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]
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]
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