FORD TO CUT 25,000-30,000 JOBS
GM, Delphi and now Ford have laid off thousands upon thousands of workers, closed factories and destroyed communities. Thank a union!
How could I know at an instinctive, subconscious level, even back in high school that one day, the unions would destroy their employers, communities and themselves? How could a common-sense zit-faced boy in 1987 know this but the entire city of Detroit not? Huh?
I lived in Detroit (Redford) for only 5 years and saw the excess. I had to sell to union locals but had to park my Toyota Camry six lots away because “Foreign Cars Are Not Allowed On Our Lot”. Here is the sign they should have erected in the lot instead:
BUY OUR CRAPPY AUTOMOBLIES THAT BARELY MEET GOVERNMENT STANDARDS. WE KNOW YOU COULD BUY MUCH BETTER JAPANESE PRODUCTS, BUT SINCE YOU NEED TO SUPPORT OUR LIFESTYLE WITHIN THE SKEWED BUBBLE ECONOMY OF DETROIT, PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE YOUR FASTLY SUPERIOR TOYOTA ONTO OUR LOT THAT REMINDS US OF HOW LAZY WE ARE.
What do I know about the UAW?
Starting wages: Source: Detroit News 8/9/2005.
At major Detroit automakers, the hourly rate for an assembler is $25.57; a janitor starts at $24.98, and tool and die workers start at $30 an hour. Along with diamond studded benefits, retirement plans and golden parachutes, it is no wonder that the Big 3 cannot maintain the cost of production.
Worker Laziness
Not all but many workers for years have put in 8 hours on the clock, but not on the job. My dad drove a truck to deliver parts for the Big 3. If his truck was partially unloaded at break time, the workers would abandon my dad’s truck making him late for his other appointments. I’m sure many of you could tell much better stories than this.
Inefficiency
Many situations would go something like this:
- Machine part breaks
- Knowledgeable employee standing there knows how to fix it quickly
- Knowledgeable employee is told “no”, the maintenance guy has to fix it and he won’t be in for 3 hours.
- Knowledgeable employee (and crew) gets to sit until part is repaired.
My wife and I owned or drove the following vehicles:
1976 Chevy Vega – many great memories, but crap
1988 Dodge Colt - crap
1989 Pontiac Grand Am – crap, crap
1993 Mercury Villager - crap
1995 Ford Windstar – crap, crap
1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager - crap
NEVER, EVER will we again own a Big 3 vehicle. The materials, handling, look, reliability of these vehicles has been terrible. The workmanship of union hands is evident in all those cars. I would write our a repair and recall history of each union made vehicle, but there are not enough gigabytes on this computer to list them all.
We bought a new Toyota Camry in 1993 and it is still driving well past 230,000 miles. Over 9 times around the earth at the equator! That’s from the earth to the moon! Only if there was a road! Now we are happy owners of a 2005 Honda Odyssey which is marvelous beyond words.
Maybe the UAW will never get the message but I have. As long as the UAW hijacks the American automobile industry, people will continue to flock to superior made vehicles.
Ford should have changed their logo forty years ago. Here are some suggestions for what they SHOULD have made it:
“UAW Benefits are Job #1”
“We Meet Government Standards”
“Buy a Ford, Support a Democrat”
If Ford does survive the tapeworm effect of the UAW maybe someday they will aspire to quality being job #1.
2 comments:
You are sooooooo mean! (oops...I already used that defense).
Let me preface by saying that I agree with you 100% on the whole UAW thing. This from a guy raised an hour from Detroit and fed from Union wages (not UAW wages though). I was firmly in the "Buy American" column, until I inherited a Nissan through marriage...Haven't bought a "Big 3" product since (praise God).
I by and large agree that much of what you say about BIG unions is generally true (emphasis on BIG). But as our offices Vice Steward and a dues paying member of the NWSEO (NWS Employees Organization), I can attest to the fact that not ALL of them are bad, and not all of them should be lumped in together in the "Union" pile as inherently evil...and protecting the lazy...and overpaying the janitor.
Our Union stands as onehelluva big CHECK on the moronic beurocratic numbskulls in Washington. Of course we have no bargaining authority as to what we get paid, benefits, etc. (That's an across the board federal employee thing, regardless of organization). Oh Yeah, and we took an oath that we would never strike. If we do, the President can do to us exactly what Reagan (rightfully) did to the FAA in the 80's.
The main thing we fight for is our way of doing business. Afterall...who knows best how to serve the people of northern Michigan. Some appointed knotthead in Washington who's never worked one single day in a Forecast Office...or Keith, your friendly local Hydrometeorological Technician, with whom you go to church with and share stogies?
Just remember ALL generalizations are false! LOL
K~
Liquid water is always wet. Is that generalization false? ;)
No- I do understand the differences between your union and the UAW as you have outlined here. Unionizing against the Feds brings up a whole complex situation that I haven't thought through.
My main point is that if a union protects you from getting gang raped by a bunch of Brokeback Mountain types in the office, then a union is a good thing. However, if it means telling an employer how it will conduct business, then it is a bad thing.
But keep the ideas coming. I'm open to learning more about it. Anyway I need a stogie. The bar scene from Star Wars is finally over.
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