If you think blue collar workers control the destiny of american business then why the f do we have ceo's who get paid 20mil a year?Detroit ceos have chosen to produce a crap product line for 35yrs.It was the ceo's that signed the labor contracts.If ron g outsmarted the ceo's of the big 3,then that shows how stupid the ceo's are.Why are they still around?Why are freemarketeers all of the sudden blaming labor for trying to get as much for their services as possible?I thought that was the whole idea of free markets?Makeand get the most you can. Wagoner has been a loser forever and nardelli is a complete putz who screwed up home depot and got a 250million golden parachute for his efforts of incompetence. It was ivy leaugue,white collar ceo's, mba's who created subprime financing,credit default swaps and the derivitatives mess that has now imploded the financial system and economy.Blaming and scapegoating blue collar,less educated, hourly workers for this mess is cowardly and misdirected. Whats really absurd is how the big 3 are being told they have to provide a plan while wall st doesnt and has gotten about 750 billion more than what the big 3 are asking for.
I don't give a shit what the agreement between management and the workers are. Just don't use my fucking tax dollars to bail either side out if their agreement doesn't work.
Unions only benefit the slackers. A company can search a dozen suppliers to find the best price/quality for a part. However, when it comes to their workforce, they are forced to pay the asking price. This 3 minute video about Fords extremely efficient assembly plant in Brazil explains alot. Union lovers will not want to listen to the last 30 seconds. http://info.detnews.com/video/index.cfm?id=1189
"Managers blame the workers and workers blame their bosses. Frankly, I have met boring, upwardly bootlicking auto executives who spent lives devoted to avoiding having to think. On the other hand, workers have told me of some act of sabotage he or she performed in retaliation for sadistic bosses. Somehow, I donât think the customers who got the sabotaged vehicles ended up sympathizing with either side. I think they went out and bought Toyota Camrys next time they needed a car. What we need to realize is that we are all in this together, and if Detroit goes down, we are all in bad shape." http://jackshow.blogs.com/jack/auto_industry/
How much does GM spend each year in providing healthcare to RETIREES??? $5 billion? How many companies do that now? Union workers are the MAIN reason the big 3 are in so much trouble. As they used to do, go on strike at critical plants for an automaker, to shut them down for new demands. Job banks? What other companies do that? Companies are about making a PROFIT, not supplying secure longterm work for overpaid crybabies. When I worked at companies, I tried to HELP them make money. Unions mostly exist to BLEED the companies. If I owned any of the big 3, I would shut down ALL american ops and shift it to an Asian country or Mexico, as far from unions as possible. Union workers get far more than their semiskilled work deserves, ESPECIALLY counting ALL ridiculous benefits..
I watched unions shut down two local employers (an eastern state is all I will say) when I was younger, one a trucking/transfer company and one a major factory located in several areas. The company owners said "this is what we can afford to pay, we are under major cost pressures from others and overseas." The unions rejected it. Both went out of business disemploying 4,000 clueless union workers, who seemed to prefer bagging groceries or circling ads in the local paper looking for any job. If I had the power, all union shops would be removed from the USA. They had their day, now, they are mostly leaches. Unions send an amazing number of blue collar jobs overseas by their often ridiculous demands. Why do you think foreign automakers opened their new plants away from the Rust Belt unions?