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Mexican Standoff: Who Can Last Longer, GM or the UAW?
General Motors’ unyielding stance in its contract dispute with the United Automobile Workers reflects its decision to accept the short-term pain of a strike to achieve its goals: a lower cost structure and more flexible work force to better compete against surging Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda.

“This really is a defining moment,” said James P. Womack, an expert on manufacturing and co-author of “The Machine That Changed the World,” which studied the plants of Japanese automakers in the United States. “G.M. has backed away from defining moments for generations. And now somebody there has finally said, ‘We have to do this because it’s a new era.’ ”

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Mexican Standoff: Who Can Last Longer, GM or the UAW?



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zairnaimzairnaim - 9/25/2007 5:00:11 PM
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in a perfect world people would not have to go on strike lol

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r_driver04r_driver04 - 9/25/2007 5:35:30 PM
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Didn't Reagan fire some people who went on strike?

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EL34EL34 - 9/25/2007 8:23:11 PM
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Yes, President Reagan fired the air traffic controllers.

I do not like Unions, nuff said.

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 9/25/2007 10:56:55 PM
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This situation is not about who can last longer. Both are going down in flames if they don't come to an agreement real quick. GM is not in a position to accept unreasonable demands and the UAW is not in a position to risk putting a domestic auto maker into Chapter 11.

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ShredmoShredmo - 9/25/2007 5:26:49 PM
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Wow, insulting people's intellegence, with the lack there of.

This is happening because GM is getting stronger and the UAW knows it. Face it, in all likelyhood, Ford and GM own companies in your nation that are successful. Wishing doom upon them is absurd.

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 9/26/2007 12:37:54 AMView My AgentSpace
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And GM is easily in the best position right now. While Ford and Chrysler continue to spew out crap products with zero sportiness and cheap interiors, GM is actually moving ahead. Style, reliability, performance and luxury are all going up across the line. They are too big to fail.

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85bmw745i85bmw745i - 9/26/2007 7:02:59 AMView My AgentSpace
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I wouldn't go as far as amazingbimmer, but they are over paid. They get paid big time and all they do is complain. Lets see how they make it in the real world. They wouldn't find a job paying near what they make. it's not like they are poverty stricken. they are spoiled. And with the quality of Domestic cars they should have taken a pay cut, although that isn't all their fault. They will come back soon. Where are they going to find jobs if they dont'? edspecially a job paying what they get paid now.

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85bmw745i85bmw745i - 9/26/2007 7:04:26 AMView My AgentSpace
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And GM has improved big time, more than I ever expected, and in a short amount of time too. hats off to GM. Did I just say that?

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r_driver04r_driver04 - 9/25/2007 5:37:13 PM
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I applaud GM for getting tougher. Eventually they too will dump the UAW altogether. Only then will they see the promise land.

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LJ745LJ745 - 9/25/2007 8:24:01 PM
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Like all things, the balance of power is being restored. For years, the large firms had all the power and the employees none, then the tides changed and the employees, through unions, held all the cards. Things are righting themselves and while it is painful right now, it is also necessary and will make for a better GM in the future.

GM could not continue the way it was. They have been spending more on healthcare for retirees than in any other aspect of the business. Something had to give and employees are going to have to face the fact that when people only lived 5 years after retirement, the deals made sense. Now, with people living 15-20 years after retirement, it simply not sustainable. No one wants to work for their entire lives and only have 5 years of retirement, but at the same time, they are going to have to accept responsibility for 10 or so of those retirement years.

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PorschinatorPorschinator - 9/25/2007 8:51:37 PM
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UAW always strives for insane pay rates so it can line its own pockets from Union Fees. Unions WERE a good thing and now just blood suckers. There is enough Govt laws to help working citizens. Unions are obsolete and only kept since GM and othe US auto companies were around during Unions rise. The average UAW worker receives crazy pay compared to College Professors!!!

Toyota and other Japanese auto companies do not have unions since unions were never a part of their culture. Issue is that the UAW says the Japanese auto makers in the US are making same as UAW workers or more. Easy to do when Toyota does not have to pay retirement and/or Medical benefits like GM, domestics do. I love this quote from a UAW worker about over time pay:

"Because there was so much overtime for so many years, they got used to that level of pay," Harbour said. "And it built the economy around here that's collapsed so much - second homes, boats, snowmobiles and all of that."

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Bmw8terBmw8ter - 9/26/2007 8:29:13 AM
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"Easy to do when Toyota does not have to pay retirement and/or Medical benefits like GM, domestics do"

Toyota doesn't HAVE to offer these benefits, but they do. Toyota NA has a pension plan, a 401K(which union workers obviously don't know how to manipulate in their favor), and Medical benefits. The only difference, is that Toyota isn't going to give it's workers a free ride, which any respectable company would do exactly the same. In case you're not aware, even when a company offers a medical coverage plan that you have to pay for, you're only paying about 1/4 of the monthly costs, whereas the company is paying the other 3/4....it's not cheap. No wonder companies don't want to offer medical; in the U.S., medical coverage is the "straw that breaks the camel's back". And then you have knuckle heads asking for more pay on top of that.

Union workers feel they shouldn't have to contribute to anything except for union fees. And get a FAT paycheck on top of that. These guys are idiots. If they want job security, DON'T FK UP, invest properly in your 401k, and blame yourself and kids for the reason why you're poor - not the company.
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