udontkno

If your not then you really are a sick puppy! Why would anyone defend a group of people that has hurt the best organization that the working man has? Under Gettlefinger and his cronies the UAW has lost massive amounts of members and has given back more to the companies than anytime in the UAW's history! I am not saying they are crooked or make too much money, I am saying that they are totally incompetent to represent the union membership and its time for a change!!!! I hate to be harsh and so direct but if things do not change soon we may never get a chance to effect change because the UAW will be history!

If Ron Paul would have got elected there wouldnt have been any bridge loans to the auto companies. So how would that have helped? It really is a joke for our govt. to be giving money to these multinational companies that have no loyalty to the US. Members of Fords management have repeatly said they are not a U.S. company they are a world company and 60% of its employees are outside of the U.S. The reason Obama and Bush agreed to the loans is to save jobs. Workers need to form an alliance and look out for their own interest. The UAW sat in front of Congress and begged for the auto companies instead of the workers.

You are making many bloggers point. If a worker says something to a member of management and the member of management does not like it they say "if you dont like it quit". Now our union reps are saying the same thing, "if you dont like it quit". This is one of the problems with our union they want to be bosses but they dont have either the education or connection to get a managers job so they suck ass to become a union rep. We had several union reps at my plant that did the same thing run for union office not get elected and then sign up and get a supervisor job. I only have a few years left before I get my 30 years so I wont be taking a package and as long as we have union reps like you, I will continue to speak about reform, whether you like it or not. How about you doing the working class a favor and speak up for reform in our union too! You only get one chance in life to make a difference!

Free market capitalism without government regulation would force the auto industry out of business. Exxon is not happy with $48 billion profit a year they want more and gas would probably double without the threat of action by our govt. There would be no roads because free markets would never depend on governments to build roads or schools ect... Our food would be unsafe without govt. regulation and society would be in shambles because ponzi schemes would be legal so no one would trust anyone else and investment would stop. Our country prospered because our government protected U.S. industries with tariffs. Free market capitalism is bound to fail and if our govt. had not stepped in recently we would be on our way to a different means of production due to greed!!! Long live socialism!

Hey Captain I understand your bitter because you and your buddies in the international suck. But hey dont shoot the messenger this is the common feeling among the hourly ranks. The truth may hurt but it will set you free and as soon as you and all your cronnies are gone from international we the members can resume having a true union. Until then keep sucking the tit my man its the best you'll ever be able to do in this world.

Why cant we vote out Gettlefinger or King or any other IUAW then? I can vote out Obama! I am not saying we dont get to send people to CC but lets be real about how the CC works.

I am not sure if the 120 day letter exist or not but if it is a "major" model change as I believe the F150 was this year, the 120 day letter is not in effect and the company has the whole year to change jobs. As I said eariler I would check with my standards rep. the one who wasnt elected but hand picked. This is another area that I totally disagree with appointed jobs, because they are not really accountable to the membership. It is more of the same nepotism that happens in our union.

I believe there is a 120 day letter that states 120 days after a model launch all jobs will be set unless there is a safety issue or an engineering change on the vehicle. You need to call your standards rep. and ask him. Dont refuse to do any work and never tell them its too much, just smile and tell them youll do the best you can. If you say there is too much work or it cant be done then management perceives you as not trying or giving your honest effort. Your committeman should be telling you this but we all know union elections are popularity contest. Good Luck!

Last time I checked the MKZ was built in Mexico? Why in the hell would I brag about that so the company has reason to move all of the product to Mexico? As far as I'm concerned that car is no better than a toyota or honda made in Japan.

Ok now I know which of the two it is. You dont have an education is why you are sucking off the UAW. Its ok though not all of us are smart or driven enough to get an education. Unfortunatly you dont know my background as I dont know yours but I'm sure if you knew you would have quite a different opinion.

Many union members can read the writing on the wall. Why cant the IUAW reps form a plan to address these potential threats? Many union members saw the writing on the wall when Ford was spending billions overseas and letting Atl. St. Louis, Twin Cities and other plants starved to death by a lack of investment. What was our great union doing then? They were letting (without a fight) Ford and GM spin off its parts divisions and tens of thousands of UAW workers with them. One man cant win this battle but one man can build a team to win the battle. Unfortunatly our union isnt set up to allow the cream to rise to the crop. It is set up to allow nepotism breed at its best. We must change our union structure if we are going to be successful in the future.

Your right I dont know sht... But I do know the IUAW that moved millions of people up to the middle class no longer exist. I do know that at the Const. Conv. when someone wants to speak and the powers to be do not want to hear it they have the mike cut off. I do know that one of the reasons we have top down power was to prevent Communist from gaining power in the IUAW. Finally I do know you like how things are by reading your post. So I must ask myself what kind of person are you? I would guess a wanna be that never got an education or if you did get an education you didnt have any connections. So you decided to suck off the UAW. Unions are only as good as its members and our union is losing members and political power because its members do not strive to take chances to improve the union and those with the power want to continue to suck the tit and not push forward with a pro worker, progressive agenda. I could name several IUAW leaders who I wouldnt let balance my check book or manage a Dairy Queen but they are the voice of our union. If I didnt care I would make my money and keep my mouth shut but I care and pray the union changes so my children and grand children have a chance to make a middleclass living.

