even with billions of federal dollars pouring into cities, civic leaders such as Steve Leeper, director of a Cincinnati development group, say fixing lead paint, asbestos, decay and other problems takes a long time.
So far, his nonprofit group, backed by local businesses, has spent $84 million to rehabilitate Over-the-Rhine housing.
"A 20-year vacancy is just brutal on a building," said Leeper, maneuvering past construction workers inside the dusty shell of what's planned as the future home of luxury condominiums.
Already, there are a more than dozen new shops, restaurants and small businesses in Over-the-Rhine, and more than 80 percent of the first new condos have been bought, at an average price of $150,000. Sales have been strong in 2009, Leeper said, particularly among first-time home buyers who don't have the problem of trying to also sell suburban homes in the down housing market.
But the renaissance hasn't been felt throughout the neighborhood, and some are skeptical.
"I think the direction the city is going in isn't helping the low-income and middle people. It's pushing them out," said the Rev. Leroy Owens, who heads
Leeper said there are plans to offer more affordable housing and more rental units, in phased development meant to make sure there aren't pockets of empty housing left in the made-over neighborhood.
"When you don't have an area populated," he said, "it doesn't have a heart."
We did not get out of camp this day.
PS
Those were all 1 ton Chevy Vans we drove the first several years. Then we switched to Ford as the GM vehicles from the late 1990s would not hold up in Cold weather.
Machines break when idiots operate and sabotage them. They thought they were getting to the man (GM, Ford, Chrysler management). Too dumb to realize they were poisoning the goose.
I DON"T CARE that GM will eventually close all plants in Canada. I would much rather buy cars built here by American workers; Even though the Head Quarters may be Foreign. For me, that is better than buying one that was built by workers outside the USA.
Hopefully the B3 will be able to rid themselves of the UAW/CAW anchors and be able to emerge as a profitable company, with workers that actually care about their product. Workers that understand they are only "Entitled" to an honest days pay for an honest days work. That's all!
As far as Canada shipping oil to the USA goes, Why don't you see if you can get a movement started to "shut off the tap", as you have suggested. Then just maybe we would begin to tap American resources and put a bunch of Americans to work. Then we could stop importing oil and cars from a Canada that hates us. (according to you)
You say GM would never have existed without Canada. Well since y'all invented GM, how is that working out for ya? Good luck with your new car company.
Kip
Make/Vehicle - Type - Count
Vans
Chevy Van - van - 1
Dodge Caravan - van - 1
GMC Vandura? - van - 1
Honda Odyssey - van - 2
Mazda5 - Micro van - 1
Toyota Sienna - van - 1
Sedans
Acura TL - sedan - 1
Audi A4 - sedan - 1
BMW 3series - sedan - 1
Chevy Impala - sedan - 1
Honda Accord - sedan - 1
Honda Civic - sedan - 2
Infiniti G37 - sedan - 1
Lexus ES350 - sedan - 1
Lexus LS4xx - sedan - 2
Mercedes sedans (various) - 2
Nissan Altima - sedan - 1
Nissan Maxima - sedan - 2
Toyota Corolla - sedan - 1
Toyota Camry - sedan - 3
VW Jetta - sedan - 2
VW Passat - sedan - 1
Volvo S40 - sedan - 1
Hatchbacks
Chrysler PT Cruiser - hatchback - 1
Lexus SC430 - hatchback - 1
Mitsubishi Eclipse - hatchback - 1
Scion XB - hatchback- 1
Toyota Prius - hatchback - 2
SUVs
Acura MDX - SUV - 2
Ford Explorer - SUV - 1
Ford Expedition - SUV - 1
Hyundai Santa Fe - SUV - 1
Jeep Patriot - SUV - 1
Lincoln Navigator - SUV - 2
Porsche Cayenne - SUV - 1
Trucks
Chevy 1500 - truck - 2
Chevy S10 - truck - 1
Dodge Ram - truck - 2
Ford F150 - truck - 2
Sports cars
Chevy Corvette - sports car - 1
Some statistics:
Total vehicles - 54
Percent UAW made - 33%
UAW percent (sedans and hatchbacks) - 7%
UAW percent (SUVs and Trucks) - 75%
Foreign nameplates - 65%
US nameplates (incl Volvo) - 35%
Observations:
Only 1 sedan out of 24 is a US nameplate
All of the trucks were US nameplates
No Cadillacs or Buicks
Surprisingly no CRVs or RAV4s (but there are some on the next block)
Percent of GM vehicles - 13%
Fewer Accords and Camrys than I expected
The US makers really need to learn to make some good sedans. Nobody is buying them around here.
