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Show promoter cancels Bunning after bailout vote

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  • Very Interesting
  • TJMACTJMAC Posts: 864 ✭✭
    I wish they would leave politics out of it. This is a very complex issue and a vote against the bail out does not mean you are necessarily against the auto industry and the working man. A poor reason to cancel a contract in my opinion.
  • zep33zep33 Posts: 6,897 ✭✭✭
    Unfortunately, Bunning is right and the mayor and the promoter should get a punch in the mouth

    And I work in the business at the dealership level


  • Alfonz24Alfonz24 Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It is "Pay to Play" politics.
    #LetsGoSwitzerlandThe Man Who Does Not Read Has No Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read. The biggest obstacle to progress is a habit of “buying what we want and begging for what we need.”You get the Freedom you fight for and get the Oppression you deserve.
  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I wish they would leave politics out of it. This is a very complex issue and a vote against the bail out does not mean you are necessarily against the auto industry and the working man. A poor reason to cancel a contract in my opinion. >>



    Try telling my union (UFCW) that. image They've never met an "R" guy they didn't like. I don't know what they're going to do when they find out I'm a registered Republican who proudly voted for McCain/Palin. image My district union guy (I'm asst. steward; he's just above me) is cool with my political affiliation though, and I even call him "Chef" because his last name is Sheffield (sound familiar?).
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  • stevekstevek Posts: 30,260 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Actually a smart publicity move by the promoter, and any promoter will take the money over politics any day of the week. It's not like people would be breaking down the doors anyway for Jim Bunning's autograph.
  • Carew29Carew29 Posts: 4,025 ✭✭

    Bust those Union's Jimbo!!!!!
  • I hope Jim Bunning never steps foot in the great state of Michigan again. What an a@@hole to turn his back on all the families of Michigan. You would think by having lived here and playing for the Detroit Tigers he would have a clue as to what makes this area tick.

    It's very simple...If the auto industry fails every state and every person in the U.S. will be negatively affected!!
  • say hey......yes and if the union does not make real sacrifices the auto industry will fail - bailout or no bailout. and yes, other things need to happen to but that is part of the problem. bunning and others who voted no tried to help your state of Michigan by helping GM and Chrysler operate more efficiently and being able to keep the doors open so you can have jobs.

    would you rather take a 10% cut in benefits and hopefully keep your job and everyone else's job or would you rather keep your benefits as is and everyone can be out of a job in 6 months?

    if the auto industry fails it will not be good for all of the US, the world actually. so with that being the case, there has to be tough decisions made and the union and the benefit package is part of those tough decisions. they will put themselves out of work with the 'don't give in attitude' currently in place.


  • Kind of funny since Bunning was a member of the MLBPA and probably still collects a pensions from Baseball as well as a pension from the Government.

    I have never heard a single Senator refuse to collect their Federal pension paid on the backs of the taxpayers.

    These guys and their political interests crack me up. Do as I say, not as I do.

  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    Bunning has said he is for a bailout, just not the one presented to him for a vote.


    "Bunning said he supports government help for the automakers, but not the plan that was proposed this week."



    Steve
    Good for you.
  • Kudos to the Mayor of Taylor and the Gilbralter Show Promotor. For Bunning's safety alone, it was probably a good idea to keep him out of SouthEast Michigan.


  • << <i>For Bunning's safety alone, it was probably a good idea to keep him out of SouthEast Michigan. >>



    Why, are union people violent?
  • joestalinjoestalin Posts: 12,473 ✭✭
    Doesn't Jim drive a Ford Excursion?

    JS
  • mtcardsmtcards Posts: 3,340 ✭✭✭
    First the banks, then the auto industry, which industry will want a handout next? How about the card collectors who cant afford all the new expensive crap industry? When will it end?

    The auto industry is in the shape its in because it cost them more to make a crap product. Heck, even in the South, the parts factory workers make a minimum of $20-$25 an hour, while every other industry (who work just as hard btw) makes half that. Until the auto industry gets out of the ridiculous union contracts and begins to make a quality product, they will continue to lose money.

