The Big Three's real union problem

Not that I agree with this at all-- maybe it was tongue-in-cheek? I'm not familiar with CA papers or if they would really agree this seems to be a "good" idea....

Unions are good if they don't go too far. In this case the unions went overboard... way overboard. These days i don't think unions are still required as people are treated well and given decent pay anyways. You can't expect these companies to run when they are being held down with such unreasonable demands. I am not saying to get rid of the unions completely just limit their powers so they don't go overboard ever again.

As for my opinion on the bailout...
the big three definitely don' deserve it but we still need to give it to them due to the disastrous job losses that would occur if we don't(well into the millions). We really have no choice.

1UAW, I honestly mean this to be a sincere, educating question for me and probably many others...

can you give us maybe 3 examples of what a GM/Ford UAW worker does and how much he/she gets paid to do it and in what region of the country?

I was a Teamster long-long ago in a lumber yard, and my opinion of unions was formed there and through my friends working in the eastern PA steel industry (several years after the Bethlehem Steel and Mack Truck exoduses South).

Say for example, what does a light assembly worker make, a machine operator make, and a quality control/line inspector make per hour?

Any other hourly jobs you know pay scales of that would replace the examples would be fine.

Please keep in mind I am very well aware of cost of living differences between the various parts of the US and how that would impact the raw dollar amount.

I think this will be very insightful for all of us.

And in addition, what does a new hire getting paid $14 per hour do for that $14?

The problem is ALL that came too late!! Especially since people are living much longer after retirement then they used to.

Don't forget full pay if they get laid off.

You can't unionize the foreign company plants. Those workers don't want to be unionized.

I thought the VEBA was going to provide billions in relief for the Detroit 3. I would, at the least, make sure all 3 companies can provide the initial funding for this extended pension fund.

UAW's member numbers have diminished in past 5 years. I bet many are taking the buyouts offered by the Detroit 3 and then getting positions in the new Honda, Hyundai assembly plants.

Eliminating the Jobs Bank was a good move also. It was legacy program that should've been ended a long time ago. Paying a portion of your workforce for not working is much of an economical idea and hasn't been for a couple decades now. Many people that work in the manufacturing industry should know about periods of downtime due to market or production conditions.

The unions are an outdated dinosaur, and should be eliminated entirely. Having unions hasn't helped, and it's clear their absence will benefit the industry overall.

The US isn't a chicago meatpacking plant circa 1915, we're not some chinese sweatshop, and the drag unions create on a company or organization may help individual employees but ultimately kill the company.

Just look at countries like France and Italy...huge economies going nowhere with inevitably dire crises pending for the entire population because of the burdens caused by the unions which keep growth low.

Be rid of them and let the car companies get on with it.

No need for Union. Workers MUST be responsible enough for their own pensions, medicare, retirement, insurance etc. You're big boys and girls now. You don't need your employers to pay for all these things for you. That why you are working anyways. For you to pay for your own expenses and basic needs. If you don't want to pay for all these, learn to save for a rainy day. This is what our mothers and grandmothers taught us when we were kids right?

There is only one way to make the UAW go away.

Stop buying Big 3 cars built by the UAW.

Here where I live in Orange County, Ca I would say 2/3 of all cars on the roads are Mercedes, BMW, Toyota or Honda.

UAW, you will be gone soon :-)

UAW = CANCER!!..

cars sure are not made the way they were 20 years ago. had to replace a lens on the brakelights of a 2003 jeep liberty recently. had to buy the WHOLE assembly to replace a lens, 175 dollars. use to be just unscrew about 4 screws and put in a new lens. not now. even had to buy a different special screwdriver. got the job done in 30 min and 175 bucks. ask me if ill ever buy another jeep. had a recall on my 2000 ford truck to fix a recall on the cruise control that might start a fire when the ignition is turned off.(WOW is that some great engineering or what) after the ford dealership worked on it and fixed the recall problem, the cruise control then would not work(IT WORKED BEFORE I TOOK IT IN FOR THE RECALL). called ford and they contacted the dealer and they said work it out with the dealer. ask me if im going to buy a ford product. father inlaw had to put a NEW motor in a 93chev pickup al 48,000 miles. ask me if im going to buy a chev product. now have a honda fit that averages 33mpg(combined, have all gas tickets to prove it).also a prius that gets over 45mpg. if anyone out there knows 2 other cars that cost me less than 40k together and gets as good mpg PLEASE let me know. the last honda i had was an accord and had to get rid of it(just a little over 200000 on it.) ive never had a problem with either one of these cars. honda is over 2 years old and still worth $1500 within what i paid fo it. try that with Any ford, chev chrysler product. could go on about the dodge van that they could not figure why it wouldnt go over 40mph at times or the 95 caddy that had fuel pump that cost $700 to replace. american made cars are made for programmed obsolence. throw away cars that people cant afford to throw away.

All these people that are ripping on the #$%ing unions, why dont you say the same thing to the teachers that teach your kids , the fire deparpartments that are the first responders at an accident scene , the police force that keeps your town safe at night and the municipal departments in your town that plow your streets in the winter and pick up your garbage in the summer .Not one posting yet on how bad these people are for the country, hmmmm.

Not only have unions caused the U.S. Big 3 autos to be more expensive, but have caused their Japanese and Korean competitors to raise their prices also. If the Big 3 prices were lower it would force the imports to lower their prices too. Simple economics.