UAW talks stall, tensions rise, what about quality?

[LukerDooker]

"Following rejection of national contract, the UAW must decide whether to go back to the bargaining table with the Auburn Hills automaker, call a strike, or to move on and complete contract talks with Ford or General Motors."
"
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2015/10/01/tension-rising-fca-plants-wake-uaw-voting/73141366/

...with car sales still on a high, what happens to overall quality if all this turns sour?

 

[fwrogg]

They should work in their contract a pay schedule based on Quality as it is really lacking today and sales might be high, but so is the price you pay and the quality is not there.

 

[colintrax]

It's already turned sour. Trying to not rant but I hate unions with a passion.

 

[Fla_15_XLT]

It's already turned sour. Trying to not rant but I hate unions with a passion.

Right... The NERVE of those peons organizing and demanding to be treated fairly.

 

[2TimingTom]

Unions were a good idea in the early 20th century. Now they are long out-dated.

Treated fairly? Please. As an engineer, I've worked for several very large companies and never been represented by a union. I received good pay and good benefits. Why do those turning wrenches and bucking rivets feel they need to organize? Maybe it's because they are organized that the company feels the need to push the limits. What is the difference between them and engineers?

Companies that have moved their manufacturing to union-free states have flourished. The unions come in, organize BBQs trying to get the people to sign up, the people show up, eat their BBQ and tell the union to take a hike. It's only in those places where the unions are deep seeded that they manage to stay relevant- and I use the term relevant loosely.

And as an engineer I deal with several internal and external shops. Guess which are more productive, cheaper, have quicker turn around and just in general more pleasant to deal with? The non-Union shops. You guessed it.

 

[Sgt1411]

Did you see Ford has already cancelled OT shifts at the F150 plant in KC and is diverting those supplier parts to the Dearborn Plant while adding extra capacity there.

 

[96firephoenix]

well, if there was an option for terminating employees who did not perform their job satisfactorily, then maybe quality would go up. I'm non-union. If I screw up my job, I get fired. If I was union, I wouldn't get fired. Somehow this equates to being treated fairly?

Just look at the home care worker's union in MI... forcing people to join the HCWU to care for elderly relaives...? fair, I suppose

My wife used to be the office admin for a union place (food service union), and they could not fire a union employee, even when the union rep agreed that this employee had violated all the terms of employment and should be fired. Meanwhile, my wife's boss couldn't give her a merit raise because the union got to set the payscale for non-union employees.

 

[04YellowGT]

I think Unions need to go the way of the dodo bird. They are absolutely worthless today. Unions were originally started for fair pay and more importantly SAFETY. OSHA now takes care of the safety portion and the work market takes care of pay. The only thing unions do is pay people more than they deserve and protect lazy worthless people from losing their job. There is a reason my sister and brother-in law were making $150k combined working for Ford before the collapse. They took the buy out and haven't been able to pull $50k combined since.

I worked for a automotive supplier for a short time. The union came in and promised the world to the workers. The workers were stupid and believed they would make $20/hr and get more vacation time plus other perks. I kept telling them, even in front of the union reps, that they were stupid and that there is no way they would ever make $20/hr there. I told them they would close the plant before that happened. I was the a-hole that didn't know anything. They voted the union in and guess what NONE of it came true. New workers actually started making less ($9.00/hr) and would take YEARS to even make what current workers were making ($13.00/hr). No vacation time added, better insurance or any of the other promises. The $20/hr was in the contract but you had to work there 7 years from the signing of the contract before you would get to that pay. So then end result was everyone lost 1.5hrs of pay to the union, new workers made $4.00/hr less and the quality of workers went way down and our already high turnaround rate got way worse. Plus it was damn near impossible to fire worthless workers. Guess what the place closed up 2 years later after being in business for 30 years.

Yea unions are great...:thumbdwn:

 

[asull85]

Try working for a railroad without a union...