    As a final point, why should the auto industry (or banking for that matter) receive such a massive amount of taxpayer money to continue "business as usual" and lose even more money? Thousands of small business, who employ just as many workers as the auto industry does as a whole, are hurting in this economic times. Who is championing their cause to Congress? Who is stepping up to the plate for them? The answer: noone!!

    The politicians, the unions and their workers are all pushing this "armageddon" theory if the auto industry goes bankrupt. The sad thing is, the only ones who will be hurt ARE the workers. If the politicians and union reps would quit trying to control the industry and renegotiate realistic salaries and products with the auto industry, things would be a heck of a lot better. When it comes down to it, I am sure the auto workers would rather lose 40% of their pay, then lose their job.
    IT IS ALWAYS CHEAPER TO NOT SELL ON EBAY
  • Blame this guy:

    image
    There's a hole in my head where the rain comes in.
  • MooseDogMooseDog Posts: 1,948 ✭✭✭


    << <i> It's very simple...If the auto industry fails every state and every person in the U.S. will be negatively affected!! >>



    That's what they said about Seattle in the 1970s when Boeing was having trouble. There was even a billboard on I-5 that said "the last person to leave Seattle, please turn out the lights".

    You should see the place now.

  • there is no simple answer, however:

    the folks making $75 an hour need to be slapped back to reality.
    the retirees getting 100% benefits etc. need to get whacked

    the companies need to stop producing crap products and SUV's, trucks etc and make what people want these days, cars that are safe, get good mileage and are environmentally friendly.

    Americans need to drive less and use mass transit, or start carpooling. Face it, we are a selfish, entitled nation of consumers, something has got to change. $4 gas was a B!t@hslap to a lot of folks, hopefully they are awake now.

    CEO's and Execs need to get their ridiculous salaries slashed, no more dividends either. No golden parachutes etc. time to suck it up.

    Make Americans want to buy American products.


  • << <i>say hey......yes and if the union does not make real sacrifices the auto industry will fail - bailout or no bailout. and yes, other things need to happen to but that is part of the problem. bunning and others who voted no tried to help your state of Michigan by helping GM and Chrysler operate more efficiently and being able to keep the doors open so you can have jobs.

    would you rather take a 10% cut in benefits and hopefully keep your job and everyone else's job or would you rather keep your benefits as is and everyone can be out of a job in 6 months?

    if the auto industry fails it will not be good for all of the US, the world actually. so with that being the case, there has to be tough decisions made and the union and the benefit package is part of those tough decisions. they will put themselves out of work with the 'don't give in attitude' currently in place. >>



    HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>the retirees getting 100% benefits etc. need to get whacked >>



    That sounds fair. Retirees who put in 30 years with a company, who paid into the pool on every single paycheck over those 30 years, should lose their retirement benefits because the CEO has a $25 million golden parachute they need to pay for?

    Give me a break.
  • This is a great article by Mitch Album of the Detroit Free Press:

    Hey, you senators: Thanks for nothing
    A few parting words for the senators who squashed the auto rescue

    By MITCH ALBOM • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • December 13, 2008


    Do you want to watch us drown? Is that it? Do want to see the last gurgle of economic air spit from our lips? If so, senators, know this: You’ll go down with us. America isn’t America without an auto industry. You can argue whether $14 billion would have saved it, but you surely tried to kill it.
    Advertisement

    We have grease on our hands.

    You have blood.

    Kill the car, kill the country. History will show that when America was on its knees, a handful of lawmakers tried to cut off its feet. And blame the workers. How suddenly did the workers — a small percentage of a car’s cost — become justification for crushing an industry?

    And when did Detroit become the symbol of economic dysfunction? Are you kidding? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Washington?

    In a world where banks hemorrhaged trillions in a high-priced gamble called credit derivative swaps that YOU failed to regulate, how on earth do WE need to be punished? In a bailout era where you shoveled billions, with no demands, to banks and financial firms, why do WE need to be schooled on how to run a business?

    Who is more dysfunctional in business than YOU? Who blows more money? Who wastes more trillions on favors, payback and pork?

