beyondsick

I don't follow the statement "he made the Palace rich". He did the show for free. The parking was free. Pepsi and Coke both donated for the cause. Have you been sitting next to Martha Reeves? The correct thing to do is to thank someone who does a good thing, not cut them down.

I also live by the cash or nothing rule. I'm not sure if they have the great meat sales down in the city but up north here we have ten pound sales about every six months. I go and spend a couple hundred and package it up. I have two upright freezers and keep them well stocked. I know it sounds hick but when times are tough my family will eat. I grow my own and can my ass off in summer and reap the benefits in the winter. The old ways are the best ways. I also have family members who live beyond their means and helping them is not all that hard for me. And by the way a bread maker is a great investment. Buy your supplies at GFS or Sam's club and you will be paying pennies on the dollar for a loaf of hot fresh bread. You can also stretch your food dollars using less to feed more. I have fed 16 people on a pot of soup made with just 8 chicken legs and no one felt deprived of meat. Times are tough and we all might need to tighten the belts but we will survive. Being in the auto indrustry has made us tough and hearty people. We give concessions and keep on trucking. The commercials call it Army strong, let's call it Auto strong. :shades:

It's called the free trade agreement. It is free for foreign companies to send their shit here but limited for products going the other way. If they would rework the trade agreements and call them fair trade and make them fair for both sides I think we would see a change in the balance. We continously help other countries while they spit in our faces. I say close the borders for a while. Sell and buy only American, our country would become stable. Quit helping those outside our county while we have families living in tents. Become selfish for a while and look out for our own.

Woohoo everyone is going to have to give a little. Does that mean the workers are done giving since we did the giving already. Get the rest to work on their giving, and get r done.

Actually I voted Independent. I believe the only way to change things is to make a complete change in our government. The Dems and Repubs have run this country too long and feel entitled to continue to do so. If we all banded together and voted them all out for awhile maybe they would get the idea that we are all sick of the shit they produce. It couldn't get any worse with a different party in control then it is now.

His laughing was so disrespectful to hard working people in the auto industry. Made my blood boil to see this on the news this morning. Here let's give more money to the banks and watch hard working Americans give up again. I wrote to him and let him know that I do not appreciate his attitude towards those of us who pay his salary, and that I do not want to keep seeing my taxes go to banks that are enjoying the extras, while we have to keep cutting back on our standard of living.

COLA suspended upon radification - hasn't been even brought to the members but COLA of .99, taken away already this week. Performance Bonus - suspended for 2009 2010 and 2011 Holiday after Easter - suspended for 09 10 and 11 Independence week - be required to use vacation to cover these two weeks except for 4th of July which will remain a holiday. Vacation- Use it or lose it SUB - jobs bank suspended Sub pay and tap/tsp are 20 years or more 52 wks sub 52 weeks tap/tsp 10 yrs but less then 20 39 wks sub 39 wks tap/tsp 10 yrs or less 26 weeks sub 26 weeks tap/tsp Tap/tsp entitle you to 50% of 40 hours of your gross pay. You can cash out of the program and the company will give you $10,000 to walk away. Alternative work schedule - The company can implement within 2 wks 4-10 alternate schedules with 50 mins of relief time. Relief time will go from 46 mins for 8 hrs to 40 mins. COA - All plants mush modify their local agreements to achieve 93% benchmark by 12/31/09. Workforce Competition - Management has the ability to use flex employees and vacation replacements Skilled trades- reduce skilled classifications to only apprenticable trades All plants will go to direct deposit after radification. If you do not have an account your check will be mailed to your home. This is what I have. If I hear anymore I surely will share.

I have a copy of what is being passed around at GM. It is actually very close to what was posted here. They will be required to take two weeks vacation in July instead of one week vacation and the other week being the xmas bonus and one day holiday that had been used. Same sub pay. Same vacation use it or lose it. I'm not sure that I saw this in the Ford agreement but at the bottom of the GM summary it says that "these changes are suspended, so that when the industry starts to turn around we do not have to fight to get our changes back".

Passing this on to union members at GM. This is a great idea. The public needs to know what labor is doing to help the companies. It needs to come from the UAW and possibly a few members need to be there to put a face on labor. The negative is always louder then the positive. Let's get loud and let our voices be heard by the Shellheads in Washington.