The IUAW already knows who they are going to have put in as leader. At one time Bob was king but I think Ford putting the Fiesta in Mexico with 4500 new jobs and a $3 billion investment while they bleed the UAW workforce with pay/benefit cuts and layoffs has hurt Bobs chances. But as I said eariler IUAW knows who is getting the job and the UAW membership has virtually no say! One man one vote please!!!

Thats because Walter fought for workers rights, civil rights and human rights for all. He would push for issues that benefited society not just the paycheck. Where it changed I dont know but I do know our union is very weak on the issues that matter most to society. Our country has been transformed by greed, the almighty dollar is king and the UAW is a willing participant. Until our union goes back to its roots and becomes a progressive movement for all workers it will continue to be minimized by society. Lets just hope they figure it out before it is to late! Prime example is the UAW was a key player in getting the PBGC passed through Congress. Right now workers who were promised medical coverage once they retire are being stripped of coverage when their company goes bankrupt such as Delphi recently did to its white collar employees. The UAW should be leading the calls for Congress to set up a fund similar to the PBGC that would prevent this from happening to all workers. I try to read up as much as I can on bills being introduced in Congress and policies pushed by all unions. I subscribe to many worker web sites and pro union newsletters and not once have I run across the UAW supporting or pushing for this or some type of this legislation being introduced. Society needs movements that include all workers, not just those paying dues!!! I have recently recieved emails from "Working America" and the AFL-CIO pushing us to email, fax or write our Congressman asking them to pass the EFCA and to request that companies who are getting bailout money be prevented from spending that money to lobby Congress to not pass EFCA such as Citi. Where is the UAW on this critical legislation? Do they not care if it passes?

Thats what our IUAW leadership have been doing for years. Just one question. Hows it working for them? Last time I checked the UAW has been losing membership and negotiating cuts for those left. Its time for a change! We need PR to show the value of unions in America especially now when the EFCA is about to come to vote.

The sit down strike was illegal then just as it is now. But the UAW will not use illegal tactics because they are run by a group that is trying to do right. The problem is good guys finish last. Captain, I never said Gettlefinger or Bob took kickbacks and I never said they should take paycuts. I have always said they should be removed and the membership should have a one man one vote for these jobs. I am tired of the nepotism that runs our union and the only way to stop it is with a vote by all members. I believe Ron and Bob do the best they can, I also believe Jac Nassar did the best he could but we all know how his run ended. Let the membership decide if they are happy with their leaders.

This is the problem with Gettlefinger and Bob as well as other IUAW reps. The UAW didnt get where it is by being law abiding and real religious people will follow the laws of the land. If they were in the union during the sit down strike, we wouldnt be talking about the UAW today because the sit down was illegal. How do they think they are going to fight greedy, corrupt business leaders if they are not willing to step over the line? I say fight fire with fire and if the laws of the land are not on the working mans side then we have to ignore them and do what we know is right.

I have a little over 20 years and I am in my early 40's, I plan on working until I die so I might as well stay at Ford. I dont begrudge anyone for working and I hope to work 75 years at Ford if the Lord is willing. Only then will I know I'll have medical insurance and income.

The division who got the bonuses at AIG was the division who created derivatives that caused all of AIG's losses. 73 got $1 million or more and these guys threatened to leave and bet against AIG's bets if they were not given the bonuses. The government never never roped anyone in on these crazy instruments. Banks run our government and if you dont belive it watch this its a little long but it will help you understand whats happening. http://www.freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=214

This is an example of what is wrong with IUAW. Now we have union members out of work because our international allowed Ford to divide its plants and sell them. Now that it hasnt worked for Ford, our union should have told Ford that these plants will again be Ford/UAW representated plants. I was reading this months issue of Solidarity and there was an article in it about the UAW organizing janitorial services at Ford, GM and Chrysler. This is really a slap in our face, these jobs were ours and the union allowed the company to outsource them for half our pay and little to no benefits and now they are boasting how they orginized them. I think its high time our union gets out of bed with the companies and starts representing the membership.

We need to double down on getting Gettlefinger to do a commercial. AIG is about to pay their hedge fund managers $160 million in bonuses because it was in their contract. We also had a contract but we voted to accept cuts to help our company stay in business. With Americans so pissed off at these banks and companies for asking for money from the govt. now is the time for unions to tell the public how the union membership is working with the companies. Call today!!!

If thats the case, this contract screws everyone outside of a zone because people inside a zone will get first shot, then if they dont want to go they bump low man. All this while a seniority employee outside of a zone will not get a chance for a job. I say lets do away with zones and let seniority be national then we will be one union.

Now this is where it gets crazy. What if you are laid off in Mich. and the highest seniority in your trade laid off say 25 yrs. seniority. A opening out of zone comes up say in Chicago, you turn it down thinking you will bump the lowest seniority with say 10 yrs. in Mich. and he would go to Chicago. Now what if Louisville Assy. has someone in the same trade laid off with 20 yrs. and would like to go to Chicago. Would the person from Louisville get the opening in Chicago or would the 10 yr. guy from Mich. have to go?

Thats like saying only parts of NAFTA are bad. As far as I am concerned there are so many bad IUAW reps that it would be better to get rid of all of them and start from fresh with the membership having the vote.

I dont think a petition is going to be effective in this situation. What we really need is the ability to fire all of the international reps and replace them with members that will try for the membership. This is the problem we do not have the ability to remove the international reps. Therefore who are they accountable too? Unless these guys break the law and go to prision they basically have lifetime jobs. Its time for a new labor movement and if the UAW wants to be a part of it they are going to have to be accountable!