    At least in the auto industry, if folks don’t like what you make, they don’t have to buy it. In government, even your worst mistakes, we have to live with.

    And now Detroit should die with this?
    In bed with the foreign automakers

    Kill the car, kill the country. Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. Bob Corker, Sen. Mitch McConnell, your names will not be forgotten. It’s amazing how you pretend to speak for America when you are only watching out for your political party, which would love to cripple unions, and your states, which house foreign auto plants.

    Corker, you’ve got Nissan there and Volkswagen coming. Shelby, you’ve got Hyundai, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and — like McConnell — Toyota. Oh, don’t kid yourself. They didn’t come because you earned their business, a subject on which you enjoy lecturing the Detroit Three. No, they came because you threw billions in state tax breaks to lure them.

    And now you want those foreign companies, which you lured, and which get help from their governments, to dictate to American workers how much they should be paid? Tell you what. You’re so fond of the foreign model, why don’t you do what Japanese ministers do when they screw up the country’s finances?

    They cut their salaries.

    Or they resign in shame.

    When was the last time a U.S. senator resigned over a failed policy?

    Yet you want to fire Rick Wagoner?

    Who are you people?
    More money for the lords of Wall Street

    There ought to be a law — against the hypocrisy our government has demonstrated. The speed with which wheelbarrows of money were dumped on Wall Street versus the slow noose hung on the auto companies’ necks is reprehensible. Some of those same banks we bailed out are now saying they won’t extend credit to auto dealers. Wasn’t that why we gave them the money? To loosen credit?

    Where’s your tight grip on those funds, senators? Where’s your micromanaging of the wages in banking? Or do you just enjoy having your hands around blue-collared throats?

    No matter what the president does, history will not forget this: At our nation’s most uncertain hour, you senators stood ready to plunge hundreds of thousands of American families into oblivion. Leave them unemployed, with no health care, on public assistance. And you were willing to put our nation’s security at risk — by squashing the manufacturing base we must have in times of war.

    And why? So you could stand on some phony principle? Crush a union? Play to your base? How is our nation better off today now that you kept $14 billion in the treasury? Are you going to balance the budget with that?

    Don’t make us laugh.

    Kill the car, kill the country. You tried to slam a stake into our chest; you don’t realize how close you are to the nation’s heart. Shame on your pettiness. Shame on your hypocrisy. This is how lawmakers behave two weeks before Christmas? Honestly. What has become of this country?

    Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch “The Mitch Albom Show” 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).

    Click here if you would like to comment on Mitch Albom's columns.
  • Great article Sey Hey.

    A couple of nights ago NBC had a segment on the resurgance of shoe repair stores in New York City. They had a few bankers whining how they would normally buy a new 200 or 300 dollar pair of shoes but are instead getting the old ones which are in decent shape resoled since they were uncertain of bonuses and the future. These are the people the 700 Billion is going to bail out. I doubt very few of the autoworkers are going to be buying 300 dollar shoes anytime soon, though the executives of the car company may be in the near future as they run their businesses into the ground.

    I also doubt any of the Senators would even mention cutting their pensions since the government is running in such a defecit and they refuse to balance the budget. These people sicken me, regardless of political party.

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>a new 200 or 300 dollar pair of shoes >>



    And I thought $120 Air Jordans was bad enough. image I'll just stick with my $15 velcro shoes thank you...
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  • Tedw9Tedw9 Posts: 1,424 ✭✭
    I usually stay out of things like this, but I read someting interesting on Yahoo the other day about this vote. In the article it said that one of the things tacked onto the bill was that federal judges would get a raise too. So if I am reading the article right, all these special interest groups and such are adding "pork" onto the bill. What does a federal judge getting a raise have to do with the auto industry?

    I could be totally wrong here, that is just how I understood the article. Maybe someone who has a better idea of how these things work could explain it better.
    Looking for Carl Willey items.
  • that article is BS....Kill the car industry??...they are killing themselves. the republican senators were trying to help them stay in business by running a better business. throwing the billions at the finance sector.... they wasted a lot of money with no oversight to how that was spent. but that was needed as the US finance industry is the infastructure (sp) of the world economy.

    but what else is a writer from detroit going to say? the democrats would never suggest union members get less benefits. they receive millions and millions from the unions and get elected into office by them. and yes I voted for Obama and many other Dems this year.

