UAW goes on STRIKE!

[exitspeed]

From Autoblog:

We had the TV on at 11:00AM EST expecting to see CNN, MSNBC and Fox News providing up to the minute coverage of the UAW's potential strike in the wake of failed contract negotiations with General Motors. Only CNN is covering the strike at this point, and it's 11:15 now. CNN, however, has been confused as to whether a strike is actually happening. They've been running live footage of vehicles streaming out of GM's Warren plant while passing picketers waving signs that read "UAW on Strike". Looks like a strike to us. The Detroit News, however, is not so confused, and is reporting that 73,000 workers at 59 plants were told yesterday that if they didn't hear otherwise by 11AM EST, they were to walk off the job. Word never came that an agreement had been reached, so GM's entire UAW workforce is walking off the job right now. The question remaining now is clear: how long can GM last?

We'll bring you more updates throughout the day as these historical events that could radically alter the automotive industry unfold.

UPDATE 8: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced it will honor the UAW's picket lines and not cross them to deliver parts and cars to various plants.

UPDATE 7: Is it a token strike? Some analysts surmise that the UAW is holding a token strike to (ironically) obtain job security from GM, which the automaker, of course, can't guarantee anyway until this contract is finalized. That's a nasty Catch 22.

UPDATE 6: Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove will respond to news of the strike at 1:30PM EST. We'll let you know what he says. Read about his pessimistic response here.

UPDATE 5: GM has released an official statement (read in entirety after jump) in which it says "We are disappointed in the UAW's decision to call a national strike." Understatement of the Year nominee, right there, folks.

UPDATE 4: Kickingtires.net reports that GM has 67 days of inventory left at its current rate of sales. Popular vehicles like the Buick Enclave, however, have only a 26-day supply left.

UPDATE 3: Today would be a good day to have forums, but since we don't have them (yet), check out the forums at the Detroit Free Press where six pages of heated discussion are already underway.

UPDATE 2: Watch GM's stock price throughout the day over at BloggingStocks (GM). As of 11:21AM EST, it is up 1.01 (+2.89%) to 35.95.

UPDATE: Automotive News has its report up now, reiterating that UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said he was "shocked and disappointed" by GM's hard line stance during negotiations.


DISCUSS!

[mehsilvia]

Mark this date on your calendar. And if your gonna buy a GM product, avoid this production month - LOL

Maybe next month too, they are all gonna be disgruntled and sloppy for awhile. Or built by Scabs and fill-ins (janitors)

[exitspeed]

And here we have one of the reasons why the domestics have been building and selling inferior products for so many years. And a BIG reason they are in the rough shape are in today.

My father worked for GM for 27 years. I'm glad he got out when he did.

[Yuri]

Honestly, the UAW and other unions are the main reason that american manufacturers aren't going to recover from being passed by Toyota (not to mention other companies in the near future.)
With everything being unionized, (even the the clay modelers have a union, so designers can't touch the clay models in the US), it makes things difficult.
There's even a union for clay modeler handlers, so a model can't be moved until they show up.
It's all a load of BS.
Henry Ford was very anti-union, if you recall he had his personal guards open fire on a picket line. Unions made a bit more sense back when there were atrocious working conditions, but now they just seem to milk the manufacturer for all it's worth.
:jerkit:

[TheWolf]

I hope GM cans all union workers and brings in truckloads of legal mexicans. This whole, I get paid $20 an hour + benifits + health care + dental + retirement to do something that a burger chef could do is rediculous. The teamsters could die as well and no one would miss them either.

my friend gets paid $19.34 an hour to sit in a room at ford because his plant is closed. He could volunteer his time and say teach kids to read or build housing for the poor/homeless or do anything productive to society but he says that's to much like "work". He'd rather stare into space and sit in a room all day. So would about 4000 other workers there. Lazy SOB's. Shitcan them all. Cmon GM. Step upto the plate and drive the nail in the coffin of UAW.

