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Life is good at the top of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers.
The union, with its headquarters in Kansas City, Kan., represents about 59,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada who make and repair boilers, fit pipes and work on ships and power plants. The recession has hit their trade hard, reducing union membership.
At the same time, the president’s salary has surged 67 percent in the past six years, notcounting a recent raise. Add in travel and some other expenses, and Newton B. Jones received more than $600,000 last year, putting him at the absolute top of the presidents of the dozen biggest unions in the country.
Many relatives of union officers also ride the payroll.
Totaling the pay to just the families of Jones and two other executives, the union and its affiliates gave them more than $2 million in annual salary, according to the most recent financial reports filed by the organizations.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/05/13/148607/hefty-salaries-perks-for-union.html-
As for Facebook, I don't venture there with any real information. The lack of security is amazing. A few years back some computer virus was passed around through something on Facebook. And it sucks information from your email lists, etc., to use to try to propagate itself. Indeed, a similar thing just happened with someone we knew 7 years ago who apparently had my email in his lists from Boy Scout days: LinkedIn keeps sending me his name on an email wanting me to join so it can use my email name lists.
They're both as bad as the Re: virus that kept sending ads under others' emails accounts with "Re: xxxxxxx" that it gleaned somehow.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As far as Unions I fought against corruption in our Teamster Local for 37 years. It is someone else's turn to look at where the Union funds are going.
Like you, I was MOST disappointed when Edmunds shut down the off-topic forum for politics, and now spend very little time here. I really enjoyed the banter between the members, and thought things were overall very civil.
Like Imadizol, I won't post on Facebook due to security concerns.
What other sites are good for the political banter we used to enjoy here?
:confuse:
As an on topic comment, Rocky considers the current UAW president Bob King, a traitor to the UAW and America. Over his endorsement of KORUS and other Free Trade Agreements that are taking jobs from the middle class workers here.
Personally, I was getting tons of email related to it - telling me I needed to jump in and remove this post or that post, and if I didn't, I was clearly biased and unfit to host. Then following removals, I'd get emails from members intimating that I must be a die-hard this or that if I removed their post and not the other one, and basically assuming that I should devote more attention to it lest a nasty post remain in that thread for 10 minutes. That's not a valuable use of an automotive message board host's time.
There may be a time when we consider hosting an off-topic discussion that is politically-oriented, but not right now. At this point, I and the other hosts who monitored that discussion need to use our time to focus on tasks that serve the primary purpose of this website.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Agreed. I just don't trust too much of my information on there.
Where's Rocky when you need a good discussion on the UAW? :P
Actually, the UAW seems pretty quiet after Gettlefinger left. King made a lot of noise about unionizing the transplants, but I haven't seen much of any news on that. Is the UAW tamed, or are they just biding their time?
Needless to say Rocky was livid. He considers Bob King a traitor.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
I didn't realize it had eventually been deleted. At first I thought it should have been kept, but then I realized its content was mostly contemporaneous. Should have exorcized!
I'd like to see a new poltically open topic to replace it. Perhaps one with the reminders that opinions will differ, don't go ballistic, and don't bother the hosts if your feelings get hurt. And I'd suggest purging the posts after they are a couple of months because of the time-based content. That's how my web-based email account does the trash folder; they are purged after 90-days of age.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
And that's just from the hosts. :P
Guess I'm out of luck if I wanted to support the UAW.
Mission Impossible: Finding a Minivan Made in America by Union Workers (dissidentvoice.org)
Personally any auto company that manufactures here is good as far as I am concerned. I still blame the UAW for a lot of the off shoring of auto maker jobs.
For looks though, that VW concept Bus 5 or 6 years ago had a lot of curb appeal.
Haven't heard how the UAW recruiting down in Chattanooga was going. They probably think UAW is just the texting way of saying you all. LOL UAW.
You could perhaps have a hybrid topic, by year or quarter, which would get deleted at a pre-determined time and replaced by a new one. For example, you could do one now like "What does the 2012 election mean for the Auto industry?" - and have it delete in November. Then replace that with "The first year of the (new or renewed) administration - how will it affect the D3?", etc.
Actually I pretty much agree. We have an '04 Ody which is noticably narrower than the later 2 gens of Ody's. The previous gen to current was somewhat bloated but OK, and the new one is ugly. The Dodge vans I though were pretty good looking from the mid '90's into the mid 00's; now they are at least as ugly to me as the Ody. The last 2 gens of Quest IMHO were very ugly, and the Sienna I've never seen as nice looking, but it's also not so ugly as all the recent ones.
Actually it seems that a lot of makes have taken a styling step backward. The newest A4 IMHO, the TL, the TSX. Haven't seen a new Malibu yet, so can't comment on that one.
You know something seems relevant to cars that I heard quoted from Steve Jobs - he wanted every Apply product to "feel like a jewel in the hand". Hence the chrome backed ipod, the glass iphones, the aluminum forged macs. Brands that look and feel like jewels do well even when their reliability is not so good (previous generations VWs as an example; Audis). But beauty is both the quality of materials as well as the quality of assembly. Can the UAW do the latter? The Cruze IMHO comes decently close to a vehicle that looks nice, and also is very nice inside at the higher trim levels. When you skimp on quality (materials or assembly), your brand becomes known as junky, even if it is a good "value".
And that's just from the hosts.
