Will UAW Strike?

ruffdog · Dec 15, 2023

Only 369 to be laid off at Grand River but at the same time $1.25 billion to be invested for unnamed future product. It doesn't sound like the union is causing all this hurt you gaslight about.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/1...-lansing-grand-river-plant-for-ev-production/

5030 · Dec 15, 2023

I wonder how Fain and Toyota are getting along? Don't hear anything about that deal.

Snobdds · Dec 15, 2023

ruffdog said:
Only 369 to be laid off at Grand River but at the same time $1.25 billion to be invested for unnamed future product. It doesn't sound like the union is causing all this hurt you gaslight about.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/1...-lansing-grand-river-plant-for-ev-production/

Dumping high cost labor is a direct result of the UAW deal.

Investing in more automation is a direct result of the UAW deal.

lilranch2001 · Dec 15, 2023

You can buy a lot of automation when you have very expensive blue collar labor being replaced with it.

airbiscuit · Dec 15, 2023

Not today, and not tomorrow, but over the next 18 months as the layoffs and plant closings occur, the UAW workers will be stunned and say "how could this happen?"

ruffdog · Dec 15, 2023

Snobdds said:
Dumping high cost labor is a direct result of the UAW deal.

I'm thinking that some high seniority people will choose to take the layoff. Sit back and collect UC and sub pay for a couple of years, then retire. There may also be early retirement incentives or buyouts. With more automation, more people will have the opportunity to move into skilled trades too. There are plenty of options available for the workers.

airbiscuit · Dec 15, 2023

I agree that automation brings more skilled jobs, but many rank and file will be unable or unwilling to adapt.

hiddentacocatneddih · Dec 15, 2023

More high level automation means more work for my colleagues and I

Automate everything.

5030 · Dec 16, 2023

Been my personal experience that a lot of auto workers aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack.

lilranch2001 · Dec 16, 2023

5030 said:
Been my personal experience that a lot of auto workers aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack.

Or they are “burned out”

lilranch2001 · Dec 16, 2023

ummmmmm

That is what “burned out”’means……

5030 · Dec 16, 2023

Could be...

lilranch2001 · Dec 16, 2023

SMFH……

MossRoad · Dec 16, 2023

ruffdog said:
I'm thinking that some high seniority people will choose to take the layoff. Sit back and collect UC and sub pay for a couple of years, then retire. There may also be early retirement incentives or buyouts. With more automation, more people will have the opportunity to move into skilled trades too. There are plenty of options available for the workers.

I disagree. While, yes, some people will have the opportunity to move into skilled trades maintaining, programming, set-up, installations, etc., it will be far less people than the automation will replace.

I saw this first hand in the printing industry. When I started, every single newspaper page was made by people cutting and pasting single column strips of paper onto dummy sheets. In our paper alone, there were about 65 people doing this daily task. As we automated things, we got that number down to 4. It could have been 1, but we needed to cover all shifts.

Some people will see the changes coming and adapt. However, there won't be opportunities within the automotive industry for all of them. There just won't be.

lilranch2001 · Dec 16, 2023

MossRoad said:
I disagree. While, yes, some people will have the opportunity to move into skilled trades maintaining, programming, set-up, installations, etc., it will be far less people than the automation will replace.

I saw this first hand in the printing industry. When I started, every single newspaper page was made by people cutting and pasting single column strips of paper onto dummy sheets. In our paper alone, there were about 65 people doing this daily task. As we automated things, we got that number down to 4. It could have been 1, but we needed to cover all shifts.

Some people will see the changes coming and adapt. However, there won't be opportunities within the automotive industry for all of them. There just won't be.

Wow, I actually find myself in agreement with Ole Moss…..

hiddentacocatneddih · Dec 16, 2023

Not everyone is cut out to be a higher skill level worker.

Some people are just cut out for production work.

MossRoad · Dec 16, 2023

lilranch2001 said:
Wow, I actually find myself in agreement with Ole Moss…..

Rare times, but true.

ruffdog · Dec 16, 2023

MossRoad said:
I disagree. While, yes, some people will have the opportunity to move into skilled trades maintaining, programming, set-up, installations, etc., it will be far less people than the automation will replace.

I saw this first hand in the printing industry. When I started, every single newspaper page was made by people cutting and pasting single column strips of paper onto dummy sheets. In our paper alone, there were about 65 people doing this daily task. As we automated things, we got that number down to 4. It could have been 1, but we needed to cover all shifts.

Some people will see the changes coming and adapt. However, there won't be opportunities within the automotive industry for all of them. There just won't be.

Remember, the loss of these 369 jobs at Grand River is because GM is dropping a product. They do stamping there too so the job loss is mostly for the camaro specific product and parts, NOT automation. The big automation switch has already happened and there is not much more than they can do at this point. They still need a certain amount of people to perform the jobs. Panel assy and welding, painting, and the movement of structures through the facility has been automated for some time now. The camaro is being retired for now and they need less bodies for now......that is all it is.

MossRoad · Dec 16, 2023

hiddentacocatneddih said:
Not everyone is cut out to be a higher skill level worker.

Some people are just cut out for production work.

Some people prefer production work. It's rhythmic. I enjoy installing roof shingles. One after the other. Nothing to think about. I enjoyed loading newspaper inserts into an inserting machine. Nothing to think about. My wife and I enjoy packing lunches for school kids at the food bank. It's just hours of repetitious work. In the end, you accomplished a task. That's good enough for a lot of folks.

After working in IT for 25+ years, I enjoy my current handyman-type job a lot more. I just putter around and fix stuff all day. It's borderline mindless. Quite satisfying.