Donald Trump And UAW Fall On Same Side Over Mexican Assembly Plants

The reason jobs are going to Mexico is BECAUSE OF the UAW. NAFTA allows free flow of commerce, so therefore if the UAW wants jobs to stay in the USA, there is one way to do it: cut wages to parity with Mexican workers.

I'd love nothing more than to see FCA, GM, and Ford gang up and break the union.

Are you serious? You must be a business owner or you must not truly understand the concept of unions. Wait until your industry shifts and goes to another country. Detroit (except Ford) took taxpayer money to stay a float, now they want to go to another country and create jobs... Seriously...

I completely understand the concept of unions. And you can be a union fanboy all you want, but the facts are that unions have outlived their efficacy and their actions--were they not unions--would be criminal.

When unions were formed it was because there were no laws governing the fair treatment of workers. Those laws are now on the books.

Therefore the mission of the union has shifted from protecting the workers to being a money-gathering arm for the Democrats. Elsewhere that is extortion. Workers should have the right to contribute or not contribute to politicians. Furthermore, workers who are not US citizens also get their money extorted and funneled to the Democrats.

Unions are closed shop because they know that if they allowed workers the option not to belong that they would lose membership. That forced association violates The Bill of Rights, but because it's a union we're supposed to whistle past the graveyard.

If unions were so absolutely necessary to the auto industry, there would be no non-union plants, but there are.

If unions were so absolutely necessary for workers to be compensated appropriately then workers in non-union plants would be making minimum wage, but they aren't.

If unions were so peachy keen, then VW's workers would not have fought vehemently against both the UAW and their employer.

If unions were so peachy keen, then right-to-work states wouldn't exist, but they do because workers see unions as detrimental to them.

I say do away with unions being able to do closed shop. I say ban unions from ALL political action. I say restrict unions ONLY to bargaining work conditions. I say make all 50 states right-to-work states.

The lives of working Americans would improve dramatically.

While I agree that unions have in many cases gone beyond their basic intent - I cannot agree to everything you say

For instance - while there are Non-union plants in the USA - the wages at those plants do not compete with the ones in Mexico - largely because of the existence of the unions. And their benefit packages also exist for the same reason. A company that has a non-union plant knows that it cannot shortchange the workers to any great extent BECAUSE it will then become a union shop. VW workers do not currently need a union simply because VW compensates its workers at near union rates - and provides similar benefits. Do you think that workers would agree with you if they were getting paid like Mexicans and not getting health benefits?

And right to work laws exist because Companies see unions as a detriment to them - so they work to get those laws passed. Right to work laws only favor people who then have to work for less than the union rate.

And Unions are at least partially responsible for keeping manufacturing in this country as well. Even without unions - it would still be cheaper for Ford or GM to make cars in Mexico - and without anything to argue against that - they would move all their production to those places - and the complete loss of all manufacturing jobs in this country would NOT improve the lives of those who no longer had jobs.

More important - is that while the big unions in major industries may have gone too far - there are lots of industries where the union is the only way a worker can get any benefits at all (Musicians come to mind)- and these unions do not approach the control that big unions get.

The percentage of union workers in the usa is in the 11-12% range as well - nowhere near what most people seem to think

Fair enough.

My first three real jobs were public sector jobs that were unionized and I saw a lot of laziness in the first two because of "they can't fire me. I'm union." thinking. I constantly got laughed at for working too hard.

Because I worked my butt off I got promoted twice and the second two made use of the degrees I earned in college. I'm still employed as a part-time consultant at the last post and if I could get away with dumping all the car interests--I can't--I'd go back to it full time.

well said