This could end up being a good opportunity to break the UAW, if the big three can weather COVID, then they may be able to outlast the UAW's small war chest its a game of attrition.

Dealers will love it for a while, prices will be held up higher, inventories will shrink at competition since there won't be as many domestic vehicles to buy, and none at anywhere near reasonable costs.

The compensation reports on Barra are of course exaggerated the always include stock options which are not cash compensation. Her salary was $2.1 million they report it at $29 million but it's not, and she guided GM to a $170 billion dollar revenue year, $2.1 million on $170 B company isn't massive, even $30 million isn't when you consider she helped guide the company to a 28% profit increase over last year and close to $10 billion in profit this year.

President Biden is making history by traveling to Michigan to stand in solidarity with the UAW. This is interesting as he offered to send aids to Michigan last week and the UAW politely told him "we don't need your... help".

In other news they expanded their strike to the parts plants. What does this mean for you? Hope nothing breaks down on your domestic vehicle that requires an OEM part as you won't be getting one for a while. Think the wait at the dealership is bad now... give it a week.

I wonder how the average American is going to feel when they can't get to their job, because they can't get their vehicle fixed due to the UAW throwing a fit over not getting a 40% pay raise.

I'm pretty sure, if as a salary employee, I took a look at the company increase in revenue/profit over last year and demanded an equal % increase in salary he'd ask if I'd suffered a recent blow to the head.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
This could end up being a good opportunity to break the UAW, if the big three can weather COVID, then they may be able to outlast the UAW's small war chest its a game of attrition.

It could, but that would require bringing in replacement workers.

But, as was pointed out in the article on Mary Barra:
There is obviously no plan to bring in replacement workers or tough out a long strike. In the end, GM and the other car makers could cave in yet again.

The biggest disaster of all would be exactly what happened in 2008-2009:
A taxpayer bailout of the union, while shareholders are left holding the (empty) bag.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
It could, but as was pointed out in the article on Mary Barra:
There is obviously no plan to bring in replacement workers or tough out a long strike. In the end, GM and the other car makers could cave in yet again.

The biggest disaster of all would be exactly what happened in 2008-2009:
A taxpayer bailout of the union, while shareholders are left holding the (empty) bag.

That would be interesting to see, don't think it would get through the R house, but wouldn't put it past the Buydem's Administration to try and use it politically.

GM could use it to announce the reduction in ICE vehicles due to the strike and the cost of bringing the plants back on line, and they will take the money and invest into EV plants and grow the company in non UAW states/countries.

Interesting enough Ford Stopped it's MI Battery plant construction of the $3.5 billion facility. Link

They'd be smart to say, we're not investing in MI and moving the plant to a southern facility, so not only would ICE jobs go out faster, as Ford wants, but the jobs that were going to be there are gone,

Think the plan is to make Finn look like the bad guy, that will take time for his hardline stance.

I just talked to a guy who's brother is UAW and was bussed over to the protest Biden visited. They were given specific instructions on how to act, how to march, even what to chant. The USSS told them when the President arrived keep your hands out of your pocket and on the sign, don't even reach for your phone or you won't like what will happen.

When Biden arrived a command was yelled and they had to part like the red sea to let him in.

He only went to see what a Presidential Motorcade looked like but actually got to meet Biden and shake his hand. He told his brother his hand was cold an clammy and when you looked in Biden's eyes it's clear there was no one home. He told his brother it really creeped him out.

FWIW I was at a BBQ with both Sunday and although I don't know them well yet they seem like decent guys.

UAW cheers having biden on the picket line

but



there goes a lot of union jobs

biden wants to grow union jobs while EV's require about 30% fewer jobs to assemble

Brandon actually flew to MI and visited the picket line for a grand total of ~11 minutes, spoke for less than 1 minute. All of that on the way to a fund-raiser in CA. It's performative art, our tax dollars at work...

Good writeup in the UK Dialy Mail about how crazy this all really is:

DAVID MARCUS: It's Biden's great green car crash! He plays the picket line hero - yet it's HIS lunatic electric vehicle diktat that will destroy their jobs... and drive Dems off a cliff

https://www.msn.com/en-us/mone...is-union/ar-AA1hpEDB

UAW President Shawn Fain plans to disclose the union's next steps Friday at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) in an online address. The flurry of activity on Thursday comes after a week in which there appeared to be little movement in the contract talks.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Good writeup in the UK Dialy Mail about how crazy this all really is:

DAVID MARCUS: It's Biden's great green car crash! He plays the picket line hero - yet it's HIS lunatic electric vehicle diktat that will destroy their jobs... and drive Dems off a cliff

They will still line up and chomp at the bit to vote for him and his ilk. There is no saving them. they are lemmings.

Now the UAW President is blaming the big 3 automakers for inciting the violence against his picketing workers.

https://www.clickondetroit.com...chigan-other-states/

UAW chief blames GM, Stellantis for ‘violence on picket lines’ in Michigan, other states

DETROIT – The president of the United Auto Workers union said Thursday that autoworkers on strike against the Detroit Big Three automakers have faced attacks on the picket lines this week in multiple states.

Tensions continue to rise between the UAW and the automakers, who have yet to come to an agreement after their contracts expired on Sept. 14. With the union continuing to expand its strike against the companies, non-unionized automotive suppliers and contractors may also feel the increasing pressure.

UAW chief blames GM, Stellantis for ‘violence on picket lines’ in Michigan, other states

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, five UAW members were injured when a vehicle reportedly drove through the crowd of picketers while leaving GM’s Flint Processing Center. The individuals reportedly sustained minor injuries. Fain said two of the members were taken to the hospital.

