Will UAW Strike?

[5030]

Just always keep in mind that which ever the way this goes, any increase in compensation will directly impact the cost of a new vehicle and last time I looked, they were already beyond financial reach of the average 'Joe'.

The other thing that most people don't take into account with the Canadian autoworkers is, they have government paid healthcare so that is entirely off the table up there.

 

[lilranch2001]

Unfortunately there are still management abuses in the 2020s. A good friend of mine in his early 50’s just had an unfortunate experience with his supervision. He worked on a body line building Cadillac and Buick sedans at a plant 20 minutes from his house. Since he was one of the physically smallest guys on the line, he would get jobs that required climbing in and out of the body and fastening things in some awkward positions, which he did for over 20 years. It was all fine until he developed tendinitis in his elbow from doing the same jobs 500 times a night for years. He ended up having a long, on-going struggle to get assigned to other positions on the body line. He would get moved for short stints after seeing the plant medical staff, but would always get stuck back on a job that caused him pain because he was quick and proficient. His restrictions would get ignored by the supervision in charge of the line and he would have to get the union involved. This went on repeatedly, even after surgery on his elbow. They would stick him back where his restrictions said not to. The body line shift supervisor, the plant manager’s son-in-law, got to make the call. The eventual solution higher GM management had to make the disagreement go away was to offer him medical retirement, and give him a check and benefits every month for not working, even though he is otherwise perfectly healthy.

So now GM pays him and provides him with benefits to stay home, and they pay someone else to replace him on the assembly line and do a job that he would still like to be doing. He’s young, with one kid in high school and two in college, not ready for retirement or a reduction in income. He probably would have worked another 8-10 years. He’s pursuing a plumbing license now because plumbing is something that he’s always enjoyed. He’s not a lazy guy.

There’s a strong tendency to malign the hourly workers, but there is a lot of cronyism and bad decision making in the corporate side of the business that’s still reinforces the need for a union. If my friend’s story happened in a non-union shop he would have simply been let go, after almost 30 years, and left to collect the 20 weeks of unemployment Michigan offers for his services. He’s much better off right now because of the union. And I’m sure there are many more stories like his.

Based on my experience your story does not make sense.

My experience at IH each job was bid on and you won the bid based on your union tenure.

Maybe GM uses some other means to assign jobs, but I rather doubt it

 

[Torvy]

3rd hand stories often get distorted.

My experiences in a union shop were that the steward would have been up in management's business filing a grievance right away.

It sounds like in this case, upper management at GM handled it. This is exactly how most of these are handled in non-union shops. If an employee has a work related physical impairment, they are legally required to accommodate with a similar job if possible. The only legal way they get 'fired' is if they cannot do any job the company has or refuse to do a job. Even then, many companies will offer medical retirement or make a settlement offer (depending on years of service and such).

That is one of the things about unions. They fall back on history. Most of the things they got accomplished are now laws, so you don't really need them (plenty of lawyers willing to sue companies for wrongful termination for a cut of the profit). People still think it is the union getting them decent treatment, but it is just company policy to follow the laws and avoid lawsuits.

 

[MossRoad]

Based on my experience your story does not make sense.

My experience at IH each job was bid on and you won the bid based on your union tenure.

Maybe GM uses some other means to assign jobs, but I rather doubt it

This..

My mother in-law would get a job at AM General, work the job, make it look easy, someone with more seniority would bump her off that job, then complain that the job was too hard and needed two people.

I've told this one before...

Guy comes and shadows her job because he wants it. He can't qualify for it and complains it's too hard and needs two people. She called him slow and lazy. He griped. Union stood up for him saying it required two people. Big wigs came down, including the president of the company at the time. Sat there and watched him fail to do the job and the union said "See, it needs two people."

President says OK but I want to see her do it first. She gets up, the next truck comes through, she does the job, grabs a can of Sprite out of her lunchbox and sits in a chair next to the president waiting for the next truck to come down the line.

Guy didn't get the job, and she didn't get bumped.

While that didn't go over too well with the union, a lot of folks admired her for drawing a line with lazy people with seniority.

 

[lilranch2001]

3rd hand stories often get distorted.

My experiences in a union shop were that the steward would have been up in management's business filing a grievance right away.

It sounds like in this case, upper management at GM handled it. This is exactly how most of these are handled in non-union shops. If an employee has a work related physical impairment, they are legally required to accommodate with a similar job if possible. The only legal way they get 'fired' is if they cannot do any job the company has or refuse to do a job. Even then, many companies will offer medical retirement or make a settlement offer (depending on years of service and such).

That is one of the things about unions. They fall back on history. Most of the things they got accomplished are now laws, so you don't really need them (plenty of lawyers willing to sue companies for wrongful termination for a cut of the profit). People still think it is the union getting them decent treatment, but it is just company policy to follow the laws and avoid lawsuits.

My short time at IH, there was not a job that I had that I found difficult, where many others struggled I usually could breeze through the tasks and many times end up with a pretty sweet job

 

[MossRoad]

I will say the union provided excellent insurance benefits for my mother in-law. She had a liver transplant about 15 years ago and is only out of pocket about $1500. The doctors told her it would cost about $750,000 over her lifetime.

 

[lilranch2001]

People seem to forget what good even a tyrant like Henry Ford did for work improvement.

Unions have done a lot of good, but what would the current status be even without unions, the life of a worker has continually improved over history

 

[Torvy]

My short time at IH, there was not a job that I had that I found difficult, where many others struggled I usually could breeze through the tasks and many times end up with a pretty sweet job

Where were you with IH? Dad and uncles owned IH dealerships back in the 70s/early 80s. One uncle went on to work with IH directly in Minot or thereabouts (as did one of his sons).

 

[Torvy]

I will say the union provided excellent insurance benefits for my mother in-law. She had a liver transplant about 15 years ago and is only out of pocket about $1500. The doctors told her it would cost about $750,000 over her lifetime.

My cousin teaches elementary school in Wisconsin. Before Scott Walker opened things up, she was staunchly pro union and was scared (from union propaganda) of what would happen to her benefits. The insurance she got through the district was much better and cheaper than what she was paying for the union plan. Comparing insurance to no insurance is a winner if you have any major issue. Had she even in a private system, who know what your MIL may have paid (better or worse).

 

[lilranch2001]

Where were you with IH? Dad and uncles owned IH dealerships back in the 70s/early 80s. One uncle went on to work with IH directly in Minot or thereabouts (as did one of his sons).

Fort Wayne truck plant