which side to stand with

Not hard to tell: As always in politics, the side that furnishes the most $. Unions would win hands-down.

Hey, this is a no-brainer!

It’s got the words ‘union’ and ‘undocumented’ in it. It is therefore good and worthy of support! Which side? Doesn’t matter… it’s all Bush’s fault anyway.

Would it not be the best thing ever for GM to dismiss them once and for all? GM has enough problems as it is without an unreliable, ill-tempered, and short-sighted monolithic work force. They’re going to have a hard time both recovering and keeping these people happy.

I work two jobs to make ends meet. I wish GM would build a plant in my little town in Florida. All I want to enjoy is a raving excellent salary and benefits. Heck, I’ll even take care of my own pension savings plan so that the taxpayers won’t have to bail out the eventual default.

Strikes hurt more than they help! Check out Caterpillar strikes in York, PA . The UAW is NOT the friend of the workers… check it out
http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/cat.htm

The key imperative for any union is to SHUT OTHER WORKERS OUT OF THE MARKET so as co-opt an unfairly large piece of the pie for themselves, the chosen few. When you consider how shockingly illiberal this is, how utterly opposed to freedom of opportunity, it is amazing how many idiots think unions are a good thing.

Maybe it’s best to ask “whichever stop claiming benifits and get off their asses to work”?

Life is pretty hard – I know, I’ve struggled through from a pleb backing TShirts to being a company director.

Maybe stop moaning and get on with it?

Jonny

As a consumer, I don’t want temporary workers
with no health benefits, or retirement, building my
car. I want people who approach their work
in a professional manner, rather than someone who’s
just there until he can land a job that pays a living
wage. Corporations need steady, well trained
personnel and unions need the jobs that corporations
create. If the corporations had no resistance to
lower wages and no benefits, there would be a
competition between corporations to pay lower wages,
until they work under asian conditions. So, unions put
resistance to that trend. We don’t want a United States
with working wages that mean you can’t eat well or live
in adequate lodgings. That was the case 90 years ago.
One of the presidential slogans was “a chicken in every pot”.

http://calling-muggins.blogspot.com/

I was thinking about buying a U.S. made car because I think it’s important that we support our domestic manufacturing industries, but now I just may go out and buy an import. The U.S. auto manufacturers must compete against non U.S. companies that have lower manufacturing costs, mostly because of lower labor costs. If the UAW insists on imposing higher costs on the Big Three, they will continue to have difficulty competing, leading to market share losses and fewer jobs in the U.S. The UAW is just cutting its own throat by going on strike. If the autoworkers had any sense of self-preservation, they would co-operate with management to defend against the competitive threats.

until they work under asian conditions

Uh, wouldn’t that make them Nissan or Toyota? I had heard two descriptors of GM to this point – and never quite understood how true they were:

A defined benefits plan with an auto manufacturing division;

A health plan that makes cars on the side.

As a mechanic, who spent most years at GM, I personally own two Toyota’s, by far a better car. Until the big three crush the unions, they will continue to make crap that only a fool would buy.

One of the biggest problems the UAW (and all unions) have is that the threat of a union frequently results in better wages and benefits than actually having one – http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/18/biz_biz1toy.html

“If the corporations had no resistance to
lower wages and no benefits, there would be a
competition between corporations to pay lower wages,
until they work under asian conditions”

Irrelevant in this case – most if not all Toyotas, Nissans and Hondas sold in the US were built here, or in Canada.

“I personally own two Toyota’s, by far a better car. Until the big three crush the unions…”

If either of them is a Corrolla or Tundra, they were built by UAW members.

GM has had an “unreliable, ill-tempered, and short-sighted monolithic work force” since the early sixties. There is no way to keep these characters happy. Southeastern Michigan is crowded with ‘em. And look who they vote for!

As a mechanic, who spent most years at GM, I personally own two Toyota’s, by far a better car. Until the big three crush the unions, they will continue to make crap that only a fool would buy.

And again NOT My Post! I hate Toyota’s

Muggins…..

I spent two years at Caterpillar…..same union, same mentality as any UAW operation…..

Most heard phrase by the workers on the line, “It ain’t my tractor!”

Professional……..right!

Duke

Actually a Camry made in Japan…..its a stick, the auto is made in Kentucky I believe.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this one. First of all I don’t know what they’re striking for and if memory serves, GM let a big portion of their workforce go last spring under a buyout program and new hires are making significantly less than before with fewer benefits so maybe their strike has a legit basis. Anybody know the specifics?