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Psychoblues
12-09-2008, 01:38 AM
I hope to see a lot more of these win-win negotiations in labor/management considerations!!!!!!!!!!!! I have extensive and almost always positive experiences in these type endeavors!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Source: Reuters

DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union is seeking a stake in General Motors Corp and a board seat as it offers concessions intended to allow the automaker to slash costs and clinch federal aid, a union official said.

In a posting on the UAW Local 2404 website, local president Marc McQuillen said union leadership had said rank-and-file workers would have to ratify new concessionary contract provisions for GM by March 31.

The UAW will also offer another round of buyouts in 2009 if government bailout funds are provided to GM and allowed to be used for that purpose, McQuillen said.

"In return for these actions, the UAW seeks an equity stake in the company most likely in the form of a board seat," McQuillen said.

GM, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC have cut some 150,000 UAW-represented jobs over the past three years, but another round of buyouts in 2009 could allow them to cut labor costs by hiring in new workers at sharply lower wage rates.

McQuillen was one of the UAW officials who attended an emergency meeting called by the union's senior leadership last Wednesday in Detroit and his report was a summary of those closed-door meetings for his membership.

At the meeting, the union said it would allow GM and its Detroit rivals to postpone contributions to a trust fund scheduled to take over $85 billion in liabilities for retiree health care from 2010.

The union also said it would scrap a controversial provision of its contract that puts idled GM workers into a "Jobs Bank" where they collect almost full wages and benefits.

UAW local officials were briefed in Detroit by Steve Girsky, a banker with a deep background in the auto industry, McQuillen said.

Girsky, a banker with private equity firm Centerbridge Partners briefly worked for GM as an advisor and sits on the board of auto supplier Dana Holding Corp.

Girsky told the assembled UAW leaders in Detroit that without a federal bridge loan GM would be forced into bankruptcy.

He also said GM had discovered during its now-shelved merger talks with Chrysler LLC that its own cash was running down much faster than expected, according to the union official.

Girsky could not be immediately reached for comment.

UAW Local 2404 represents GM workers who ship parts to auto dealers in the southeast United States.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUSTRE4B75Q720081208

Like selling cars, if both sides aren't satisfied there is no deal on the table that has a prayers chance in hell for being viable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Psychoblues

Sitarro
12-09-2008, 02:32 AM
I don't know what bullshit was presented here since sicko is on ignore but judging from the title it is no doubt nothing but bullshit. This is from an article my brother sent to me............. gee, besides the fact that they produce some of the ugliest cars ever built, could the f'ed up, rip off unions and their members be part of the problem?

"Maybe taxpayers need a bailout!!

According to Forbes:
Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers.

Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S. ): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006
was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more
compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the
average worker at Toyota , Honda or Nissan.

Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive.
This year's contract, they say, must be "transformational" in reducing pension and health care
costs.

What would "transformational" mean? One way to think about "transformational" would mean
that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to
that of the average university professor with a PhD.

Then there's the "Job Bank"

When a D3 ( Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all
benefits - medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour.

Here's a typical story....

Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s
Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne , signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool
hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the
newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I just sit."

Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or
bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit
automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union - UAW - as part of an extraordinary
job security agreement.

Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package - soon to be
increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way.

The "Big 3" want this money - not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for
Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used
to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars.

We ALL have problems paying for our Medical Insurance - but the Democrat leaders in Congress
now want us to pay the Medical Insurance premiums of folks who have RETIRED from Ford, GM
and Chrysler.

Not a good deal for us.

How about Chapter 11 - and getting rid of these ridiculous union contracts?"

Psychoblues
12-09-2008, 02:41 AM
Sucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuck you, zero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

crin63
12-09-2008, 09:54 AM
I'm a 28 year union member but if it were me I'd fire all the UAW workers and hire off the streets. They would be welcome to reapply for jobs as non-UAW employees. The UAW gives all unions a bad name.