    GM was burning through 2 billion a month with a strong economy. what are they going thru in a very poor economy - 6 billion a month? you can give the automakers 14 billion or 2 weeks ago they wanted 24 billion and then a week later it was up to 33 billion. as that was 2 weeks ago it must be up to 51 billion now. trouble is give them whatever they need and people still aren't going to be buying cars. not that they don't make good cars but most americans don't have money for a new car right now and are not for some time...a very long time for most people.

    whose next? - maybe bail out Starbucks since people aren't buying $5 lattes twice a day now, what about the home builders? they are going out of business left and right and homes are not selling. should they get money too? ebay will be in line too when there stock is next to nothing and sales are low..do they get a bailout too? what about the millions unemployed? what is their bailout? yet the unions want to keep everything they have - can't have it both ways.

    the unions need to be part of the 'give' in the process and not the me, me, me which they are doing. no republican senator wanted to ax the unions (I am sure they really would love to do that) and what they proposed was a sound solution.

    go to google and search UAW Contract and see what the benefit package is.


  • << <i>I usually stay out of things like this, but I read someting interesting on Yahoo the other day about this vote. In the article it said that one of the things tacked onto the bill was that federal judges would get a raise too. So if I am reading the article right, all these special interest groups and such are adding "pork" onto the bill. What does a federal judge getting a raise have to do with the auto industry?

    I could be totally wrong here, that is just how I understood the article. Maybe someone who has a better idea of how these things work could explain it better. >>




    yes that was Harry Reid who added the judge raise. but you won't here much about that due to the media slant against the republican senators who tried to do the right thing. Reid himself has been very vocal against the Rep. senators voting no but Reid's own pork spending, which had nothing to do with the bailout, was perfectly fine. at least the wheat farmers were left out of this one.


  • << <i>that article is BS....Kill the car industry??...they are killing themselves. the republican senators were trying to help them stay in business by running a better business. throwing the billions at the finance sector.... they wasted a lot of money with no oversight to how that was spent. but that was needed as the US finance industry is the infastructure (sp) of the world economy.

    but what else is a writer from detroit going to say? the democrats would never suggest union members get less benefits. they receive millions and millions from the unions and get elected into office by them. and yes I voted for Obama and many other Dems this year.

    GM was burning through 2 billion a month with a strong economy. what are they going thru in a very poor economy - 6 billion a month? you can give the automakers 14 billion or 2 weeks ago they wanted 24 billion and then a week later it was up to 33 billion. as that was 2 weeks ago it must be up to 51 billion now. trouble is give them whatever they need and people still aren't going to be buying cars. not that they don't make good cars but most americans don't have money for a new car right now and are not for some time...a very long time for most people.

    whose next? - maybe bail out Starbucks since people aren't buying $5 lattes twice a day now, what about the home builders? they are going out of business left and right and homes are not selling. should they get money too? ebay will be in line too when there stock is next to nothing and sales are low..do they get a bailout too? what about the millions unemployed? what is their bailout? yet the unions want to keep everything they have - can't have it both ways.

    the unions need to be part of the 'give' in the process and not the me, me, me which they are doing. no republican senator wanted to ax the unions (I am sure they really would love to do that) and what they proposed was a sound solution.

    go to google and search UAW Contract and see what the benefit package is. >>



    HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD AGAIN.


  • << <i>

    << <i>that article is BS....Kill the car industry??...they are killing themselves. the republican senators were trying to help them stay in business by running a better business. throwing the billions at the finance sector.... they wasted a lot of money with no oversight to how that was spent. but that was needed as the US finance industry is the infastructure (sp) of the world economy.

    but what else is a writer from detroit going to say? the democrats would never suggest union members get less benefits. they receive millions and millions from the unions and get elected into office by them. and yes I voted for Obama and many other Dems this year.

