Wanderinglost

Let me see if I understand what your trying to say. If someone is working at let's say an assembly plant, and wants to go to an ACH plant, they can. Then the employee that is layed off takes his/her spot at an assembly plant? If that's what your getting at, what's the problem? A layed off employee gets to start making money again and stop burning SUB benifits. Further, if the ACH plant is posting jobs, doesn't seniority get the bids first anyway? Voluntarily going to an ACH plant from a Ford plant sounds like setting yourself up for heartburn and heartache, but hey, everyone makes their own choices. If they forced a layed off employee into an ACH plant, would you be upset about being forced there too? Probably.

Strange, I can't find it online, but I read the same article in the paper tonight at work. It was just a small two or three paragraph sidebar article. The local hooncho's were around earlier this week talking about how the contract would not be re-opened for any reason.....................

The Detroit papers reported today that the UAW has agreed to reopen the contract for Ford, no mention of any thing other than Ford UAW workers getting the same thing as GM and Chrysler, including the no strike clause. No mention of new work, just what we are expected to give up. Not too sure the smart, shrewd applies at this point, seems more like soft and compliant.

Rumors, great there's a shortage of those around here. And I agree, fine right where I'm at.

Just so long as we're all on the same page......lol

I could care less that the Utica people came to VD, all I want in return, should the time come, is the same thing they got. Preferencial (sp?) treatment. Over the course of what, five years, they were offered every plant in the system, and turned them down in order to stay close to home, can't blame them for it really, especially if they knew that VD, Sterling and Romeo had been sold out already. When VD people get let go we get sent to assembly, As long as we would have been offered, let's say Romeo, or Sterling then that would have been fine. unfortunatley it doesn't work that way it seems unless your from the Utica plant. How that came to pass, who can say, union insider politics of course, contracts be damned. We've all seen it, and know that it's a fact of life. We'll never actually know who sold the VD employees , was it our local, international, local 400's boys and girls downtown. It doesn't really matter now, whats done is done, and will be done again to someone, somewhere, kinda sad really. Yes, local 400's leadership did you all a favor I suppose, again, contacts be damned, we here at VD and I'm sure at Romeo and Sterling, just want to be special too.-

I wasn't complaining, just stating a fact, so you can keep your snarky comments to yourself, I know how it works.

It probably is coming to trades too eventually, and the same thing will happen with them. The trades that were brought into the plant in the recent past, for some suspect reasons, will keep working, and the trades that have been there all along will hit the street.

Just a question. When I hired in, the higher seniority people that I worked with talked about in the 80's that Ford did force out 30+ year people and that it was within the companies right contractually. Did that really happen? Obviously I wasn't around then and I don't personally know anyone that happened to. Do any of you know anything about that time frame and what happened, or were they blowing smoke up my a$$? I'm not advocating anything one way or the other, just curious about what happened then.

......another case of reading all the posts, getting to this part and wondering what this thread was about to begin with. :lol:

Mullaly is a hired gun, nothing more, nothing less. We can pay him or someone else will. If he's saving the company, and at this point things are looking up from the companies point of view, then he's worth the money. Ford Jr wasn't taking a salary as I recall, and look where that lead us, the brink of disaster and the hiring of a mercenary like Mullaly. He has no vested interest in the survival of Ford Motor, he's being paid to do a job, and it appears he's one of the best. If you want to pay less money, I think Rick Wagoner is looking for a job right now. Then people would finally have something tangible to bitch about.......

I had forgotten what the topic was already............

The goofy things that they get away with down there, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they are forced to stay.

Interesting thought. Everyone knows Mod doesn't want Lance around, so send him out on the floor to raise hell with the employees about ILO's and then come back and be the hero and announce TLO's. Very possible. Jeff had been out the night before telling us that the plant was pushing for TLO's and things looked very good that it would go that way. Then next day, Lance is out telling us that it's going to be ILO's and Jeff had very little to say. When I mentioned the TLO talk to Lance he acted like he had no idea where that notion had come from, and this was a done deal. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I agree that something smells fishy here. There was talk that there are more Utica people waiting to come to VD, but it was just talk, nothing with any merit at all. Oh well, it is what it is, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, say our piece and move on. If I get hit with this one and it's an ILO that will be the end of the road for me, I'll take the lesser buyout and move on. This game is getting old and it's rough on the family after awhile too. :shrug:

Bars in Detroit are going to go out of business because Leno didn't do his show's downtown? If the Pistons played downtown there would be sunshine everyday, children's laughter, and fuzzy kittens in Detroit right? :rolleyes:

Another glimmer of hope. http://www.freep.com/article/20090409/BUSINESS06/904090367

Thanks for the info! Everyone can return to feuding now...........

I might have missed it along the way in this thread, but who is Norm Eelbode anyway, I don't know him and wouldn't mind meeting the people that I have to choose from. Thanks, carry on with your argument.

I was guessing that this was mostly bluster out of frustration, but as I read I see you really seem to believe most of what you wrote. "Decision makers make way more than they should" According to who? you? Were you sent here from another planet and given incredible powers from our yellow sun? Of course anyone could live on 600K/year, but that's not the point and never was. The man is a hired gun, a mercenary and will be paid by someone out there. We may not like it, or like him, but so far he has delivered. Since we know you'll never have to worry about a livelyhood, being so skilled and all, but lot's of people do have to worry about how they are going to make it in the future. If we had some 600K/year clown running the company, we would all be looking for work right now. And yes, if you were that 600K/year person running the company, we'd be screwed. Don't concern yourself with what I would do if you ran the company into the ground, I too have a fall back position, I'm just here because the money is good (for now) and the benefits are good (for now) and it's a low stress job.

Just curious, when I went there in 04 it was daily talk about how Mazda wasn't happy with that plant from the minute I walked through the door. The whole time I was there Mazda wasn't happy with that plant, and now I'm long gone, and Mazda still isn't happy. Have they ever been happy or have they been pulling a shift since it opened?

Chinese condoms?! Don't use'em!! Hell, there are like 3 billion Chinese, that should tell you how well they work. :tease:

I have to agree with several people on here, I have mixed feelings about his salary and perks. I guess in the end, maybe it's a case of you get what you pay for. Mullay is a hired gun, nothing more or less. He has no vested interest in Fords survival, came from a very well paying job, let's face it, he didn't need this shit storm we're in right now. If we didn't pay him, someone would, and we would be left with what? Mark Fields, Bill Ford Jr or heavens knows who trying to get us out of this mess in one piece. So far he seems to have the business savy to have us well ahead of the curve when compared to GM and Chrysler. We may not like some of the things he has done, but he's not their to make us happy, he's there to keep the company going forward. The downsizing, getting his hands on all the cash when we could still do it on our terms (more or less) rather than begging the feds for money, the contracts and the refinancing the debt is all done already and we are still spending money on product development. GM and Chrysler can't even be seen in our rear-view mirrors on all of those fronts. His salary seems obscene from our point of view, but given our options, does anyone think Fields or Jr would have managed to get us into as good of a position as we are in right now? Maybe, but personally I kind of doubt it. Just my two cents

Good heavens, I'm outta that place now, but if Cindy got elected as bargaining rep, how lousy were the other candidates anyway?!

Things like this happened all the time at AAI

I'd heard about this, thanks for the link, this is much better