Wait, you forgot about the “decaying empire, silver spoons cabal, neocon elite, modern day robber barons, brainwashed sheep, inheritance elite empire, intellectual criminals, brainwashed, chickenhawk warmongering, criminal career politico, traitorous slugs, inheritance elite empire, silver spoon tycoonery, treacherous elite, corporatist globalist overlords, religious psychopaths, blind sympathizers, political den of insanity and injustice, brainless political correctness, traitorous top few, Corporate Sell-Out Party, masked oligarchy, decayed political movement, Ayn Rand nutjobs, egalitarian meritocracy, special interest factions, backwards socialism, reverse socialist oligarchy, and the parasitic and criminal financial industry.”
Seriously, does anyone really miss that kind of stuff? Please, no more politics on Edmunds, unless it pertains to cars! Political posts have no place on a car forum. :P
I see the opposite.
In their own discussion, the political posts work just fine. Those who don't want to read that discussion, simply don't "watch" it and don't read it. Having the previous politically polite topics that we had here on Edmunds kept the every present political mentions out of other discussions, such as this one. Some, like this one, the stock market discussion, and the GM discussion, are politically-connected topics. To wit the UAW has been linked as the source of downfall of the world civilation in some posts. In others, GM's having been saved with a cash infusion by the previous president or this one is the source of all problems for the cultural downfall in the US.
I definitely believe the political discussion is a good area to have.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Maybe the resources used for a political thread can be diverted to giving this place more consistent uptime and 21st century features, as it still kind of resembles a 1980s UAW product - fine much of the time, but iffy sometimes :shades:
Are you suggesting that blank images on the righthand bar are a bad thing? :P
At least the emotorcons are working today. :surprise:
Let's hope so - for the first time in a long time, I find the previous generations of certain vehicles far more appealing. Many of them are less cheaped-out, as well. It makes me want to replace my current 120K+ miles car with a 3-4 yo used vehicle instead of new, get better styling, and save some money in the process.
It is kind of surprising how quiet the UAW has become. They were a big part of the process during the BK, and then they kind of just quieted down. Perhaps because they now have ownership/skin in the game for the success of GM, etc.?
They may be working the phones over in Wisconsin. Gov. Walker's recall election is in three weeks and he's holding a six point lead. If he survives the recall, and it looks like he will, other public officials will be enboldened to whack away at union rights
In a potentially ominous sign for the Obama campaign, a new poll has declared Wisconsin a true tossup state, finding President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a 46%-46% tie among likely voters.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/16/warning-signs-in-wisconsin-for-obama/
On the subject of overpaid public employees, our secretary, who's got to be around 78, said she's gotten fed up with what Obama is doing, and is going to retire at the end of this year. On the federal level, supposedly they're trying to make some changes such as basing your retirement off of your high 5 years rather than your high 3, and also upping the amount of your salary you have to contribute by 5%. I think the federal govt employees on the old CSRS plan currently put in 7 or 7.9% of their pay to fund their retirement, so this would boost it to 12 or 12.9%.
On top of that, she hasn't gotten a raise in the past few years, so she's saying it's just not worth it to keep working. I wonder if a lot of older federal gov't workers, who are under that old CSRS system, will feel the same way?
And that was a real bargain, for the workers. Remember, those workers did not have to pay into SS (but they also are not eligible for SS benefits). So their 7% or 7.9% contribution is close to what a private sector employee pays into SS (6% except for the last 2 years), but well under the 12% the employee and his/her employer pays into SS.
Someone retiring from the govt after 40 years or so gets something like 80% of his highest 3 year average salary. Someone retiring from the private sector collects, at most, something like $30,156/year from SS. I assume that's at 65 or 66, whereas the government retiree could collect his 80% at age 58 or 60.
Oh, I looked up this one woman who recently went out on disability (real or otherwise, it's suspect, but I guess we'll never know). She was making $97,333 according to that site you posted. She bought her house in 1999, for $189,900. Now in theory, you'd think by now she should have a nice chunk of equity in it. But, late last year, it went on the market, as a short sale, for $305,000! So rather than having equity after 12 years, they were actually under water, to the tune of at least $115,100!
It ultimately sold for $266K, and I don't know where she moved off to. But, I guess all that living for the moment stuff doesn't seem like such a good idea, once the moment is past.
Oh, as for what she was driving? A fairly new Prius. Plus, her husband had a fairly new F150. Oh, and let's not talk about the His & Hers Harleys.
She and her husband were best friends with the people who lived behind my grandmother. Ironically, those people defaulted on their mortgage around the same time and their $375K-in-2007 house went for something like $153K a few months ago. Those people have packed up and disappeared. I've heard that they were actually on the lam for identity theft, credit fraud, etc. Hope they didn't end up screwing my former colleague over, somehow.
"President Barack Obama’s 2012 budget was slammed May 16 as an “attack on the middle class and our most vulnerable citizens” by the United Auto Workers (UAW)."
Auto union slams Obama budget as ‘attack on the middle class’ (Fox)
They didn't like the four GOP budget proposals either.
Obama may have more than budget problems with the UAW, if the Harvard Law Review Bio turns out to be legit.
But in union news, this HuffPo commentator tosses out some interesting quotes:
"Putting workers first is profitable," he concluded. "It feels so good when you get through the looking glass to the other side."
"The industrial affiliates of the AFL-CIO did something magical at that time. They took reference calls for us reassuring potential investors in KPS of our firm's successful track record in turning around companies, and in the power of working constructively with unions."
Six years later HHI, whose workers are variously represented by the United Steelworkers (USW), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and The Workers United "is the among the most profitable auto parts company in the world on a cash flow margin basis and was solidly profitable and cash flowing straight through the automotive crisis in 2008-2009."
Hopefully you're keeping the unions at bay down in Georgia...