    GM was burning through 2 billion a month with a strong economy. what are they going thru in a very poor economy - 6 billion a month? you can give the automakers 14 billion or 2 weeks ago they wanted 24 billion and then a week later it was up to 33 billion. as that was 2 weeks ago it must be up to 51 billion now. trouble is give them whatever they need and people still aren't going to be buying cars. not that they don't make good cars but most americans don't have money for a new car right now and are not for some time...a very long time for most people.

    whose next? - maybe bail out Starbucks since people aren't buying $5 lattes twice a day now, what about the home builders? they are going out of business left and right and homes are not selling. should they get money too? ebay will be in line too when there stock is next to nothing and sales are low..do they get a bailout too? what about the millions unemployed? what is their bailout? yet the unions want to keep everything they have - can't have it both ways.

    the unions need to be part of the 'give' in the process and not the me, me, me which they are doing. no republican senator wanted to ax the unions (I am sure they really would love to do that) and what they proposed was a sound solution.

    go to google and search UAW Contract and see what the benefit package is. >>



    HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD AGAIN. >>



    I still fail to see why the auto industry feels that they deserve to be bailed out after driving themselves into the ground. It would do nothing but reward failure.


  • << <i>

    I still fail to see why the auto industry feels that they deserve to be bailed out after driving themselves into the ground. It would do nothing but reward failure. >>



    I see similar statements over and over again, and the free market capitalist in me feels the same way, but when it comes down to it, we need the auto industry. Just think of the following implications....

    1.) Dealerships will go out of business.

    2.) Parts Suppliers will go under.

    3.) Warranties will become insolvent.

    4.) One of the last manufacturing bases will errode.

    5.) The small mom and pop businesses in these manufacturing towns which rely on the manufacturers will go under

    6.) Retirees may lose out on pensions, resulting the taxpayers paying even more to the federal pension insurance fund.


    Now I do have major gripes with bailing out "American" companies which have sent a lot of their jobs to Canada and Mexico. In reality in this global economy there is no such thing as an American company, though these companies and their employees do pay taxes in this great land.
  • TabeTabe Posts: 6,236 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    I still fail to see why the auto industry feels that they deserve to be bailed out after driving themselves into the ground. It would do nothing but reward failure. >>


    Perhaps because:

    A) They're being asked to compete against competitors that receive government subsidies here in the US to build factories and government subsidies at home to assist them in competing here

    B) They are fighting against a media that continues to say Japanese cars are better - even though American cars are at least equal in quality and several thousand dollars cheaper

    C) They are fighting against a media that trashes GM or Ford for any recall yet buries the story when Toyota recalls something like 2 million Camrys

    No question that the auto industry has hurt themselves over and over but let's not pretend that it's entirely their fault when they're being asked to compete on an un-level playing field.

    Tabe


  • << <i>

    << <i>

    I still fail to see why the auto industry feels that they deserve to be bailed out after driving themselves into the ground. It would do nothing but reward failure. >>



    I see similar statements over and over again, and the free market capitalist in me feels the same way, but when it comes down to it, we need the auto industry. Just think of the following implications....

    1.) Dealerships will go out of business.

    2.) Parts Suppliers will go under.

    3.) Warranties will become insolvent.

    4.) One of the last manufacturing bases will errode.

    5.) The small mom and pop businesses in these manufacturing towns which rely on the manufacturers will go under

    6.) Retirees may lose out on pensions, resulting the taxpayers paying even more to the federal pension insurance fund.