GM identified the driver of the vehicle as a “third-party housekeeping contractor” employed by Malace, and said the driver and the two other employees in the vehicle have been banned from all GM properties. The company also reportedly conducted “safety talks” at their facilities to reinforce their expectations amid the auto strike.
<SNIP>



He never for a second considered that maybe people are just sick of these strikes? Maybe he forgets the ripple this has across the supply chain network and the fact that it impacts the jobs of thousands of non union workers who don't care what the UAW does, but still need to earn a living?

Of course he doesn't, they aren't UAW so to him they and anyone else non-union is a scab and worthless.

It’s always someone else’s fault. In the early 70s in New Jersey, the Teamster were striking UPS. One of the Teamsters jumped on a semi pulling into a UPS Center, cut the hoses for the air brakes, fell off, got run over and killed. UPS’s fault.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Friday announced additional work stoppages as the union continues its historic strike against the Big Three carmakers, expanding the walkouts to a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, and a Ford plant in Chicago.

Fain said in a live video broadcast on Facebook that union leaders are still negotiating with the automakers, but that "sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table." He said 7,000 Ford and GM workers at the two facilities will leave their posts starting at noon.

That brings the total number of striking autoworkers to 25,000, or 17% of the UAW's roughly 146,000 members.

Workers at the Chicago plant make the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave, while the Lansing facility manufactures the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. Fain said a Lansing metal parts stamping plant will remain open.

The UAW spared additional strikes at Stellantis. Fain said the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram has made progress on negotiations, including in cost-of-living adjustments and giving workers the right to strike.

"We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues," Fain said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/s...-detroit-shawn-fain/

I have to be missing something in the UAW demands.

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, wants a 32-hour work week for 40 hours of pay, and overtime for anything more.

He also wants a 36% salary increase. (or is it 46% ?)

Let's say an auto worker makes $200 a day now.

200 * 1.36 = 272 per day (which would be 1360 per week)

to make 1360 in 4 days, it would need to be 340 per day

340/200 = 1.7

Is UAW really asking for that ?

As long as GM is idle, no garbage will produced by union trash.

Obviously there is trickle down effects far below just the car manufacturers and I don't want to wish ill on others who have nothing to do with UAW, but I sure hope the big 3 don't give into these ridiculous demands.

https://www.breitbart.com/econ...ic-vehicle-mandates/

Ford CEO Jim Farley

Fain said the UAW and Ford “are far apart on core economic proposals” like the automakers’ planned four EV battery plants which he said “Farley himself says is going to cut 40 percent of our members’ jobs.”

Indeed, Farley bragged last year that EVs would be far easier for automakers to manufacture than gas-powered cars, noting they will include “half the fixtures, half the work stations, half the welds, [and] 20 percent less fasteners.”

“We designed it, because it’s such a simple product, to radically change the manufacturability,” Farley said.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Fire them all, It wouldn't take too long to fill those low skill, high paying jobs

Would that it were that simple: Can You Be Fired for Going On Strike?

TL;DR: You can't do that.

It'll be interesting to see what the not-so-big-anymore-3 do about this. What the UAW is demanding is a large part of the reason GM and Chrysler had to be bailed out in 2008, and Ford was teetering on the edge.

If the "Detroit" automakers yield, as has traditionally been their short-sighted response, they'll only put themselves right back where they'd put themselves in the decades leading up to their near-demise in 2008.

IMO they should never have been bailed-out. This behavior by the UAW is one prime example of why.

Yep, they never should have been bailed out...
Even worse, the union centered bailouts threw out the clear priority of the bankruptcy code.

The striking workers cannot be "fired"... but they can be "permanently replaced".

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/11...uck-plant/index.html

The United Auto Workers union surprised Ford late Wednesday night, having 8,700 workers walk off the job at the company’s largest plant, the Kentucky Truck Plant that builds the company’s heavy duty version of its F Series pickup, as well as its full-size SUVs.

The UAW has been on strike against not only Ford, but also General Motors and Stellantis, since September 15. This is not the first time that the union has expanded the strike to additional facilities. The expansion of the strike occurred at 6:30 pm Wednesday evening, without any warning from the union that it was preparing to expand the strike.

And by hitting the Kentucky Truck Plant, it is going after a much more profitable part of Ford’s line-up. The vehicles at the plant produce annual revenue of $25 billion for the company, or about one-sixth of its overall global revenue. While it does not produced the F-150, the company’s best selling vehicle, it builds the larger versions of the truck as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.

“We have been crystal clear, and we have waited long enough, but Ford has not gotten the message,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “It’s time for a fair contract at Ford and the rest of the Big Three. If they can’t understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it.”

A Ford official told media that the UAW had called for a negotiation session with Ford for Wednesday evening. He said that the union wanted a different offer from Ford from what it had presented before. After a very brief discussion that last only a few minutes, Fain told company officials, “If that’s all you got, you just lost KTP,” and the meeting ended, according to the Ford officials.

The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s account of the negotiating session.

I think all parties are in an impossible position, thanks to leftists. The employees need more to sustain a living wage, which is being eaten away by inflation. Automation will continue to reduce the ranks of hourly workers, made even easier by EV technology. The auto companies are responsible for kowtowing to govt and green ideology, the latter showing no signs of producing a bubble of earnings anytime soon. Don't expect "concessions" from either Labor or DC.

Labor and govt will force the automakers into a deal they won't be able to afford for very long, because neither the product or consumer is ready. We could eventually end up like Cuba, driving around decades-old, gas powered vehicles.