Bold Move: Ford extending buyouts to all UAW workers
Thanks to a fax sent by the United Auto Workers union to its leaders in various regions, we now know that Ford will be extending its job buyout offer to all 75,000 of its hourly UAW workers. This means that Ford is more than doubling the Way Forward plan's initial offer to buy out 30,000 of its 82,000-person work force. According to the New York Times, only 6,200 workers accepted the offer the first time around, though we expect Ford is hoping its new offer is as successful as the one General Motors made that resulted in the voluntary attrition of some 35,000 workers. We'll have details of the buyout offer tomorrow morning, but expect it to be chock full of incentives for workers to consider leaving the company.
[Source: The New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jamie 3:48PM (9/14/2006)
They're not going anywhere.
They're union workers, so they know precious little about making it on their own: entrepreneurship.
The ones left behind will the the least productive, most rabid union hacks.
Sad.
I hope the UAW dies very soon.
GM and Chrysler seem stuck with them. Let's hope this scares the union back into its place.
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That One Person 4:05PM (9/14/2006)
Jamie, while I agree there are some dumbasses working under the UAW, not ALL UAW members are idiots. You have to remember a lot of those people are just doing their job. It's no different than a teacher doing their own job and so on. Yes, some are abusing their "power". You also have to remember that there are lots of other people with different careers that do stuff that some UAW members do (cops abusing their "power" for example).
I personally know two or three UAW workers who are taking the money and doing their own thing. Why? Because of the crap Ford is going through. And they are tired of listening to idiots like you. Plus, they want to start their own businesses.
Not all UAW members are stupid, thank you very much. Lets hope you get a brain and learn that spewing stupid crap like you did doesn't happen again...
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doug 4:09PM (9/14/2006)
Duh! move #1 complete. Good goin', Alan! Now on to #2 - actually closing a couple of factories.....before 2012.
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Split 4:11PM (9/14/2006)
Amen brotha!
Gotta love how they try to blame it on Bush!
Adapt or die...
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Tim UF 4:33PM (9/14/2006)
what i dont understand is that unions contract demands seem to have been sucking the life out of their employers (the DCX, GM, Ford).
great, the workers make some short term money. but it actually hurt the auto workers (as a class) over the long run.
It does no long term good to bleed your cashcow completely dry...
the problem isnt that the workers are underskilled union hacks. just look at GM's recent reliability data (not perception) for proof of that. the problem is that most line workers are grossly over compensated for the work they do. a good number of them make more than i do, and i am an engineer for a major aerospace/defense contractor, working on a highly visible program.
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bigboi9.5 4:46PM (9/14/2006)
I think that Ford is doing the right thing given its sutuation. I'm an UAW member and we do work for all of our benefits and pay. We a;so do so much for different communities, those will communities will miss the thing that the memebers had been doing. I wish that Diamler would follow fords move so that I can do somethig else in life, like investing in realestate.Let me also say that with out the UAW fighting for the rights of all workers not just those in the auto industry--we also go out and walk the picket lines with other unions. GO UNION THE BEST
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Mike 4:52PM (9/14/2006)
Step two of Bold Moves, then, will be to fire or lockout all the rest of the UAW workers who DON'T take the buyout.
Step three is to hire non-Union workers whose job security is tied to their ability to put together cars in such a way that quality control issues become a thing of the past.
Don't get me wrong. A union has great potential for good. Unfortunately, the UAW ceased to be good long, long ago. I also agree many union workers are very smart, but applying smarts to figuring out how to get out of learning new processes, how to keep dues paying slackers on the payroll, and how to force management to into bad bargaining positions is what UAW does best.
Here's to the end of having something fall off your car and then finding out it was built on Monday or Friday!
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Finished.Law.School 4:59PM (9/14/2006)
Getting rid of the UAW is definitely how to move forward and make improvements!
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bigboi9 5:00PM (9/14/2006)
This is to answer Tim UF--we the workers are not bleeding these companies. We are not the ones making the multimillion dollars pay per year, we are not the ones with stock options worth millions, unless you work for one of them please be quiet about a subject you know nothing about. As, far as your pay goes do like some engineers that I work next to have done move to a more lucrative type of work ( oh you're one of those that can't do hands on work and work next to real people). The real UAW stands for REAL PEOPLE
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Jamie 5:25PM (9/14/2006)
"REAL" people get fired if they don't show up for work--and when they get laid off, they get NOTHING.
YOU live in a fantasy world.
The UAW has bled the auto companies to their core. To this day, they still are not required to come to work on time because it's (get this whopper): "not in the contract"!!!
THAT's hilarity times three.
The workers who take the buyouts are going to be the most productive ones who can survive in the real world. And let me tell you, when they open their OWN companies--they won't be hiring union hacks.
The UAW needs to die a fast death--and hopefully it will.
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JackOfShadows 5:27PM (9/14/2006)
I am so tired of you anti union right wing facist assholes.
Jamie wants the union scared back into it's place. Who the fuck does he think he is?
You shit head punk college boy nerd girly man.
It is my hope you drop dead with a nasty S.T.D.
No, I am not a union worker, you assholes.
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Ryan 5:39PM (9/14/2006)
"11. I am so tired of you anti union right wing facist assholes.
Jamie wants the union scared back into it's place. Who the fuck does he think he is?
You shit head punk college boy nerd girly man.
It is my hope you drop dead with a nasty S.T.D.
No, I am not a union worker, you assholes.
