We just signed a 3 year union agreement yesterday. (I work for a Company that supplies to the Auto Industry, among others.) It's a tough time to work in manufacturing, especially when you're tied to the auto and housing markets. Just glad to be secure for three more years! :shades:
2012 Mustang Premium, 2013 Lincoln MKX Elite, 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander.
good for you, I think that the insurance industry is a good one to get in to. You'll do fine, unless of course, you find something out there more to your liking. Study hard!
The Astra and Aura appear to be great rigs. I'm glad I picked the Mitsubishi Lancer GTS but I gave each of those a short look. Mexico it is then, they need to do what they've got to do.
rock, will the new Volt be built in the U.S. completely? Price yet? Built only by UAW members? Completely electric powertrain?
I'll eagerly await the Chevrolet Volt's arrival with baited breath, then.
Now, hit the books! BTW-I need to study some of my Respiratory Therapy books some more this set of days off. Got to stay ahead of those chance encounters of something tricky coming up medically that I rarely see. Those can be the tough ones...having to quickly set something up to handle a patient's immediate situational need that you rarely get a chance to work with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I'm talkin' about! :P
I'll eagerly await the Chevrolet Volt's arrival with baited breath, then.
LOL, I don't see you driving a american vehicle.
Now, hit the books!
I can't as I don't start class until next Monday. Why else do you think I'm on here this late ?
BTW-I need to study some of my Respiratory Therapy books some more this set of days off. Got to stay ahead of those chance encounters of something tricky coming up medically that I rarely see. Those can be the tough ones...having to quickly set something up to handle a patient's immediate situational need that you rarely get a chance to work with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I'm talkin' about!
Sounds interesting.....I'm thankful I only have to be in class everyday for just a week. 50% of the people fail this test my boss said. He says it's a tough one.
Well I do need to hit the hay soon as I have some errands to take care of tomorrow.
This company really cares about their workers, just like factories without unions making autos and parts care about their workers. They used the exception in the law for dumping an employee.
No, Primerica is something far worse - it's an MLM scheme like Amway disguised as an insurance/financial services company. I'm sure anybody with a resume posted to Monster has been contacted by the clowns at one time or another.
Anyone with a workman's comp claim will be scrutinized very closely when applying for a job. Workman's comp insurance is one of the employer's major expenses. I would be hesitant to hire anyone that had a major claim. It can mean the person is careless, accident prone or a scam artist. It also will raise the employers premiums. KFC should have dumped the kid before the accident. He also injured two other employees on the job. I would also can the supervisor that caught him not following safety procedures. The supervisor should have reprimanded or fired him immediately. That Supervisor and dumb kid cost KFC $100s of thousands of dollars.
Union or non-union employees caught doing unsafe procedures should be called on the carpet and or fired.
Most of the workers in KFC in this area are kids. The manager should have managed when they put water into the cooking oil as a cleaning method. Water + heat = steam. The supervisor is at fault. My point and the article's point is the company used a misinterpretation of the law as passed in order to avoid paying the costs of injury they caused. Just like people have had done at some auto plants, and at other businesses I'm sure. The company had no scruples.
I agree that management dropped the ball in the first place. I would also hold the kid somewhat responsible for his actions. I think that KFC was trying to shore up their losses and just did not follow the correct procedure. Two courts did uphold their position. It sounds like KFC needed to do a lot more safety training of employees and especially management.
Come-on guys what kind of employee are you going to get paying minumum wage ???? If you are taught something by your boss, well you are going to do it especially when your 16 and probably first job.
I think you meant it is the result of globalization. What worries me even more is the food we get from all over the planet with little or no FDA inspection. It is not limited to Chinese imports. Japan has sold us some shoddy foods also. I wonder how much beer that Kobe beef I ate, really got.
Ocean fresh sushi? Quality marbled beef? Exquisite confections? Think again. Japan has been hit by a slew of food safety and false labeling scandals that threaten to wreck its image as a country of culinary wonders, squeaky-clean factories and impeccable sanitation.
In the most recent scandal, a venerable maker of traditional Japanese sweets was found to have recycled the red bean filling in its rice cakes, collecting old filling from leftover boxes and shipping them out as new.