[DRavenS13]

Not all unions are the same. There's a lot of corruption that goes on with unions that make these contracts, but find loopholes to not honor them, or they make shady ass, slimy deals with the companies that pay them off not to ask for more.

Unions still have a place as long as they fulfill their fundamental purpose- to keep employees from being exploited.

Example- My mom has been in the same union for 28 years (UFCW). They helped her in a lot of ways, like when she was being harassed at work by her manager, and when they came through for her after the L.A. riots burned down the store she was working at. They also helped her after she was in a motorcycle accident and messed up her knee really bad- the medical coverage she had back then completely fixed her up.

Now though, they're starting to fuck her over- Now that CVS bought out Sav-On, they're making it harder for the union workers. They negotiated a new contract with the union, which now has a lot of corrupt members and leaders, and her whole medical plan just got fucked off. It's difficult for her now that she's older and needs to go to the doctor more often, and she needs all her meds that she's paying through the nose for. Her pension rate is being reduced, and they pushed the age before she can retire- she has to wait like 5 more years I think.

Unions are not the problem- corrupt leadership and mismanagement is.

[SimpleS14]

my friend gets paid $19.34 an hour to sit in a room at ford because his plant is closed. He could volunteer his time and say teach kids to read or build housing for the poor/homeless or do anything productive to society but he says that's to much like "work". He'd rather stare into space and sit in a room all day. So would about 4000 other workers there. Lazy SOB's. Shitcan them all. Cmon GM. Step upto the plate and drive the nail in the coffin of UAW.

whoa...are you serious?????


Anywho, I'm not a fan of UAW and I do agree with some of you that it hurts the US Auto manufacturers.

[bristines14]

my uncle is part of them and he says they will prevail. LOL.

[lucky7]

It's all a load of BS.
Henry Ford was very anti-union, if you recall he had his personal guards open fire on a picket line. Unions made a bit more sense back when there were atrocious working conditions, but now they just seem to milk the manufacturer for all it's worth.
:jerkit:


its true. ive talked to people that have seen guys with their strike signs in the windshield of their car, and the guys sleeping in their car. :rolleyes:
i agree 100%. its not the '60's anymore. its time to try something new. the UAW is sucking the life out of the big 3. they're like fucking parasites. its an extremely heated disgussion around here. frankly, i think the majority or unions have served their purpose, and really dont benefit anyone anymore. its time for things to change. i would like to see metro detroit start to turn around. atleast the economy. want to know what it looks like? ive been exploring abandonments all over the city the past couple months. dont know what im reffering to?

recent:
http://www.zilvia.net/f//showthread.php?t=158007

older:
http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=156653

even older:
http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=152721

the amazing part is, some of these have been abandoned for 20+ years....and they're STILL STANDING. many people blame unions for things like this. i dont know how relavent the UAW is when it comes to the demise of the Packard auto company, etc. but im sure it was all a factor.

the auto companies have been the life and blood of detroit for so many years. when they hurt, then detroit hurts. the economy here HAS to be the worst in the country. its at an all time low. you can buy a house, for almost half its value in some situations. unemployment rate is through the roof. and yet, the uaw wants more. :bowrofl:
if they hold out for too long, there will be temp workers that come in, like someone above said. but these are people that really dont know what they're doing. i cant really get too involved in this topic, because i dont know as much as others. but when you look at the big picture. the auto union really doesnt have any benefit for the company and local economy. its just a serious drain.

