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I don't know if we have any UAW employees on this forum, but I'm hoping so in order to get inside the collective UAW head...
As I understand it, GM is banking on 2010 to save them because they think the UAW concessions and plant closures will kick in, and volume will go back up. In the meantime, they're burning through $5bn a month and they expect to get $10-$12bn out a $25bn government i.e. taxpayer loan. They think this will get them to 2010. Doing simple math, I see this getting them to Feb or March 2009.
They won't take $1/year salaries and keep flying around in their jets. The management is obviously bad, and isn't getting any better. They are obviously part of the problem. Now having said all this...
I also keep hearing Gettelfinger say that it's an economic problem and the UAW has done all they can. He won't even pull ahead these magic 2010 changes. I see interviews and IReports and such from UAW employees blaming GM and the economy and saying they've already pitched in enough and that the government should bail them out (I saw one person quoted saying this in a story... maybe he's the lone UAW nut, who knows).
The taxpayers would be paying for any $25bn loan, and the UAW won't concede anything, so in effect the taxpayers would be paying to keep GM and all these jobs etc going, as well as keep the UAW employees where they're currently at. Where they're currently at, is they make more and have significantly better benefits than most of the taxpayers that would pay for some GM bailout.
As a UAW worker, why do you think people making less than you with worse benefits (by and large) should pay to help you keep your job and more so your current pay and benefits, when you're doing nothing additional beyond what was in the last contract renegotiation to help keep your own jobs? This is a serious question. I'd like to try to understand how someone (besides Gettelfinger) rationalizes this.
As I understand it, GM is banking on 2010 to save them because they think the UAW concessions and plant closures will kick in, and volume will go back up. In the meantime, they're burning through $5bn a month and they expect to get $10-$12bn out a $25bn government i.e. taxpayer loan. They think this will get them to 2010. Doing simple math, I see this getting them to Feb or March 2009.
In theory could GM get the money from the government and then promptly file for bankruptcy?
Funny how the wall-streeters who got us into this mess TO BEGIN WITH received money hand over fist without MENTION of taking pay cuts. And those folks working there make FAR MORE than any UAW working member could IMAGINE to make.
If I was UAW I'd tell management to take a hike too. F'em. Slightly less pay isn't going to save the Company. Using high quality parts in cars/trucks that are designed well would save the Company.
It's also often pointed out what a burden the retirees pose to GM. What is left out is the fact that GM has been losing market share due to producing an inferior product for DECADES and that has subsequently forced them to cut back on the amount of cars produced. If GM had the market share they had 30 years ago this wouldn't even be an issue.
Is it the workers fault GM uses cheap parts in cars designed horribly? Absolutely not.
Also, if you think the UAW has better pay and benefits than you, why aren't you working there right now?
If automakers could maintain the salaries and benefits while remaining profitable...no one would care.
Now that my taxes are being given to the automakers without my consent ...I mind.
It is time for Chrysler to get acquired. First the govt bailed them out and then Daimler. A GM - Chrysler tandem could work. Reduce overhead, rationalize the product lines and come out leaner to compete globally with Ford, Toyota, etc....
As a UAW worker, why do you think people making less than you with worse benefits (by and large) should pay to help you keep your job and more so your current pay and benefits, when you're doing nothing additional beyond what was in the last contract renegotiation to help keep your own jobs? This is a serious question. I'd like to try to understand how someone (besides Gettelfinger) rationalizes this.
I'm far from being a UAW worker, but allow me to contribute. First of all, if they keep their, as you call it, higher paying job, they (have and) would be contributing more as tax payers than those who are also tax payers but make less.
And who doesn't want the best benefits? I certainly do, and will do anything to get it. Those top executives do too, and they have an easier way to get things done.
We have got to look at this issue without being divisive and short sighted. We have to consider the realities that go with any decision we make. I consider job losses, and proliferation of lower pay (barely or NOT keeping up with inflation) as one of the more significant reasons for this economic mess. Job losses on this scale don't just affect those individuals who lost their jobs, but you and me too, and there is a cascading effect, more so for us being a consumer based economy.
Another big handicap that American Automakers deal with (besides horrible management at the top, which is utterly clueless and entirely based on "tradition" and "educational qualification" and not innovative thinking), is benefits. Right wing media likes to show how much more UAW workers make, often using misrepresentation of facts.
A good example if healthcare. It costs $1500/car to GM, and they compete against likes of Honda and Toyota who have socialized healthcare in their country, costing them about $150/car.
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