Maybe you're not fat drunken or lazy, but the guy next to you who shows up to work drunk only does half as much work and then goes back to the bar on lunch is going to be guaranteed a job and the same wage increases you are regardless of weather or not he produces the same numbers.

 

Scott,
Nicely put .

 

There is absolutely no good reason that someone involved in any step of the actual assembly of a vehicle should be paid that kind of money. There is not a single step in the assembly process that should require more then a $20/hr employee and even that is a stretch for most of the work required.

 

Have you ever done an assembly line job?
I'm betting not.

 

I am a UAW Teamster. I haul cars for the big 3 & any other car made in the USA (Honda, Mitsubishi, etc).

After my accident I was off 2 years. My membership in the union ensured that my job would be secure & available for me when I was healthy enough to do the job safely.

I wonder how many of your employers would save your job for that long. My bet is that very few would save your job, and would have had a full timer in there as soon as they knew you would be off for an extended time.

The system is not perfect & there might well be some lazy people there (what place doesnt have at least 1 lazy drunk?). I dont mind the lazy ones where I work, because when those slackers are at home banging the old lady, I'm at work getting jobs that they weren't there to get. I just hope that there were higher in senority that I am, then I get to pick the loads they would have got.

Union memberships are down from years ago. Much of the lazy conception that you picture is something that existed years ago. If the unions left tomorrow, it would just mean more profit for the Companies, not better jobs for the average.

The $ that these workers make, most likely feed the comunity in some way or another. If these well paying jobs weren't there, our lives in Michigan would certainly be different. I respect your opinion, but I think when you are looking from the outside in, you see things in a different light than you would as a member. I'll give Mr. Hoffa your love.

 

The race to THE BOTTOM is on ! Last UAW contract 9/2003 production workers did not get a raise, skilled trades recived a .30 per hour tool allowance.
The other day I priced new homes in my area; 1305 sq. ft., 2 car garage, no upgrades $199,990. Taxes $3000, homeowners ins. $900. And that price does not include A/C. If you think the average person can afford this on non union wages, go for it.

 

Im in the laborers union and i make $23.75 an hour, but i dont work all the time! Im on call 24-7 and have to leave movies, dinner, ballgames, etc! Then i work in the worst areas of the steel mills, that the mill people will not even do! And one of the worst jobs is called a reheat and we go in a furnace that has shut down for 12 hours and is still 200 + degrees and shovel steel slag. So imagine turning your oven on at home too 200 and if it was super big, getting in and working! I do think that making good money for hard work is what a union helps do! But at the same time they are mainly 95% for the money they make off us! But i could never see working 60 hours a week 52 weeks a year and not make what i make half a year! wages below $14 an hour are for kids or people who live with their parents. No one with a house payment, car payment, or kids can afford to live making that much! And some unions you get the good work when you know the union guys and then you get calls all the time!

 

when i hired in at AAM in 99 there were about 50 of us and when we went on a 3 day orientation and toured the plants, about 15 people never showed up the next day because they were disgusted in the type of enviroment they experienced walking through, and everyone wonders why health care is so expensive.
The plant i work in does have a good ventilatoin system when it's working. just a couple more tib bits to ponder.
oh and while working an average of 50 to 60 hours a week i even find time to do side work on other peoples cars and my own 9 second Z. FAT, LAZY, DRUNKEN, UNIONIZED AUTOWORKER.

 

dammit Scott we already clarified that not all, YOURSELF INCLUDED, fall into that stereotype. And you know you are a hard worker so STFU!!

 

As usual you are talking about something you know nothing about. What does a motel pimp know about a real job? Wait til Motel 6 tells you they don't need you anymore and let your sorry rear end go to some one younger and willing to work for 1/2 what they pay you.
Have a nice day Eric.

 

I have been averaging 2 new American vehicle purchases a year for quite some time now, but I dont know how long that will last. Higher fuel prices are hurting my auto transport earnings and less people seem to be spending money on the car of their dreams. The US balance of trade in 03 was minus 43 BILLION dollars with China at 10.5 billion of that. Now that China is becoming industrialized, they are requiring more fuel and steel which is running up the prices on the world market. Americans are fu(king themselves by buying cheap products from China. This trade imbalance is going to swallow the US economy if it isnt reversed.
Cant afford a new GTO, so I am looking at used Trans Ams.

 

Once again, you havent a clue. I worked at Warren Stamping(guess what, thats a UAW plant). I hated factory work, but i hated the fact even more that the same lazy asses who never made it to work on time, got caught drinking on the line, running an illegal lottery AND selling drugs, ALWAYS managed to keep his job thanks to the good old union rep. There were a ton of guys that did a great job every day, and deserve every penny they got, but the unions like to misdirect energy protecting as$holes.

As far as Motel 6 goes, i didnt like the job, or the pay, or their demands that i work 7 days a week , so I quit. Easy enough. I dont need a union to demand they pay me more, they can hire in someone for cheaper, and soon enough, it will cost them. People work harder when they feel appreciated, when they feel used, they generally produce poor results. If companies want to screw their employees, it will burn them in the long run.

 

Ofcourse I know where she was built. However, I did not say that we should hault the import of vehicles, I merely suggested that we should put a limit on what is brought into this country... Simple math states that if less people have the ability to purchase an imported vehicle, than the more people are going to purchase a domestic built vehicle. You can not argue this math, and as for this "global market" that you speak of, well that is the bi-product of decades of contracting jobs to other countries, the american economy has no reason to be as globally based as it is...back to the original idealism behind this post. There would be a substantially reduced "global economy" within the U.S. if our own country could self contain the BILLIONS of dollars that are spent each year trying to keep up with the import companies. It is common knowledge that even if the vehicles are mass produced here (and many are not), the majority of the money goes back over seas where the money originated. Yes, the workers are American, aaaaaannnddd Yes, the workers get paid, however, unfortunatly these empires care far less about the well being of our countries economy, and far more about the economic infrustructure of their own company.

Charlie

 

Ah Men Sir.

Charlie

 

SO basically, you want to take away the ability for US citizens to decide what kind of car they want to purchace.

Why dont we concentrate more on making quality products in OUR plants, so people will want to buy our products.

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