Investigators also found that Akafuku Co., based in western Japan, had long misguided consumers by shipping out old sweets it stored in freezers after they were stamped with a production date that was actually the date old cakes were thawed.
"I knew what we were doing was wrong," a grave-looking Akafuku President Noriyasu Hamada told reporters Tuesday. "The responsibility lies with me."
Those revelations came on the heels of a raid by health authorities of meat processor Meat Hope Co. in northern Japan on suspicions it falsely labeled pork, chicken and beef mixture as pure ground beef — a practice media reports said had gone on at least two decades. Its president was arrested Wednesday for violating Japan's competition laws, which ban the false labeling of products.
A separate meat processor was accused last week of taking meat from retired roosting chickens — which the company had bought at rock-bottom prices — and shipping them out as top-quality free-range chicken.
That is why I drink American, and occassionally German beer pal. I prefer to drink Miller, because it's union made. :shades:
I've also beacame even more paranoid of what I eat now. I look at where it's grown/made before I dare eat it. :surprise:
John Edwards, also warned on his presidential webpage that some generic pharmaceutical drugs are being made in china. I didnot know that was happening until yesterday
Why not, just send a sperm and egg over to China and 9 months later pick up your new baby. No pain no strain. We are closer to that type society than many might think.
stem cell research...that is indeed something to ponder.
Meanwhile, the Chinese mission of car building pants on. It's very difficult to get a Dodge Hornet update...or I'm looking in the wrong places.
Chery and Dodge are silent little worker bees on the new Mini-Cooper fighter they're working on.
Here's an attempt at something on topic...how does the UAW fit in to Chery Motors of China. Are they willing to take on about 10,000 UAW Chrysler workers to help build the A1 and Hornet over there? Yeah!
Here's an attempt at something on topic...how does the UAW fit in to Chery Motors of China. Are they willing to take on about 10,000 UAW Chrysler workers to help build the A1 and Hornet over there? Yeah!
I'm not sure I understand your question as the UAW workers are here in this country and why would Chery, have to take them on ? :confuse:
I'm reaching to the lucky stars for Chrysler workers on news today that they are laying off 10,000 more workers as they try to position themselves to make an eventual profit.
Chery would no doubt hire Chinese workers before American UAW workers, yep.
R U SERIOUS ???? 10,000 lost UAW jobs ? :surprise: Those guys should of not signed that damn contract !!!! :surprise: OMG, if I was a Chrysler UAW employee I would be looking for Gettlefinger, and would want to have a face to face talk unless all the members knew this going in before signing this contract. I never saw the details. This is why those job gaurantees were so important as this is the alternative. Chrysler, is going to become a made in China, distribution company. The people driving next to them will die of lead poisoning. :mad:
It's been pretty clear all along that there were going to be job cuts and product eliminations at Chrysler. There were never going to be job guarantees there. And it wouldn't surprise me if the Ford situtation winds up being similar. Their Oct sales were down in the same range as Chrysler's.
Shoot, back in the day the environmentalists were worried about the effects of leaded gas. Now we'll have to worry about leaded cars!
Do they have a surplus of lead in China or what?
If Chrysler indeed becomes merely a distributor of Chinese-made cars with their besmirched name on them, you can cross Mopar off my list. It's bad enough Levi's has gone that route. Do you know Elmer's Glue is actually made in China? What's next Coca~Cola with lead? Good God, if they start making soft drinks in China, they'll have to change the names:
New Leaded Soft Drinks from China!
Croak-a-Cola, (was Coca~Cola) Dr. Kevorkian, (was Dr. Pepper) 7-Down, (was 7-Up) Crystal Lead, (was Crystal Lite) Leadsi, (was Pepsi) White Cross, (was White Rock) Mao's, (was Ma's)
Watch out! Next thing you know Ford will outsource the manufacture of the Grand Marquis to China and we'll get a Mercury that is actually made of mercury!
That's what ATT did when they bought NCR. They sold off assets around the world and then didn't invest in the company. Then they split it back off minus all the wealth NCR had accumulated. NCR is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, where John Patterson started NCR and started manufacturing cash registers. People like him and Kettering (electric starter motor, e.g.) made this a manufacturing mecca. Now all the jobs are in Korea and China.