Posted at 5:26PM on Sep 14th 2006 by JackOfShadows 0 stars"
-No shit,
Just like GEORGE BUSH STATED:
"Their problem is they need more revelant products in the marketplace"
EXACTLY, nothing mentioned of the union, so surly you guys agree.
Really, it's one of the *few* smart things Bush has handled well such as:
1.) Domestics need a more revelant product
2.) Immigration reform is wonderful
3.) Social security plan with private investment is great.
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Jamie 6:09PM (9/14/2006)
11. I am so tired of you anti union right wing facist assholes.
Jamie wants the union scared back into it's place. Who the fuck does he think he is?
You shit head punk college boy nerd girly man.
It is my hope you drop dead with a nasty S.T.D.
No, I am not a union worker, you assholes.
Posted at 5:26PM on Sep 14th 2006 by JackOfShadows 0 stars
_______________________________________________
And in the end, the UAW is still in deep mud. How do you feel now?
I don't have to call you names, because unlike you, my arguments stan up to the light of day. In the arena of ideas, the "Jobs Bank" is indefensible, so the nastier side of you has come out.
You DO INDEED BELONG to a union; because that is exactly how union hacks behave!!!
The only thing I 'hope" fo ryou is that you take the buyouts and join the real world where:
1. You get paid for your PERFORMANCE (Gasp!!!!).
2. You get FIRED if you DO NOT come to work ON TIME (Scream!!!!).
3. If there is no work for you to do you get LAID OFF, with NO PAY (Shriek!!!!)
4. You CANNOT drink on the job!
5. You most likely have a 401K to contribute to (not a pension for life).
Welcome to earth boy! Better learn that NOW before your union does!!!
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Ryan 6:27PM (9/14/2006)
#13
Jamie,
What are you talking about I'm self-employed and I can be pretty friggen lazy all I want. All of my office staff smoke so I figured WTF? Smoke in the office if ya want. We go out and have some lunch "drinks" and we all feel better, I'm making money the staff in my office are making money, our technicians are making money, no harm.
I don't drug test anyone of them (although our group health insurance I'm sure will make us anyday now). I feel that is the biggest violation of all time. Shit I don't care of you are pothead crack meth addic that screws both men and women everyday. IF you do good at your assigned job, your hired.
Jamie,
It was a stupid business move for GM/Ford to sign the contracts, they should have gone through the "strikes" and all of the normal steps after other steps have failed. But then again I'm in Las Vegas, which is what? 80% Union town.
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Shark 7:16PM (9/14/2006)
Sounds to me that people like "Jamie" are a little sore that they don't have a nice career job like most hard working UAW members. You know, where people can't be fired on the spot for nothing (I live in an "at will" state and i've seen it happen to older workers who get too close to retirement). I know that people abuse the union, but most people work hard every single day in the factories. So, until you pick up a air gun or swing a hammer in a factory, i suggest that you keep your opinions to yourself, Jaime.
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That One Person 7:46PM (9/14/2006)
Thanks Shark!! It's people like Jamie who make me mad. My father is a UAW member. Oh and just for reference, hes an electrician (skill trades). While I dont support the UAW 100%, I support my father because he busts his ass every single day. And I have seen some of his fellow employees, who are UAW members, get fired for not showing up or showing up late. Granted, a lot of paper work needed to be done to do it, but their asses were thrown out on the street.
And I do know some factory workers. They dont get paid the supposed $100k a year...not even close to that. And they are just as hard working as the next guy.
I am tired of people like Jamie cuz they point their fingers at people like my father and call them names and say they are ruining everything. If you want to blame the UAW, blame the MANAGEMENT. Not the little guy...they are just doing their freaking job...
Like I said, there are people who abuse the UAW's power. I see it once in a while. But you (Jamie) make it sound like EVERYONE is doing it.
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Steve M 7:48PM (9/14/2006)
Unions are constitutional. But that doesn't make them good.
If you ask someone for something while twisting their arm (threatening strike) you will get it, but you don't deserve it.
I am a mechanic. I work hard and appreciate what I earn. Is it constitutional for me to walk out on my job with all my fellow mechanics and ask for $100 bucks an hour? Oh yeah, and it would work. But as time was once my boss's constraint, it would then be my enemy, for with time I would be replaced.
You ask for too much you get what you deserve, nothing.
Don't tell them to build better products when they are spending $100,000 a year for a high school dropout to bolt a door to a car.
The corporate guys get paid millions of dollars to get rid of the weeds in a company, and they deserve every penny they earn.
If Ford doesn't want to pay you $100 an hour they don't have to.
NO UNIONS.
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Ryan 8:05PM (9/14/2006)
"If you ask someone for something while twisting their arm (threatening strike) you will get it, but you don't deserve it."
oh BS,
You MAY not deserve it you are correct if you do get the raise.
But REST ASSURED:
The UAW would not be so expensive if GM/Ford would be willing to shut down production or bring in "scabs", basically they pussyfoot around the union and sign the contract(s)period.
It may have cost them back then, but it would not be costing them so much now.
It's simple:
"They need more relevant products in the marketplace"
-Bush
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Denis 8:28PM (9/14/2006)
The union's have NOT been sucking the life out of the Manufactures. Its the Manufactures whose been "sucking the life out of the consumers." They just past on the high expensive Labor cost and Health Insurnace. Not the mention the 95% garantee for wages when there wasn't any work.
Now after buying Amemican my whole life do I get to enjoy the companies, as well as, labor beating punishment.
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Denis 8:53PM (9/14/2006)
Ah yes! Remember "don't" take a prisoners!!!!!!
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