[lucky7]

I hope GM cans all union workers and brings in truckloads of legal mexicans. This whole, I get paid $20 an hour + benifits + health care + dental + retirement to do something that a burger chef could do is rediculous. The teamsters could die as well and no one would miss them either.

my friend gets paid $19.34 an hour to sit in a room at ford because his plant is closed. He could volunteer his time and say teach kids to read or build housing for the poor/homeless or do anything productive to society but he says that's to much like "work". He'd rather stare into space and sit in a room all day. So would about 4000 other workers there. Lazy SOB's. Shitcan them all. Cmon GM. Step upto the plate and drive the nail in the coffin of UAW.


there are janitors, that come into work high as a kite, or drunk as shit that make $35/hour. if the supervisor thinks/knows they are under the influence, and cannot perform their work safely. they just send them home. they cant fire them. full benefits, something like 75% off GM vehicles, etc etc. ive done some work at one of the GM buildings. it was amazing. even the white collar employees were bitching about all the union workers behind their backs. it was really eye opening.

i talked to a guy one time that worked on the line. said the boss would send guys home because they were on coke and shit on the line. the boss had to fill in for them so they didnt kill someone using the equipment there. nothing they can do but tell them to go home. on the radio one time, they were talking about union workers. there were a couple guys that called in to say that on their lunch breaks, sometimes they would go to the bar. have a buddy clock them back in from lunch. stay at the bar until it was time to go home. but go clock out before going home. i have heard horror stories. its amazing its gone this far.

[lucky7]

check this shit out. this is what the Packard motor car company factory looks like as of 2 weeks ago...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1346/1437894846_f61ab46886_o.jpg
the LAST packard rolled off the line in 1956... 51 years ago..
3.5 MILLION square feet. MILLION. 35 acres. it just sits there.. thats the kind of shape this city is in. they used to pay guards to watch the place and keep people out. i dont think they are there any longer, as ive never seen them. but that picture isnt shit. i wish i could get an arial view. its the biggest building ive ever seen. its like 4 blocks.

[SimpleS14]

wow....just wow...I never knew it was so shitty (no offense to local folks).

An ideal solution is out there in the minds of many, but its easier said than done to implement....so I will digress from putting one out there.

[Yuri]

Don't forget the Fisher plant...
Used to be the best place for um... urban drifting....

[lucky7]

here we go. fisher body, from about 2 months ago.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1383/1107254639_7a3f1e0f07_o.jpg
during the 20's, it was the biggest manufacturing company in the world. 40 buildings equating to roughly 3,700,000 total square feet of manufacturing space... IIRC, the company was sold to GM in 1963 (right around '63). look at it now.. company started in 1908. they went from building wooden bodies for horse drawn carriages. then on to making the bodies for various car companies such as, cadillac, ford, etc. now there isnt much left. holes in the floor, all copper piping has been stolen and scrapped. graffiti everywhere. i drove by it since i was inside, and there is a big as hole blown in the side.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1327/1107254495_1de4423c71_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1378/1107733877_d923dd4140_o.jpg

where did you live at in michigan, yuri? ive seen you post on xceed a few years ago.

i have lots more pictures of abandoned buildings here in detroit on my flickr page, if anyone is interested.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

[KiDyNomiTe]

This makes me happy because the company I work for makes GM parts, now we dont have to ship them for a while, less money but less worries.

Now lets see how long this will go on for...

[exitspeed]

UPDATE:

Strike is over as of this morning. Workers could go back to work as early as second shift today.

[illvialuver]

Unions made a bit more sense back when there were atrocious working conditions, but now they just seem to milk the manufacturer for all it's worth.
:jerkit:

true that, all they do is screw workers over, with all this false sense of sucurity, just look at how screwed over the workers at the grocery stores were after they had a strike and the union went broke, and had to come crawling back to the big bussiness'.

[lucky7]

in this case, the auto compaines are the ones hurting the most.

[Yuri]

where did you live at in michigan, yuri? ive seen you post on xceed a few years ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

I went to CCS.
Yeah. I was one of those car design majors...
Lived on Kirby, would cruise Gratiot on weekends.
Watched rust bubbles form on my car, get hit up for change by bums, ride mountain bikes wearing a gorilla mask at 3 am in the ghetto, you know, the kind of fun stuff that Detroit has to offer...

[lucky7]

lol. cool shit. haha.

[cdlong]

update, looks like the UAW is taking some of the responsibility.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/26/news/companies/uaw_gm_deal/index.htm?postversion=2007092610