Well I suppose if we continue on this current path all manufactored goods in this country will come from China, and all services will come from India. :sick:
I thought that the Jobs Bank was retained (although modified slightly) in the new contract. So those workers will go to the Jobs Bank, won't they?
As for the workers saying "I wouldn't have voted 'yes' if I knew this could happen" - is Chrysler supposed to get blood from a stone?
It has been clear for months now that Chrysler has been overproducing its vehicles. There just isn't enough demand for its vehicles to justify current production levels. Something had to give.
This is the way the real world works. If demand for a product or service falls, the company cuts back. Dumping vehicles in rental fleets and offering mega-discounts to keep factories running (and UAW members employed) ruins resale values and brand reputations over the long run.
The simple fact is that GM, Ford and Chrysler no longer "control" the American new vehicle market, and they can't go on acting as though they sell 85-90 percent of all new vehicles.
In the long run, Cerebus and Alan Mullaly may bring a dose of sorely needed reality to Detroit. And that would be a good thing.
the following quote, lifted from one of the previous links, is the reason why the UAW and all union lovers just don't get it..."Lolinda Bellamy is a temporary assembly worker at Ford's Dearborn Truck plant, where she already makes a lower wage than permanent hires.
"I really want this job, but we already had cutbacks here. It's hard to understand why they keep asking for more sacrifices"...
What is it about falling market share and lack of profits that she apparently does not understand???...she obviously believes that Ford just has "JOBS" for people and that money comes from thin air...
It is this total lack of understanding of business, which is really 9th grade thinking, that strikes home as to why I hold unions and their members in such contempt...THEY SIMPLY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THEIR JOB COMES FROM AND WHY JOBS ARE EXPANDED OR ELIMINATED...
Like believing in Peter Pan, she just thinks that Ford should employ everyone, because it would be so nice if everyone had a job and they just stopped asking for concessions...
Read it, rocky...this is the mentality of the UAW, and, that is why the union should NEVER have a say in ANY company decisions, because to them the company is just a magical place where paychecks come from the sky...
Do I feel companssion for those losing their jobs???...absolutely yes, I do...but the way they are misled by their union, when business conditions are slapping them in the face, yet they ignore it, demanding raises to make cars that no one is (apparently) buying, and they wonder why jobs are disappearing...
And what I find utterly ignorant, they will NEVER understand why job losses are occurring because they have folks like rocky telling them they DESERVE their jobs, when the real world of the marketplace tells them otherwise...
The world is changing, and the union needs to figure it out, as they seem to be the only one who does not understand...
rocky, if you REALLY cared about these people, you would tell them not to hold onto the past, like buggy whip makers when cars were coming on the scene, but that they should sign up for retraining ASAP, and learn a new trade or skill...it is the union lovers who are holding back progress because all the thousands of unemployed workers need to be trained with new skills and for the jobs of the future...but since everyone is yelling "strike until you get what you want", they are only digging themselves a deeper hole by the day...
That is what you would do if you really understood what business and change are all about...hep retrain them into new skills, just like horseshoe makers (blacksmiths???), buggy whip makers, and wagon wheel makers adapted in the early 1900s when the car was becoming the dominant force...
You would have told the buggy whip makers to go on strike, holding back their personal and economic progress, when the faster they get retrained, the faster they can get better jobs and support their families...and yes, prepare them to move out of the rust belt, because they need to make some residential changes, too...
It is just a start. The golden geese that were once the Big 3 are lame ducks. The UAW could have all the bases covered in a contract, and be worthless if the company goes belly-up. I look for Cerburus to sell Jeep and Dodge trucks and dump the rest. To avoid the mess that GM had with the Oldsmobile dealers they will bring in new models of Dodge and Chrysler built in China. They can appeal to the lowest priced market without any headaches from UAW contracts.
Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs and remove four models from its lineup.
I guess obviously you didn't "get" what she was saying ????
What she was saying is they made all these sacrifices to retain jobs for UAW, members and after all the slashing and burning on wages and benefits it was still not enough to save those jobs. I guess hindsight is 20/20 and everybody kept whispering if you sacrifice this contract and go without any raises, slash your benefits you will save decent jobs for future generations. Hell they might as well went on strike and make the corporations sign job gaurantees or else !!!! Really what did Chrysler employees get in return after all the cuts ? A Pink slip to 12,000 employees and more to come !!!!!