I'd go take a survey but it's after midnight. :shades:
In the news:
"UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said workers will receive about 75% of regular pay, but added, "It's certainly not a paycheck."
The additional worker and dealer sacrifices come after the UAW agreed last week to accept stock in a reorganized Chrysler in lieu of cash payments to fund a retiree health care (VEBA) fund and freeze wages through September 2011.
Hourly retirees have expressed worry that their health care benefits may be cut.
"This VEBA is going to be on life support initially," Gettelfinger said, "but if" Fiat Chief Executive Sergio "Marchionne comes in here and turns this company around, then we will be in good shape."
Chrysler workers and sellers to feel pinch (Detroit Free Press)
Meanwhile Ford's success will bring the wrath of govt down on them, for they can't be allowed to succeed w/o some Tarp..
The UAW members read only the $$$$s on their paychecks, and their writing skills could be limited to endorsement of the paycheck..The balance of the time they exercise the use of an "X".. "
Gotta agree with all of that!
Especially this. If Ford doesn't accept some TARP and let Obama in the door, then Ford will be in competition with the government, proving their own agenda, as well as the other auto mfg.. Government can print the money, continue to Subsidize GM, sell cars at a loss, and undercut Ford pricing until they are forced to take the money and be part of the government takeover of big business.
Scary!
Kip
That really sucks!
Let's hope your management has other avenues in mind, and a good marketing strategy. Maybe the employees can do some brain storming and develop ideas to help the company revamp and succeed!
My next door neighbor has a small trucking business that basically shuttled merchandise between suppliers and the airlines and the Ford plant. He has managed to weather the storms of Airline restructuring, Ford Plant shutting down, and various other ups and downs in that type business. He is a survivor that simply refuses to give up. I've seen larger truck lines fold and come back under different names. Many or most of the former employees retained their jobs.
There was one small restaurant (among many) that was open Monday thru Saturday and was basically supported by employees of Ford and Ford suppliers. The restaurant was called "The Dwarf House". They had good food and developed an especially good chicken sandwich. Not only were the Ford employees supporting him, but over time, so were the general population of the area, and the folks such as myself. In spite of all the turmoil of the times, the business grew into "Chick-Fil-A". Many others folded, but were quickly replaced by something else that hired people. The original Dwarf House is still there as far as I know. I haven't been there in a while, because the small town I live in, has a Dwarf House and a Chick-fil-A store.
Sometimes we have to uproot and move to an area that is more prosperous or even change careers. It isn't easy, but the strong survive.
Those that mindlessly do as told, will have a tough time in the future.
Kip
I agree. It does not take that many years of being around the UAW mentality to start believing the crap they are selling. That being an unskilled person is worth as much or more than someone with an earned degree or trade skill. It takes no more training to get someone productive in an auto factory than it does to teach someone to dig a straight ditch for a foundation footing. The UAW unskilled worker gets $100k per year with massive benefits, and the ditch digger that is lucky makes $40k per year with NO benefits.
If it's a car it's a foreign name, although there are some exceptions - my next door neighbor just replaced a Passat with a Malibu, and another neighbor drives his Buick Company car.
If it's a truck, it's domestic.
The SUVs are split but over the years the Suburban has been generally replaced by the MDX et al.... and for the smaller SUV the Lexus RX 350 is ubiquitous
GM Sedan:
Buick LaCrosse- 2
Cadillac Brougham - 1
Cadillac DTS - 1
Cadillac DeVille -1
Cadillac STS - 1
Chevrolet Cobalt -1
Chevrolet Impala - 3
Pontiac G8 -1
GM Sedan Total = 11
GM Truck:
Chevrolet Silverado- 2
Chevrolet Trailblazer -1
Chevrolet van - 1
GMC Acadia -1
GM Truck Total = 5
Ford Sedan:
Ford Crown Victoria -1
Ford Taurus - 1
Lincoln Town Car -1
Mercury Grand Marquis - 1
Mercury Topaz - 1
Ford Sedan Total = 5
Ford Truck:
Ford Expedition - 1
Ford F-150 - 1
Ford F-350 - 1
Ford Truck Total = 3
Asian All Vehicles:
Honda Accord - 1
Honda Civic - 1
Lexus RX330 - 1
Mazda 6 - 1
Toyota Prius -1
Toyota Sienna -1
Subaru Legacy - 2
Asian Sedan Total = 8
European Sedan:
BMW M5 -1
Mercedes E-Class -1
Mercedes S-Class -1
Maybach 57 -1
VW Jetta -1
European Sedan Total = 5
37 vehicles total - 64.9% Domestic / 35.1% Foreign
GM = 43.2%
Ford = 21.6%
Asian = 21.6%
European = 13.6%
Patron Services - Sales, Waitresses, etc. These jobs are best paid on 'widget counter' - the more sales, the more pay or tips. Creativity, charm and agressiveness are rewarded as these provide improved results. As the skills of the worker increase the company also receives increased benefits. Thus the costs of increased pay comes from increased benefits the company receives.
