Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, GM, UAW/Unions
Do your job at GM, win cash for a car
Apparently, absenteeism at GM's North American plants is such a huge issue that the automaker has to offer more than just a paycheck to get workers to show up. The new labor contract the General signed with the UAW includes an incentive for workers that go a full year without missing a day. Their reward is to be entered into a drawing that gives five lucky employees $15,000 to put towards a new GM car or truck.While the idea of offering an incentive for employees to do their job might be a surprise to the rest of us working stiffs, the auto industry's hourly workforce has one of the highest annual absenteeism rates in the U.S. A 2004 study showed that about 10-percent of workers aren't manning their positions during the year – three-times higher than other industries. Naturally, this has a massive effect on labor costs and quality control.
GM has tried a number of different programs to lower that absentee rate to no avail (sometimes it actually went up ), but in addition to the cash giveaway program, a new absence excuse system will be employed January 1st that puts more stringent restrictions on employee attendance. Workers will now need to show proof of test results or a prescription slip for medical issues, and if the problem persists, the offending employee will be given the axe.
[Source: Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nissanfreak87 11:06AM (11/12/2007)
how about a "do your job and you'll continue getting paid and not fired" incentive?
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VP 11:08AM (11/12/2007)
The job security part is where the UAW comes in.
Seriously i need to get in on this action. Which UAW plant is willing to hire me? 70K+ for standing around all year? Sign me up.
Mallory 1:08PM (11/12/2007)
RE: "how about a "do your job and you'll continue getting paid and not fired" incentive?"
Too bad this doesn't apply to management. Executives get MASSIVE bonuses for increasing share price or market share, which is their job, yet no one has an issue with that. Execs get huge salaries yet they don't get the "do your job and you'll continue getting paid and not fired" incentive. Why?
Execs raid companies and essentially steal millions yet it's all justified. GM wants to spend $75k to reward employee's who go all year without taking a single sick day and everybody is bitching and whining like it's the greatest injustice in the world. Why?
Read "What's the matter with Kansas?" and maybe you'll begin to understand the answer.
nissanfreak87 1:22PM (11/12/2007)
So you think it's justified that someone doesn't come into work, yet is still given a paycheck, because the upper management isn't perfect?
I know a lot of the upper execs are crap, but a lot of them are very good at what they do, seeing as these companies are still around, and making a profit for the first time in a long time, so I think they're doing alright, but I still don't think they deserve the outrageous salaries they get. If anyone deserves that pay it's the designers and engineers that make the car worth buying.
I just don't think it's justified to reward people for doing something they should be doing anyway, the people who actually care about the company should be rewarded, and the people who don't come to work because they're lazy deserve to be punished. And that's that.
Big Rocket 2:30PM (11/12/2007)
Mallory @ Nov 12th 2007 1:08PM wrote:
"Executives get MASSIVE bonuses for increasing share price or market share, which is their job, yet no one has an issue with that."
Nobody has an issue with massive CEO salaries and bonuses? Here's a reality check. CNN Money: "Ford CEO: $28M for 4 months work". Autoblog: "WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit, has taken... Mark Fields, to task for the weekly flights... between $50,000 and $70,000". Wall Street Journal: "Mr. Fields... had been criticized by employees, dealers and others for the use of the company jet, which cost the auto maker $214,479 for the fourth quarter of 2005".
Bottom line is: The UAW deserves all the criticism it gets, as much as the CEO's deserve all the criticism they get.
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/05/news/companies/ford_execpay/?postversion=2007040512
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/15/mark-fields-under-fire-for-expensive-flights-home/
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2007/04/05/fords-airplane-costs/
Tim 3:01PM (11/12/2007)
It's funny that when GM began churning out crap cars three decades ago everyone blamed the union workers, but now that GM has started making some great cars everyone wants to credit the execs. And it's not just the auto industry, it's the world as a whole. Always has been. That alone should demonstrate who's really behind the scenes getting you to believe what they want you to believe.
elprogramer 4:19PM (11/12/2007)
Nissan, I don't know who told you, but you're not paid for days absent, not if you have no excuse. You're also required to show a doctor's slip or you'll be fired after the third-fourth time.