I love how you question my feelings for these people Marsha7. :mad: Your comments are out of line !!! I do care about these people and just saying to everybody when things get rough go "retrain" is utter non-sense unless you have a job lined up. It's not remotely cheap to go retrain and not have anything their when your done. I understand you follow in lock step with what comes out of the white house, but he's living in another world.
What she was saying is they made all these sacrifices to retain jobs for UAW
I think what you had with job guarantees in UAW contracts was and is unique. I do not know of a Teamster contract that guarantees no layoffs when business is slow. I think that protecting seniority, wages, working conditions & benefits is legitimate. Job banks and guaranteed employment seems over the top to me. If the company does not need the least senior person they should be able to give them severance and lay them off. Losing your job is always going to be traumatic. Being prepared when you see the business losing ground is the individuals responsibility in a free society. Even a rat knows when to get off a sinking ship. The Big 3 are sinking ships, as much as I want them to succeed, they are not doing well.
Is it by design, or just how business evolves? Greed from top to bottom, may be the culprit. How many car companies that were once big no longer exist?
Don't I recall lots of people being laid off for weeks, ususually months, even a year from GM plants in this area in the 70s and 80s when things slowed down. Isn't that the etymology of the idea of guaranteed jobs during times needing lower production?
When I think about those eras where the laid-off workers got other jobs and then if recalled quit those and went back to work at GM plants in the Greater Dayton Area (back when it was Greater Dayton and not Politically-ruined Dayton).
I saw a note that the mammoth hospital group that bought into the area a few years back has now no need for transcriptionists. Apparently they're going the way of the buggy whip and horseshoes--not needed anymore. :sick:
Ooops. I misspoke. The big pay, overfed guys in the suits just moved the work to India. Transciption is alive and well, and so are the big guys' higher and higher pay rates.
Retrain for what? From where is this money for retraining going to come? Does he expect the unemployed person who still has to pay her rent/mortgage, utilities, and food to come up with it? Was this unemployed person, while still working, supposed to be stashing money away and sacrificing her quality of life and that of her kids so she could have this massive amount of money needed for retraining? Maybe she likes building automobiles and wouldn't be happy doing anything else?
Computers? - Sorry, not everybody is a computer geek and to really succeed you have to live, eat, breathe, think, and worship computers. Everybody else sees it as a thankless job.
Medical Assistant? Wow! I can spend $10,000 to get a $25,000/yr. job. What a great investement!
Auto Mechanic? I know I'd like to do this, but who's going to hire me after I get out of technical school? I just better be dang sure I picked the right school! I've heard nightmares about guys who went to some technical school and dealers wouldn't hire them on account of them attending that particular school.
Truck Driver? OTR Experience is more important than a truck driving diploma.
College? Well, wouldn't we ALL love a free college education! For this auto worker, it ain't gonna happen unless she has a rich philanthropist uncle. Well, first she has to pass an entrance exam or Unc has to buy the college a new stadium.
just wondering out loud as I type here. I am one who received a pink slip from Boeing's in 2003. I decided to parlay that pink slip in to a college education-paid for by Uncle Sam.
It's called the Trade Act. We put our house on the block in the beautiful Skagit Valley of Washington state. The deal was that if I made passing grades in college(a 'C' or above)I would receive Unemployment Insurance from the state of Washington(we moved to Missouri)weekly. It was $453/week back then in 2003, so not too shabby, really. The weekly payments were to continue long enough to get me an Associate's Degree, for the re-training program I chose.
Our house sold within a month(thanks to a great R.E.agent)and we rented a small 2 BD house for $350/month in the little central Missouri town I enrolled in college at. The Trade Act paid for my books and tuition. Fully, completely.
Of course, we had bills to pay like everyone else. But we were comfortable paying those bills and anything else that cropped up because of that sweet $453/week unemployment insurance from Washington state.
Now, to be realistic, I had to be my own best advocate getting all of this lined up with the various agencies. It's about staying on top of bid-ness if you want re-training bad enough. So, I was able to go get an Associate's Degree in Respiratory Therapy and re-enter the job market after the one year and nine months of college/clinicals. And I did not have to work during those 21 months of training-just go to school and study hard.