Administrative Services - Clerical and accounting type job. These jobs are paid for skill and experience. Training and knowledge are rewarded as these provide improved results. As the skills of the worker increase the company also receives increased benefits. Thus the costs of increased pay comes from increased benefits the company receives.
Crafts and Trades unskilled jobs- assembly jobs, warehouse jobs, cooks, etc. These jobs are paid on seniority. The factors which lead to increased rewards aren't really relevant here. The employee's productivity is limited by the equipment and the workload is set by factors beyond his control. Generally speaking, after 4 or 5 years on the job there are no gains in productivity to be obtained from these workers.... there's only so much you can do to cook burgers faster or assemble things more quickly. After the employee is trained, the company receives no benefits from which to pay additional salary costs. An aging workforce is a drag on costs not a benefit to performance.
In the harshest but most objective sense, companies are best served by keeping pay and benefits low for unskilled jobs.... since the company receives no additional value from a 50 year-old warehouse worker at $20 per hour. They're better served by a 22 year-old warehouse worker at $12 per hour.
The worker is best served by increasing his or her job skills and getting the hell out of those crafts and trades unskilled jobs before they get old. Note that there's a distinction between a finish carpenter and a rough carpenter. The young guy framing houses needs to learn a skill, say learning cabinet making. But what about those who just keep showing up for work, and (do a good job) doing the same job?
The question becomes this - does the company owe a large paycheck to those who have stayed with a company during its profitable years, but who have not provided increased productivity to the company after their first 5 years. The UAW would say yes, but the economist would say that the workers should be rewarded only for the benefit they bring to the organization... since their contribution never increases(over time, in the same job), their pay shouldn't increase either.
The best answer to this is a profit sharing model with comparatively low base pay but big bonuses in profitable years and no bonuses in bad years.
Guess which model the Japanese chose? Why? Because in their rough years during the 50's and early 60's their companies weren't making any money consistently, and they didn't dare raise base wages. They weren't so smart... just forced by circumstances.
Wonder if the UAW would agree to something similar during the current "dark ages"?
Our closest Lexus dealer is a real pain and it seems to be reflected in the lack of Lexus in our neighborhood. We have a lot more BMW and Mercedes SUVs than anything else. And both dealers are a lot further away. I kind of feel like a piker with my lowly Sequoia Limited. I would say the Cadillac dealer has done a good job selling Escalades. I have not seen a new Cadillac car in the vicinity though. I think Caddy and Buick cars are exclusive to retired military folks. Our neighborhood is mixed retired and yuppie. Most of the people out here needed more space to park motorhomes, travel trailers, boats and dunebuggies.
If the UAW are depending on SoCA to bail them out, their are dreaming. No sense of buying junk to maintain the UAW worker's high flying lifestyle. Most unskilled workers in CA do not make half of what a UAW worker makes. And most are happy to get as much as they do. If the UAW would have accepted their lot in life back in 1998, things would probably be different now. The UAW workers made their bed and will have to sleep in it. Even if it is a park bench in the winter.
Our demographic is much different. I would say their are 2 PU trucks or SUVs to every sedan in my neighborhood. Most of the PU trucks are GM 3/4 ton diesels. I don't know if they are made in a UAW shop or not. I know my 3/4 ton 4X4s were CAW built. Do they park them on the street. We have many areas where there is NO on street parking. If you do not have a concrete or paved location you cannot park your vehicle. No gravel or grass parking allowed. Big environmental no no.
I should do this for the garage in my building, but I can guess it already:
Civic/Corolla = 40%
Accord/Camry = 25%
(a few everyday other Japanese or Koreans mixed in with those)
VW Jetta = 10%
Various SUVs = 5%
Domestics = 15%
Oddball Euros or highline cars = 5%
The Topaz belongs to an elderly lady a few doors down. I think she had it since it was new!
I leave one of my cars on the street. The rest are around the back of my house. I keep another car at a different property a block away. Fortunately, I live on a very wide street. Cars can be parked on each side with plenty of room between to make a U-Turn.
-Rocky
-Rocky
I know that is what you want me to believe. I however would be willing to bet there is a lot more attorney's drinking and drugging than your average UAW worker.
gagrice:, well, does he pass the course???...considering he's repeated it over a hundred times, I think he deserves an "A"...and no, rocky, we do NOT believe in social promotion here, you have to earn your grade...