    Now I do have major gripes with bailing out "American" companies which have sent a lot of their jobs to Canada and Mexico. In reality in this global economy there is no such thing as an American company, though these companies and their employees do pay taxes in this great land. >>



    If people want cars, they want cars. Does it really matter who is making them? If it isn't GM, then it is Toyota. Lost jobs at GM(or the big 3) equals more jobs b/c of increased demand w/ other auto companies. The UAW is a bunch of douchebags, and I would love to see nothing more than their greedy asses get buried. We do not need unions in this day and age.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The UAW is a bunch of douchebags, and I would love to see nothing more than their greedy asses get buried. >>



    And by that comment, you just became one, too.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    I still fail to see why the auto industry feels that they deserve to be bailed out after driving themselves into the ground. It would do nothing but reward failure. >>


    Perhaps because:

    A) They're being asked to compete against competitors that receive government subsidies here in the US to build factories and government subsidies at home to assist them in competing here

    B) They are fighting against a media that continues to say Japanese cars are better - even though American cars are at least equal in quality and several thousand dollars cheaper

    C) They are fighting against a media that trashes GM or Ford for any recall yet buries the story when Toyota recalls something like 2 million Camrys

    No question that the auto industry has hurt themselves over and over but let's not pretend that it's entirely their fault when they're being asked to compete on an un-level playing field.

    Tabe >>



    BINGO!
  • the original point of this thread was not about whether they should get the bailout money or not. the thread was blasting Senator Bunning and other republican senators who wanted the union to reduce benefits in order to get the bailout. These handful of Senators are being trashed in Detroit and all over the media for being 'un american', anti US worker, antil car maker. The Senators did the right thing and were looking out for the potential survival of the auto makers. what happened to the finance industry and those decisions which were made have nothing to do with the decisions for the auto industry or other potential bailouts. they've blown money on the finance bailouts and have had no accountability BUT that does not mean you do the same for the auto workers and makers. Senator Bunning should be applauded for taking the right stance in his own backyard and doing what's right. and in the end even, if they keep the doors open for business - People are NOT buying cars right now and the bailout money is NOT going to change that.
    as things get worse and the worst is yet to come, people will be selling their cars and heal toeing it or riding bikes to/from work.


  • << <i>

    << <i>The UAW is a bunch of douchebags, and I would love to see nothing more than their greedy asses get buried. >>



    And by that comment, you just became one, too. >>



    Oh boy, my feelings are hurt. Unions are really not needed this day and age. They are good for 4 hours work out of an 8 hour workday.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>They are good for 4 hours work out of an 8 hour workday. >>



    Typical idiotic mush from people who have never seen the inside of a factory. You keep regurgitating what the media tells you to...it says a lot about your intelligence.


  • << <i>

    << <i>They are good for 4 hours work out of an 8 hour workday. >>



    Typical idiotic mush from people who have never seen the inside of a factory. You keep regurgitating what the media tells you to...it says a lot about your intelligence. >>



    LOL...yeah buddy, if you only knew.......
  • stevekstevek Posts: 30,260 ✭✭✭✭✭
    All I know is the last GM car I bought, and every car I ever bought up until that time was from GM, was a brand new fully loaded 1997 Oldsmobile and that car was a shameful piece of garbage. And I heard similar stories about GM cars - So why should I buy another GM car after that, when I used to bring it back to the dealer, waste my time, and they still couldn't adequately fix the problems. What am I gonna do - go thru that again like a glutton for punishment? And it's not like I was super happy with my previous few GM cars.

    That's the bottom line - they were producing garbage so their former customers were buying other cars - it's that simple. Case closed.

    I still buy American - I've bought Ford and I've been satisfied with them.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>LOL...yeah buddy, if you only knew....... >>



    Actually, I do know.

    I watched my father work at GM (and later, their spinoff Delphi) for more than 30 years. I worked there for 89 days on a summer worker program out of high school, so I got to see the work up close and personal. The equipment that was used to build catalytic converters was old and antiquated. Numerous manual clamps were used throughout the manufacturing process. These clamps caused severe medical problems for many workers.

    After 20 years of employment, my father started seeing the damage. Over the course of a few years, he required carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists, ligament repair surgeries on both elbows (twice) and major shoulder reconstruction on both arms, including shortening a ligament in each shoulder by 1" due to the severe damage. In order to accommodate that change, they had to grind down his collarbone to shorten it and allow for better range of motion. He has about 70% range of motion on his left arm and 75% on his right.