Now, it's not like I could just snap my fingers and it was all easy as pie, but the plan worked. I'm wondering if such a plan still exists for UAW members.
Fortunately, Boeing invested money and time in to the Trade Act and edumacated all interested parties as to the proper channels to take(and there are a few of them)to get set up to do this. I'd check it out if you are interested in re-training. We were able to get this Fed. Aid because we lost our jobs due to foreign competition(Airbus Industrie).
Humm...who would Ford, GM and Chrysler's nasty foreign competition be...?
Your points are very valid. We are responsible for ourselves and our families. We should be thankful when a company provides a good job and be looking for another when they are not. I do not get the entitlement mentality that some people have. It was very clear from those that lost their homes in New Orleans and it is similar to those that have lost their jobs with the Big 3. Job guarantees are not part of the Constitution.
Do I agree with sending jobs over seas. Absolutely NOT. I think we can thank BOTH sides of the Congressional aisle for jobs lost in the USA.
who does admire Lee Iacocca for how hard he fought for Chrysler. I mean, Mr.Iacocca could have just leaned on the success of the Falcon/esp.Mustang but he ventured off to Mopar and made some real inroads in to solving some big production/manufacturing problems Chrysler had.
What really impressed me was how hard he worked lobbying for money. Iacocca didn't just want a handout and then watch their money grow. He knew Chrysler's work would only keep getting as intense as ever once Fed. monies came to their aid. Iacocca, an autobiography, is a must-read if you have even an inkling of a curiosity or interest in this American manufacturing legend. I have nothing but respect for the man, ya know, what was he supposed to do, just tell everyone to put their head between their legs and kiss their hindquarters goodbye? Nope-he stuck to the course even when thousands wrote Chrysler and him off for good. Those were the days.
I'm glad you can see where I'm coming from pal. The answer's are always easy but actually applying the fix well that's another story.
You spend all this money to retrain and then you have convince employers that hiring a newbyin the field is worth their time and money. Most employers want experience and while you jump from place to place filling out apps, sending/faxing resumes, your bank is ready to foreclose on your home because you have tens of thousands in college debt at 9% interest. :sick:
Oh, that's another thing! If your credit is spiralling down the toilet while you're looking for work, then who is going to hire you? Fair or unfair, employers do look at credit history.
Comments
The Astra and Aura appear to be great rigs. I'm glad I picked the Mitsubishi Lancer GTS but I gave each of those a short look. Mexico it is then, they need to do what they've got to do.
rock, will the new Volt be built in the U.S. completely? Price yet? Built only by UAW members? Completely electric powertrain?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Yes, but I'm certain it won't contain 100% domestic content if that answers your question ?
Price yet?
Sub $30K based on rumors. Nothing has been officially announced based on my current knowledge.
Built only by UAW members?
Yes, it's in the UAW-GM contract.
Completely electric powertrain?
Yes, a plug-in hybrid. The internal combustion engine is only used to power the electric powertrain.
-Rocky
Now, hit the books! BTW-I need to study some of my Respiratory Therapy books some more this set of days off. Got to stay ahead of those chance encounters of something tricky coming up medically that I rarely see. Those can be the tough ones...having to quickly set something up to handle a patient's immediate situational need that you rarely get a chance to work with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I'm talkin' about! :P
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
LOL, I don't see you driving a american vehicle.
Now, hit the books!
I can't as I don't start class until next Monday. Why else do you think I'm on here this late ?
BTW-I need to study some of my Respiratory Therapy books some more this set of days off. Got to stay ahead of those chance encounters of something tricky coming up medically that I rarely see. Those can be the tough ones...having to quickly set something up to handle a patient's immediate situational need that you rarely get a chance to work with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I'm talkin' about!
Sounds interesting.....I'm thankful I only have to be in class everyday for just a week. 50% of the people fail this test my boss said. He says it's a tough one.
Well I do need to hit the hay soon as I have some errands to take care of tomorrow.