Nope I'm still happy to take my "F" which stands for Fantastic
Finally, some common sense out of the boy...
Maybe in our fantasy world Bob!!! :P
To another poster (I can't keep up with 50 posts since my last one)...my Regal was traded in when I got my 2000 Intrepid...I kept the Intrepid until Nov 2004 (end of lease) when I gave it back and had to get another vehicle...since I had already traded my 2000 Sable (anyone notice the chain of UAW-made Big 3 cars...where is the union cheering squad for old Bob???)...for the 2004 Crown Vic (still have it, 4 more payments and it is MINE), we gave back the Intrepid for a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi 4 door (the real Marsha is a farm girl at heart and wanted a pickup truck...in case you don't know, rocky, what Momma wants, Momma gets)...so, 4 payments to own the Crown Vic, 20 payments to own the truck...
With all the hate you've shown us WHY does you and the real Marsha7 keep buying domestic cars??? If they are such pieces of crap and are unreliable you keep going back to the well for more don't ya??? :confuse:
Imidaz: Yeah, I knew that lawyer joke, about the billable hours making him 83...please be careful I have a weak ego, lawyer jokes offend my sensibilities...yeah, right...
I know you are very sensitive so we will be more careful in the future!
Oh, the reason this marriage works is that the real Marsha has the same opinions about the UAW as I do...rocky, care to come over for dinner???
As long as I can bring Virgil Bernero!!!! :P
rocky: is it just me, or do you seem to have a lot of contact with ex-girlfriends???...one works in a dealership, one is applying for the same job you are, Beth sells more cars than most dealers...have you ever tried asscoaiting with anyone besides ex-girlfriends???..
Tammy and I agreed if something ever happened between us that we would remain good friends. I consider her next to Beth my other best friend. Tammy and I's biggest problem was we were to much a like and both are very head strong. She is very Pro-UAW and comes from a family of autoworkers like me and loves cars thus one would think it would of been a perfect match and we are as best friends only. Beth OTOH as you know is the opposite of me in a lot of ways but one thing we both have is excellent communication skills. Also remember Beth is just my best friend and we've never hooked-up or anything. We have only dated each as best friends. Going to hang-out with her this evening in fact.
I will say it again because I mean it...rocky's ideas about capitalism and the auto industry need to deal with reality, and I think he is nuts... ...but since I am somewhat of an upfront kind of guy who tactfully voices his opinion at any chance, I have deep respect for those who voice theirs and accept the consequences...I really believe that so much in American business and industry, in a macro sense, would be much better if bosses were more openminded to subordinate's ideas, and more subordinates felt the freedom to speak their minds...yes, sometimes really stupid stuff comes from the mouths of subordinates and the untrained...but an openminded boss should always be on the lookout because sometimes subordinates, in their innocence, will spew out some of the best ideas for improvement, simply because their untrained minds are not stuck in the "we must do it this way" mentality and their fresh look from an "outsider" is often the "out of the box" thinking that will improve the operation...that is how I ran my business in Detroit, and my employees always knew my door was open to new ideas, or a different way of doing things...I would question them further, either to draw out the flaws in their thinking process, or to develop their thinking to institute improvements...
Well I have a lot of respect for what you just said pal. We don't agree on much but on some key area's we do.
I never understood why bosses were afraid to listen to subordinate's opinions, because some great ideas come from sources we never dreamed of...I have never feared my employee's minds, and I have no idea why some bosses are so unwilling to listen...
Well I've witnessed Bob some bosses take the employees idea and make them their own. If you came up with a great idea you could get movie tickets or a gift card, etc, etc, thus that use to piss some of my coworkers off as it did me as I had that happen to me once before. It wasn't a good idea at the time but 6 months later it sure was when the boss implemented it and took all the credit for the idea. :mad:
OK, enough of that...now back to my favorite sport, rocky-bashing...
LOL....I think it is your favorite past time!!! :P
Good luck on that security job interview...
No interview just nearly 4 hours of testing and filling out application paperwork. I would love to land the job but my ex g/f got called thus I hope she gets it. I made her go so she now owes me big time!!!
-Rocky
Gald to see you're back, hopefully gainfully employed again soon, too! :shades:
A.I. shouldn't be worth what he was in that Den-Det trade. When that trade happened I was on the phone getting hooked up with new cell phones. The girl working for Verizon in Iowa I think it was was a huge Piston's fan. She put me on hold while she went to go tell a co-worker what had just happened. She couldn't believe Det. let Chauncey go for A.I. :confuse:
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Today they make some half-way decent cars. Challenger is good thus far, 300 is old but still decent. Ram is finally as good as GM & Fords trucks. That's about it!!!
-Rocky
-Rocky