    His doctor placed him on permanent full medical restriction that did not allow him to return to the line. My father wanted to work, so he put in for a Benefits Representative position with his UAW. He was voted in and proceeded to help other union members understand and deal with their healthcare and retirement benefits. Without the UAW in place, Delphi would have put him on full disability, which I believe would have been 40% of his pay and he would have been out on the streets looking for a new job.

    But yes, you just go ahead and tell me how union workers only put in half days and are grossly overpaid and all deserve to lose their jobs.


  • << <i> Without the UAW in place, Delphi would have put him on full disability, which I believe would have been 40% of his pay and he would have been out on the streets looking for a new job.

    But yes, you just go ahead and tell me how union workers only put in half days and are grossly overpaid and all deserve to lose their jobs. >>



    I believe full disability payment through Ohio workers compensation program is 80% of the average weekly wage. I would expect something similar in Michigan as well as throughout the US.

    And your story does nothing to address the claim of working half days and being grossly overpaid. Although I am not saying this is true or untrue, your personal story just doesn't refute those statements IMO.

    Edited to add: I'm done posting on this topic, because doing so isn't going to change anything and will just waste more of my time.
  • stevekstevek Posts: 30,260 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Well, anyone can "blame the workers" if they want to, but to me, when there is a problem, you bring it back to the dealer, and the problem still can't be fixed right, that obviously tells me it's a design flaw and had nothing to do with the union workers. And I could write a dissertation about the "design flaws" on that Oldsmobile, but I don't feel like it because I got rid of the car and really have no intentions of ever buying a GM car again, sorry to say.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i> Without the UAW in place, Delphi would have put him on full disability, which I believe would have been 40% of his pay and he would have been out on the streets looking for a new job.

    But yes, you just go ahead and tell me how union workers only put in half days and are grossly overpaid and all deserve to lose their jobs. >>



    I believe full disability payment through Ohio workers compensation program is 80% of the average weekly wage. I would expect something similar in Michigan as well as throughout the US.

    And your story does nothing to address the claim of working half days and being grossly overpaid. Although I am not saying this is true or untrue, your personal story just doesn't refute those statements IMO. >>



    My point was that based on my personal experience, many union workers (not just my father) work very hard. They work so hard that their bodies start to break down and yet they keep doing it. They have loyalty to their jobs and pride in their work. Hard work and loyalty deserve to be rewarded. The $70/hour figure that the media tosses around related to union workers is shocking to most. However, most people would be shocked if their employer broke down every penny (including employer benefits, training, etc.) and called it part of the "wage" as they are doing with union pay. Union workers aren't grossly overpaid...they're just more highly scrutinized.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,168 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Well, anyone can "blame the workers" if they want to, but to me, when there is a problem, you bring it back to the dealer, and the problem still can't be fixed right, that obviously tells me it's a design flaw and had nothing to do with the union workers. And I could write a dissertation about the "design flaws" on that Oldsmobile, but I don't feel like it because I got rid of the car and really have no intentions of ever buying a GM car again, sorry to say. >>



    Negative personal experiences can tend to be a great deterrent. I would never buy a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury product again. I used to own a 1996 Mercury Mystique that I called my Mercury Mistake. That thing was a death trap on wheels. Sounds similar to your experiences with the Oldsmobile, so I definitely feel your pain.
  • i'm a union worker and work in detroit. there are definitely pros and cons..... the cons are that some people i work with completely abuse the system and get away with it. they are lazy, insubordinate and walk around with an overblown sense of privilege. it frustrates me, because i work hard by nature, and see some of these guys just slack off and the supervisors are essentially powerless as the union gets these ding-dongs their jobs back. but don't forget, the companies AGREE upon a union contract. ALSO, companies are not totally powerless. what frustrates me most about mine, is that they are cowards. (before i go any further, i must adamantly declare that i am not a racist and apologize if this next comment appears so) the supervisors are white, 95% of the workers (and the union rep) are black. there, i said it. i constantly watch in shame as the supervisors do nothing but back down at conflict and crawl away with their tails between their legs, when they could and should be issuing write-ups that would eventually be getting the slackers (white guys included, they get the write-ups) out.