-Rocky
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071029/AUTO01/710290333/1148-
-Rocky
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071029/AUTO01/710290364/1148-
-Rocky
KFC abandons employee to avoid paying workers comp costs
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Oldsmobile Ohm
Pontiac Phase
Buick Battery
Cadillac Charge
Saturn Surge
Saab Shock
Competitors to the Volt:
Acura Ampere
Toyota Transformer
VW Watt
Union or non-union employees caught doing unsafe procedures should be called on the carpet and or fired.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
-Rocky
This is the cause of globalization. :sick: A simple Halloween costume isn't safe !!!!
I guess if the company makes a buck and a kid dies it's no loss.
-Rocky
I think you meant it is the result of globalization. What worries me even more is the food we get from all over the planet with little or no FDA inspection. It is not limited to Chinese imports. Japan has sold us some shoddy foods also. I wonder how much beer that Kobe beef I ate, really got.
Ocean fresh sushi? Quality marbled beef? Exquisite confections? Think again. Japan has been hit by a slew of food safety and false labeling scandals that threaten to wreck its image as a country of culinary wonders, squeaky-clean factories and impeccable sanitation.
In the most recent scandal, a venerable maker of traditional Japanese sweets was found to have recycled the red bean filling in its rice cakes, collecting old filling from leftover boxes and shipping them out as new.
Investigators also found that Akafuku Co., based in western Japan, had long misguided consumers by shipping out old sweets it stored in freezers after they were stamped with a production date that was actually the date old cakes were thawed.
"I knew what we were doing was wrong," a grave-looking Akafuku President Noriyasu Hamada told reporters Tuesday. "The responsibility lies with me."
Those revelations came on the heels of a raid by health authorities of meat processor Meat Hope Co. in northern Japan on suspicions it falsely labeled pork, chicken and beef mixture as pure ground beef — a practice media reports said had gone on at least two decades. Its president was arrested Wednesday for violating Japan's competition laws, which ban the false labeling of products.
A separate meat processor was accused last week of taking meat from retired roosting chickens — which the company had bought at rock-bottom prices — and shipping them out as top-quality free-range chicken.
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/25/1049123-japan-food-safety-comes-under-s- crutiny
I've also beacame even more paranoid of what I eat now. I look at where it's grown/made before I dare eat it. :surprise:
John Edwards, also warned on his presidential webpage that some generic pharmaceutical drugs are being made in china. I didnot know that was happening until yesterday
-Rocky
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Meanwhile, the Chinese mission of car building pants on. It's very difficult to get a Dodge Hornet update...or I'm looking in the wrong places.
Chery and Dodge are silent little worker bees on the new Mini-Cooper fighter they're working on.
Here's an attempt at something on topic...how does the UAW fit in to Chery Motors of China. Are they willing to take on about 10,000 UAW Chrysler workers to help build the A1 and Hornet over there? Yeah!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I'm not sure I understand your question as the UAW workers are here in this country and why would Chery, have to take them on ? :confuse:
-Rocky
Chery would no doubt hire Chinese workers before American UAW workers, yep.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
-Rocky
The Axeman Cometh
-Rocky
Do they have a surplus of lead in China or what?
If Chrysler indeed becomes merely a distributor of Chinese-made cars with their besmirched name on them, you can cross Mopar off my list. It's bad enough Levi's has gone that route. Do you know Elmer's Glue is actually made in China? What's next Coca~Cola with lead? Good God, if they start making soft drinks in China, they'll have to change the names:
New Leaded Soft Drinks from China!
Croak-a-Cola, (was Coca~Cola)
Dr. Kevorkian, (was Dr. Pepper)
7-Down, (was 7-Up)
Crystal Lead, (was Crystal Lite)
Leadsi, (was Pepsi)
White Cross, (was White Rock)
Mao's, (was Ma's)
Watch out! Next thing you know Ford will outsource the manufacture of the Grand Marquis to China and we'll get a Mercury that is actually made of mercury!
-Rocky
-Rocky
-Rocky
Diamler, ran Chrysler, into the ground. :sick:
-Rocky
Diamler, ran Chrysler, into the ground.
That's what ATT did when they bought NCR. They sold off assets around the world and then didn't invest in the company. Then they split it back off minus all the wealth NCR had accumulated. NCR is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, where John Patterson started NCR and started manufacturing cash registers. People like him and Kettering (electric starter motor, e.g.) made this a manufacturing mecca. Now all the jobs are in Korea and China.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
-Rocky
As for the workers saying "I wouldn't have voted 'yes' if I knew this could happen" - is Chrysler supposed to get blood from a stone?
