Labor Unions Preparing their Wish List -

[mikeylikesit]

swampy wrote:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnis...82854.html

"At the top: the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions -- therefore ensuring the very survival of the House of Labor during the nationwide economic crisis."

If a secret ballot is good enough for Congress, it should be good enough for a working man.

It'll be very interesting indeed to see if their president-elect doesn't come through in the ways the unions envisioned. I mean, what can they do, and are unions really that special? Did they make "donations" or "political investments"?

Call me when the new administration invites unions in to write new legislative initiatives for them.

[Grateful11]

Dakota wrote:
[quote=NeverMind]


It's about companies that have a record of making huge profits on slave wages. Companies that make millions in profits.

Profits? Where?
The railroad I work for has been making huge record profits for years,
yet when it comes to raise time they'll round down to the next penny for us.

[Stizzealth]

The argument about executive pay versus line worker pay is just a sad attempt by the Democratic Party to play identity politics. The reason that executives are paid more is that executive talent is in demand, while supply for line workers is more in line for demand. You've got to pay for talent.

This is the gripe I heard about Sarah Palin all through the campaign. All of the lefties screeched, "You wouldn't want an auto mechanic to operate on YOUR brain!" and allegorized that to Sarah Palin running the country. To be honest, I want competent leadership for our major corporations. In fact, it should be the best leadership talent and experience corporate cash can buy.

[Black Landlord]

Stizzealth wrote:
The argument about executive pay versus line worker pay is just a sad attempt by the Democratic Party to play identity politics. The reason that executives are paid more is that executive talent is in demand, while supply for line workers is more in line for demand. You've got to pay for talent.

This is the gripe I heard about Sarah Palin all through the campaign. All of the lefties screeched, "You wouldn't want an auto mechanic to operate on YOUR brain!" and allegorized that to Sarah Palin running the country. To be honest, I want competent leadership for our major corporations. In fact, it should be the best leadership talent and experience corporate cash can buy.

Huh? What planet are you typing from?
It was McCain who kept repeating that "greed" caused the financial meltdown, implying dissaproval of white shirts making high salaries; it was a big chunk of the republican party that was P.O.'d that someone so utterly hapless as SP had been chosen for such an important position. This partisan crap is really tired.

[NeverMind]

Gutenberg wrote:
Speak for yourself, NM. I bought a compact Chevy in May and it was a better car in my opinion than the comparable Corolla or Civic. Cheaper too, and I got 2.9 percent financing. I traded in my 14-year-old Saturn on the new car. People speak very highly of the Ford Focus. American cars are by and large good solid cars.

Good for you on your Chevy purchase. I hope it works out well. Your resale value is low though, probably in the nickels (my car is low as well). American cars are second tier compared to Japanese cars, even the Koreans are competitive. American cars are just very poor on gas mileage. The technology seems to always be behind foreign cars.

Ford Focus? Sorry:

http://www.autosafety.org/ford-focus

Go count the American cars on one hand.
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/car.../rankings/

Im just the messenger.

[NeverMind]

Dakota wrote:
[quote=NeverMind]


It's about companies that have a record of making huge profits on slave wages. Companies that make millions in profits.

Profits? Where?
in first quarter 2007 GM posted $62 million net profit.

[Greg the dogsitter]

lafinfil wrote:
Personally I've been in more than I can remember - both union and non union

I don't think I've ever been in a factory. I've seen some in the movies. You know, when there's a car chase, and they drive through the big factory that manufactures smoke and fire? I love those.

But those never seem to employ anyone, so I can't see where a union would make a difference.

[Rick-o]

Dakota wrote:
...an auto assembly worker working in a clean air conditioned factory...

Heh! The only clean air conditioned areas that I've experienced in the factories was in the offices of the layer upon layer of management! Out on the floor during the summer, it can easily hit triple digits.

I started out back in the 70's in the Buick Foundry, that had working conditions similar to a coal mine. Core dust so thick in the air that the lights were just a faint glow above. We would walk out of that plant at the end of a shift looking like miners, hacking black phlegm up was a daily ritual. Not only that, but you had molten iron being poured throughout that building all the while trying to keep up with a fast moving line.

The engine plant wasn't much better, as there was cutting fluid so thick in the air that it looked like a fog settling in. That building had the highest rate of cancer of the entire site!

The auto assembly buildings were a bit cleaner, but definitely no air conditioning, but there were plenty of other nasties to worry about, such as asbestos and other carcinogens spread throughout the complex.

Oh, and I have done that job! (tighten wheel lugs) I have been loaned out to that department, and it's quite a bit more than what you described. Before you tighten those wheel lugs you must first grab the tire from the feeder, check the manifest to make sure it's the correct wheel and tire and then place it on the vehicle before securing. You have about one minute per vehicle to accomplish this. Hopefully, you don't have any burrs on the lug, bad lug nuts that need to be removed, and a rookie on the job ahead of you falling behind, working past his station into your working space.

BTW, that's two wheels per vehicle, and with close to 500 vehicles built during an 8 hour shift, well, you do the math. This particular job takes a fairly brawny person, and I have seen grown men quit rather than suffer the pain on jobs such as this. Interestingly, installing the spare tire in the trunk was a worse job! Major back straining there!

So, what is it you do for a living Dakota, you seem to be avoiding the question. Are you one of those desk jockeys, perhaps working for a foreign automaker? It's quite clear from your statements that you have no experience in "real" labor, but hey, I may be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

[Mac1337]

Rick-o wrote:
[quote=Dakota]
...an auto assembly worker working in a clean air conditioned factory...

So, what is it you do for a living Dakota, you seem to be avoiding the question. Are you one of those desk jockeys, perhaps working for a foreign automaker? It's quite clear from your statements that you have no experience in "real" labor, but hey, I may be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
Rick, you certainly have a colorful life history. What do I do for a living? Not hard to guess. I spend all day behind a desk or at the computer. I doubt very many Macresource Forum readers work as blacksmiths or lumberjacks. My picture of auto manufacturing is what I see on nightly news. Spanking new factory floors, brightly lit and definitely air conditioned. You are describing a 40 year old setting. My point that everybody ignored was how much do coal miners make? Now,that is a job that is worth $1000 an hour. BTW, 8 out of our past 10 cars have been American cars, Detroit American, and have been very happy with them.

[lafinfil]

I've spent some time in one of the newer hight tech auto factories in North America
Yes it is air conditioned, but not sit on your butt in an office air conditioned, but more along the lines
of keeping the equipment from over heating. Lucky if it is 80° with the AC on and people are doing real work.