    the pros of the union are that we get to make a decent, sustainable living with benefits and we cant be terminated for no good reason. as much as it makes my blood boil to see these idiots abuse what the union stands for, it makes me boil tenfold to see sweatshop condition companies take advantage of workers by giving them $7-8/hr wages with no benefits, while the execs take in 6 or 7 figures.

    i guess in summary, i am for the union and will always fight for the hard working, blue collar worker. I just want to see people get what they deserve. to those that abuse the union, properly get them out. for those that work hard for the decent wage/benefit the union gets them, i say give it to them. we all need our benefits, have families and need the means to support them. $15-27/hr is NOT exactly aristocracy. it is barely middle class, and necessary to keep a family, house, car, bills and 1.7 pets going......
  • RoarIn84, you could have said the same thing without pointing out the ethnicity of the workers. doing so did not add to the point you were making.

    Gumbyfan is correct. think about other workers' benefits and salaries. if you throw in health insurance, matching contributions, blackberry, vacation, and salary, etc., seems like alot of people will make more than $40, $50, $60, even $70 an hour. the media is just focusing too much on how much union members receive, when the salary and benefits burden is not what is the primary reason for the downfall of the Big Three. Making vehicles people want to buy, and can rely on, will go much further than cutting wages and benefits of workers.

    I was reading a letter to the editor in the local paper this weekend, and the writer made a good point about the members of congress who criticize union members for making a living wage: how long do members of congress and the senate have to work to get their pension and lifetime benefits? yep, 5 years! while workers, if they are lucky even to get a pension, have to work at least 4 times that long. so whether bunning criticized workers because of the pensions they earned after 25 years of service, the senator already earned his years ago for working far less years.

    who cares if a promoter cancels a bunning signing? it is his choice. promoters probably cancel shows or do not even contract with a player or former player for other reasons: costs too much, took steroids, etc. this is just another reason.



    edited to correct a misspelled word.
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  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The only major problem I have with unions is their blatant partisanship. I'm sick of them writing blank checks to everyone with a D next to their name and labeling all R's as (anti-working families). Just because a Senator/Representative does not vote exactly the way the union wants does not make them "anti-working families". image And in my first meeting, the guy in charge there flat out admited that the Employee Free Choice Act is their "litmius test". IOW, it doesn't matter if you're with the union on every other issue; if you're not on board with the EFCA, you're on their "anti-working families" list. image

    Seriously, they would not be losing membership every year if they would just cool it with their partisanship and make a better effort to reach out to their Republican rank and file members, like myself. If they don't like having R's among their rank-and-file, then they should've thought about that before they insisted on closed shops.
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  • I certainly want the US automakers to succeed, but I agree with the guy who bought the 1997 Olds. I am 43, and I ALWAYS bought American for 15 years. I bought a 1984 Chevy new. I had to trade it in two years later, because it sucked. I tried another Chevy because I had a relative at the dealership. It was a lemon. I bought a new Plymouth in 1989. Same luck. Then a new Ford Taurus in 1991. Tranny went out at 65,000 miles. Paint went out at 30,000 miles. Bought an Escort in 1996 - and guess what? At 35,000 miles I sold it because it was a piece of crap. So, in 1998 I bought a 1991 Honda Accord. At 320,000 miles I sold it two years ago. My wife bought a Honda CR-V in 2000. We still have it and have 216,000 miles on it and have never had a bit of trouble with it. In 2007 I bought a new Toyota. Still running great. So what this tells me is that EVERY American car I bought was running like crap within three years of buying it, despite regular maintenance and oil changes, etc. EVERY Japanese car I have purchased has been a gem. How can I feel sorry for the companies that took tens of thousands of dollars out of my pocket for years and sold me crap? How about this? Pay the workers a reasonable wage, not a ridiculous one. Have some decent quality control. Stand behind your product. Don't sell cars with $10,000 rebates a few months after you've charged other people full sticker so that the original buyers lose huge value in their cars. Detroit, run your business responsibly, pay a respectable wage, and put out a decent product and I will be your customer again. Until then, ain't gonna happen.
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