It has been clear for months now that Chrysler has been overproducing its vehicles. There just isn't enough demand for its vehicles to justify current production levels. Something had to give.
This is the way the real world works. If demand for a product or service falls, the company cuts back. Dumping vehicles in rental fleets and offering mega-discounts to keep factories running (and UAW members employed) ruins resale values and brand reputations over the long run.
The simple fact is that GM, Ford and Chrysler no longer "control" the American new vehicle market, and they can't go on acting as though they sell 85-90 percent of all new vehicles.
In the long run, Cerebus and Alan Mullaly may bring a dose of sorely needed reality to Detroit. And that would be a good thing.
"I really want this job, but we already had cutbacks here. It's hard to understand why they keep asking for more sacrifices"...
What is it about falling market share and lack of profits that she apparently does not understand???...she obviously believes that Ford just has "JOBS" for people and that money comes from thin air...
It is this total lack of understanding of business, which is really 9th grade thinking, that strikes home as to why I hold unions and their members in such contempt...THEY SIMPLY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THEIR JOB COMES FROM AND WHY JOBS ARE EXPANDED OR ELIMINATED...
Like believing in Peter Pan, she just thinks that Ford should employ everyone, because it would be so nice if everyone had a job and they just stopped asking for concessions...
Read it, rocky...this is the mentality of the UAW, and, that is why the union should NEVER have a say in ANY company decisions, because to them the company is just a magical place where paychecks come from the sky...
Do I feel companssion for those losing their jobs???...absolutely yes, I do...but the way they are misled by their union, when business conditions are slapping them in the face, yet they ignore it, demanding raises to make cars that no one is (apparently) buying, and they wonder why jobs are disappearing...
And what I find utterly ignorant, they will NEVER understand why job losses are occurring because they have folks like rocky telling them they DESERVE their jobs, when the real world of the marketplace tells them otherwise...
The world is changing, and the union needs to figure it out, as they seem to be the only one who does not understand...
rocky, if you REALLY cared about these people, you would tell them not to hold onto the past, like buggy whip makers when cars were coming on the scene, but that they should sign up for retraining ASAP, and learn a new trade or skill...it is the union lovers who are holding back progress because all the thousands of unemployed workers need to be trained with new skills and for the jobs of the future...but since everyone is yelling "strike until you get what you want", they are only digging themselves a deeper hole by the day...
That is what you would do if you really understood what business and change are all about...hep retrain them into new skills, just like horseshoe makers (blacksmiths???), buggy whip makers, and wagon wheel makers adapted in the early 1900s when the car was becoming the dominant force...
You would have told the buggy whip makers to go on strike, holding back their personal and economic progress, when the faster they get retrained, the faster they can get better jobs and support their families...and yes, prepare them to move out of the rust belt, because they need to make some residential changes, too...
Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs and remove four models from its lineup.
I guess obviously you didn't "get" what she was saying ????
What she was saying is they made all these sacrifices to retain jobs for UAW, members and after all the slashing and burning on wages and benefits it was still not enough to save those jobs. I guess hindsight is 20/20 and everybody kept whispering if you sacrifice this contract and go without any raises, slash your benefits you will save decent jobs for future generations. Hell they might as well went on strike and make the corporations sign job gaurantees or else !!!! Really what did Chrysler employees get in return after all the cuts ? A Pink slip to 12,000 employees and more to come !!!!!
I love how you question my feelings for these people Marsha7. :mad: Your comments are out of line !!!
I do care about these people and just saying to everybody when things get rough go "retrain" is utter non-sense unless you have a job lined up. It's not remotely cheap to go retrain and not have anything their when your done.
I understand you follow in lock step with what comes out of the white house, but he's living in another world.
-Rocky
Cerburus, makes me puke !!! :sick:
-Rocky
I think what you had with job guarantees in UAW contracts was and is unique. I do not know of a Teamster contract that guarantees no layoffs when business is slow. I think that protecting seniority, wages, working conditions & benefits is legitimate. Job banks and guaranteed employment seems over the top to me. If the company does not need the least senior person they should be able to give them severance and lay them off. Losing your job is always going to be traumatic. Being prepared when you see the business losing ground is the individuals responsibility in a free society. Even a rat knows when to get off a sinking ship. The Big 3 are sinking ships, as much as I want them to succeed, they are not doing well.