Dan Parmelee 11:25AM (11/12/2007)
I agree with nissanfreak...why is it that we have to reward people for just showing up to work? DO YOUR F*CKING JOBS!
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JD 2:35PM (11/12/2007)
Yeah, I hope these guys aren't salaried. At least then they aren't getting paid for their days when they're "sick." Anyone know off the top of their heads if these guys are hourly or salaried? Man, if I missed 10% of my work time, I'd be gone before I could protest.
Louis Duran 3:56PM (11/12/2007)
Isn't that what a salary is about? Think of this as a "bonus" to do the job. If the worker is exceeding the number of PTO days without a justifiable reason, get rid of him/her.
You can contrast this with Executives that underperform. For example Bob Nardelli while he ran HD into the ground. The corporate board practically has to pay off the bastards to make them leave even when they f**k up big.
speedball3 11:43AM (11/12/2007)
That is so lame. I'm not up to snuff on my history of unions or anything, but if that's what a union is about (protecting lazy, unproductive workers), then screw that! This is a competitive marketplace and if you don't perform, you're on the curb buddy! No wonder American auto companies are kicking the bucket...their work force is lazy and doesn't care about the product they make. And then these union workers have the nerve to turn around and accuse import buyers as "unpatriotic." Whatever! That's just ridiculous!
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cowboy bob 12:03PM (11/12/2007)
I agree 100%. The blame is not entirely on the unions though. It should also be shared with the top management of the manufacturers for knuckling under to outrageous pay and benefit demands by the unions. Yes, strikes are bad for business, but so is a contract that ensures a slow death of the very company they ALL work for. Of course, when you have a top job, with millions of dollars guaranteed for failure, who cares?
Corey W. 11:59AM (11/12/2007)
"......for workers that go a full year without missing a day."
Huh? Sorry, I'm not a union fan, but I don't know anybody, blue, white, whatever collar that does this.
And it's only for 5 employes, I don't think this program should get the negative label of "incentive to come to work".....
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nissanfreak87 12:04PM (11/12/2007)
Toyota actually does this, sorta, for anyone with perfect attendance, they are entered into a raffle, and 5 people from each plant go home with a new car, not just money toward a new car. It's still kinda crappy that that amount of people are absent every day
cowboy bob 12:06PM (11/12/2007)
Where we are in upstate NY, people regularly meet perfect attendance for a year. I worked with one guy who never missed a day for 17 years. Perhaps you are a problem like these auto workers???
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Christobevii3 1:10PM (11/12/2007)
My dad has worked at a glass factory for over 30 years and hadn't missed a day for being sick and all he got was a $100 walmart gift card lol.
cowboy bob 2:20PM (11/12/2007)
Your dad had a job. He went to work, and he got paid for going there and doing his job. What part of this don't you understand. I'm retired after 42 years in the work force. I got paid for every hour I worked, and worked for every hour I got paid. That was the deal. Getting a "reward" for doing what you are supposed to do wasn't what my generation built for what you enjoy today. If a guy didn't show up, he got fired. He knew it. You knew it. The boss knew it. That was the way it was, and that should be the way it is. Todays little sh*t heads have a screwed up idea of what it takes to be a man. Stand up, and do what you are supposed to do. After my time was up, I got a handshake, and I was even. Period.
Corey W. 12:07PM (11/12/2007)
...and I guess some of you never heard of signing bonuses, or yearly performance bonuses. GM is getting away with a total, FOR ALL WORKERS, of $75,000. Not sure what country you live in, but in the US, that's ridiculous compared to what some companies payout to their management/staff...etc.
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Big Rocket 12:31PM (11/12/2007)
Corey W. @ Nov 12th 2007 12:07PM wrote:
"GM is getting away with a total, FOR ALL WORKERS, of $75,000."
GM is getting away? Yeah, the UAW is really letting GM off the hook, with an absenteeism rate only "three-times higher than other industries." Where would we be without the UAW to "protect" America? How about a competitive American workforce for a competitive domestic auto industry.
Corey W. 12:53PM (11/12/2007)
You're right, I'm not defending absentee rates in the auto industry.... In my book, you get two warnings, then you're fired...period. What I'm saying is UAW has a long list of crap to complain about, this program is not one of them.