REPORT: Workers with union desk jobs being sent back to factory floor
In an action that is symbolic of the changes America's auto industry is undergoing, the cushy "union desk job" is reportedly about to disappear for many. According to The Detroit Free Press, UAW bosses at post-bankrupt Chrysler and General Motors plants are informing hundreds of elected and appointed colleagues that their desk jobs are being sent back to the factory floor.
The Detroit 3 have always paid for union workers at each plant to support labor-management initiatives, conduct union elections, and handle grievances. Most of these "desk jobs" were not at the plant, and they were reportedly enved by those required to do labor-intensive work in the factories. As such, the news is welcomed by those on the assembly line. "These people had cushy jobs," said Zeigler Johnson, a worker at Chrysler's Warren Truck plant. "Some of them could use a taste of life on the floor to remind them we still make trucks around here."
All told, the UAW is eliminating about 300 positions at Chrysler, while GM expects the change to impact less than 500 workers. The new positions are expected to take effect within the next 60 days.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jpm100 9:16AM (7/18/2009)
I don't begrudge the union for guys that actually work directly on the line. Anyone else, there's no need for them to be in the union.
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That One Person 5:45PM (7/18/2009)
A guy I work with worked at Detroit Diesel for three or four years and he said it sucked. He doesn't understand how people could do it for 20-30 years. He said it was difficult.
TigerMil 9:36AM (7/18/2009)
This is a sign of the times. Although the desk jobs are necessary and benefit union-management relations, they'll have to be cut. And there will be issues with longer processing times for union complaints, etc., as a result. The change will clearly involve the unions paying for the work that Chryco and GM and Ford (wait till THAT shoe hits the floor....) had been paying for. Which will drive up union dues, etc., etc.
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big_al_m213 9:45AM (7/18/2009)
They shouldn't have to raise their dues, they will just have to cut back on their political contributions.
henrykrinkle 9:44AM (7/18/2009)
"These people had cushy jobs," said Zeigler Johnson, a worker at Chrysler's Warren Truck plant. "Some of them could use a taste of life on the floor to remind them we still make trucks around here."
Love that union mentality. Always worry about the other guy - at least the ones that have it better than you. They preach about lifting up the common man but all they really want is to pull everyone down to their level.
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That One Person 5:45PM (7/18/2009)
The problem is that those bosses usually have no clue what it's like. Heck, a lot of people in this world have no clue what factory life is like. I know I don't and I don't think I ever want to experience it. I happen to live in Metro Detroit so I know quite a few people who either work or worked for the Big 3 in a factory and the stories they have told me just makes me glad I'm fortunate enough not to be stuck on the line.
I work with a guy who worked for Detroit Diesel and he told he never understood how people could do that kind of work for 20 -30 years. He said it ain't what it used to be but it still sucks.
UtahAlumnus 3:57PM (7/20/2009)
AMEN.
Kitko 9:48AM (7/18/2009)
That photo is great!
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HJC 2 10:21AM (7/18/2009)
Please....... thats a highly skilled man working :=)
His knowledge on how to put that bolt on takes years to get that skill and worth all the money the car industry pays him ( sarcasm )
geo.stewart 11:27AM (7/18/2009)
well, an apt pictorial of the 'labor intensive' work on the factory floor. good to see those robot arms put to work with a seat and an a$$ on the end of it
MONTE 11:35AM (7/18/2009)
Not everybody can sit in a seat and put a door hinge bolt in with an electric drill, one-handed. This is the type of job that really does deserve $30/hr and a union to keep you from being taken advantage of.
I hate this country sometimes.
tuxchown 12:48PM (7/18/2009)
That chair is probably the result of ergonomics studies. It probably prevents back injury from having to bend over to perform whatever task the man in the picture is performing, which, BTW nobody really knows for sure what he is doing since we aren't seeing him in action. If you have ever done something like this 500 times a day, five to six days a week, then you may be able to comment intelligently. But if you have never done this, you have no idea what you are talking about. I have worked on a production line before and I can guarantee you it is no picnic. That picture was probably taken just to promote more anti-autoworker propaganda.
geo.stewart 1:18PM (7/18/2009)
Monte,
dont hate the country, hate the ones who take advantage of the liberties offered us, and hate the ones who want to punish your ability to work hard, work smart, and get ahead.
Aki 2:30PM (7/18/2009)
The true cost isn't even just the $20-30 dollar/hr, or the high healthcare/benefit costs. It's also all the time spent on labor negotiations, labor arbitrations, laywers to handle arbitrations, etc. Of course, you'd need to hire executives that know how to talk to unions, so you may hire a person who's a savy negotiator but not quite as good as management of the company.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:25PM (7/18/2009)
Those slider arms like that are often used for people who have to do something inside the car, not just at the jamb. Climbing in and out of a moving car 4000 times a week leads to a lot of (slight) injuries. And injured workers aren't efficient. The arm puts the person into the car in the same spot every time and without error.
Mr.Oak 10:00PM (7/18/2009)
Ha! Ha!! That's a Sebring he's working on, No wonder.
Note: Idiotic creases in hood.
~D. 10:25AM (7/18/2009)
for all the crying back and forth, it's good to see that the unions have done the one thing that all the naysayers have been complaining they'd never do- cut their administrative expenses. for most industries and institution, its the best way to cope with financial hardship, but since no person in a position of power would willingly cut their power, it rarely ever comes to pass- hence all of our bloated institutions.
people need to stop crying about it, both those who are pro-union and anti-union. this is a sign that -in light of a true crisis in an American industry- people have done the right thing at all levels, including both at the union and government levels, which most folks seemed to be entirely jaded about. when the story of the American auto industry's restructuring is looked at in retrospective, and compared with how this unfolded in the European auto sector, people will have less cause to be so caustic in their criticism.
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Gardiner Westbound 11:02AM (7/18/2009)
Featherbedding: A pejorative term for the corrupt union practice of extorting an employer into hiring more workers than needed to perform a given job, or to adopt work procedures which appear pointless, complex and time-consuming merely to employ additional workers.
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toganet 11:23AM (7/18/2009)
I think this is great. I've always said that unions start to become misguided as soon as there are individuals whose sole job is to work for the union, rather than in the same job as their union brethren. In other words, if someone's work performance is gauged by how much the workers "get" from the employer, rather than performance that relates to the performance of the company, they've put everyone on the road to the upside-down situation that GM and Chrysler ended up in with the UAW.
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Sean 11:32AM (7/18/2009)
They've given up on quality and now build sebrings sitting down.
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