Is it by design, or just how business evolves? Greed from top to bottom, may be the culprit. How many car companies that were once big no longer exist?
When I think about those eras where the laid-off workers got other jobs and then if recalled quit those and went back to work at GM plants in the Greater Dayton Area (back when it was Greater Dayton and not Politically-ruined Dayton).
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Ooops. I misspoke. The big pay, overfed guys in the suits just moved the work to India. Transciption is alive and well, and so are the big guys' higher and higher pay rates.
How does this compare to UAW's problems.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Computers? - Sorry, not everybody is a computer geek and to really succeed you have to live, eat, breathe, think, and worship computers. Everybody else sees it as a thankless job.
Medical Assistant? Wow! I can spend $10,000 to get a $25,000/yr. job. What a great investement!
Auto Mechanic? I know I'd like to do this, but who's going to hire me after I get out of technical school? I just better be dang sure I picked the right school! I've heard nightmares about guys who went to some technical school and dealers wouldn't hire them on account of them attending that particular school.
Truck Driver? OTR Experience is more important than a truck driving diploma.
College? Well, wouldn't we ALL love a free college education! For this auto worker, it ain't gonna happen unless she has a rich philanthropist uncle. Well, first she has to pass an entrance exam or Unc has to buy the college a new stadium.
It's called the Trade Act. We put our house on the block in the beautiful Skagit Valley of Washington state. The deal was that if I made passing grades in college(a 'C' or above)I would receive Unemployment Insurance from the state of Washington(we moved to Missouri)weekly. It was $453/week back then in 2003, so not too shabby, really. The weekly payments were to continue long enough to get me an Associate's Degree, for the re-training program I chose.
Our house sold within a month(thanks to a great R.E.agent)and we rented a small 2 BD house for $350/month in the little central Missouri town I enrolled in college at. The Trade Act paid for my books and tuition. Fully, completely.
Of course, we had bills to pay like everyone else. But we were comfortable paying those bills and anything else that cropped up because of that sweet $453/week unemployment insurance from Washington state.
Now, to be realistic, I had to be my own best advocate getting all of this lined up with the various agencies. It's about staying on top of bid-ness if you want re-training bad enough. So, I was able to go get an Associate's Degree in Respiratory Therapy and re-enter the job market after the one year and nine months of college/clinicals. And I did not have to work during those 21 months of training-just go to school and study hard.
Now, it's not like I could just snap my fingers and it was all easy as pie, but the plan worked. I'm wondering if such a plan still exists for UAW members.
Fortunately, Boeing invested money and time in to the Trade Act and edumacated all interested parties as to the proper channels to take(and there are a few of them)to get set up to do this. I'd check it out if you are interested in re-training. We were able to get this Fed. Aid because we lost our jobs due to foreign competition(Airbus Industrie).
Humm...who would Ford, GM and Chrysler's nasty foreign competition be...?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Do I agree with sending jobs over seas. Absolutely NOT. I think we can thank BOTH sides of the Congressional aisle for jobs lost in the USA.
What really impressed me was how hard he worked lobbying for money. Iacocca didn't just want a handout and then watch their money grow. He knew Chrysler's work would only keep getting as intense as ever once Fed. monies came to their aid. Iacocca, an autobiography, is a must-read if you have even an inkling of a curiosity or interest in this American manufacturing legend. I have nothing but respect for the man, ya know, what was he supposed to do, just tell everyone to put their head between their legs and kiss their hindquarters goodbye? Nope-he stuck to the course even when thousands wrote Chrysler and him off for good. Those were the days.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I'm glad you can see where I'm coming from pal. The answer's are always easy but actually applying the fix well that's another story.
You spend all this money to retrain and then you have convince employers that hiring a newbyin the field is worth their time and money. Most employers want experience and while you jump from place to place filling out apps, sending/faxing resumes, your bank is ready to foreclose on your home because you have tens of thousands in college debt at 9% interest. :sick:
-Rocky
-Rocky
-Rocky