Empire

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Nothing wrong with some sports topics on here. Especially with many Ford plants in sports towns. Kind of like the White Sox and Tigers pennant race going on right now. CAP against MAP............ I find these sports post more refreshing than the 100 political garbage postings on this site that only have 6 posters defending Bush and his 8 year sodomizing of America and its people

Well you're quite the Union Brother. Get some Solidarity instead of dividing the Union Membership

Thanks Jeff You are a real Representitive and tell it to us with no BS. Thank you for your service to all of us. Well done

Ok Chuckie, Your word and endorsements go as far as your credibility on this site you Buffoon. We are the highest paid Autoworkers of any in America. Still Ford agreed that we are now competitive. Fine, the UAW should be able to negotiate more products and investment to ensure our job security and grow our membership on our current wages. Following Wafflemix is fine if you are shortsighted, uneducated and want to see jobs, investment and products flood into the Canadian and mexican markets. They want our lunch and following Wafflemix does nothing but force any new commitments to other countries. Wafflemix will laugh at you and I while you and I are unemployed and he is collecting his pension. He does not have the interest of protecting 40,000 jobs and growing the membership. He is not my Saviour and does not speak on my behalf, and to the members at DTP who continue to get run over by management understand that Wafflemix is ineffective. Ask DTP how that 25 page Local Agreement that Wafflemix negotiated the last time he was bargaining is working out on their behalf.

Walkowitz is a joke. Sure he can retire and leave workers with 15 years seniority and less, out of a job. He only cares about himself with no regard to job security. Just ask the people at DTP how good there local agreement (another joke he negotiated) is and the representation he doesn't apply Wonder why DTP is the least liked plant? Now you know

Well Johnny99 assuming your name stands for 1999 seniority you are correct in your vision on the importance of job security. Many plants have benefited from the 2007 investments and are the loudest to beat the drum on raises, raises, raises. They are fat and happy and forget why they got the product commitment. They were the ones with no product before the 2007 agreement that everyone helped ratify. They were in trouble the 2007 agreement saved them. Well here we go again. Many plants need work. Our labor rates are at $58 per hour which is the highest wage paid of any American auto worker. I do think we will get a nice signing bonus and some sort of efficiency gain based bonus as well as our profit sharing. To simply vote no because we wont get cola is short sighted and puts many plants in danger. Some plants that are in trouble with no product or product life cycles ending and the number of members (est.) AAI- 1,800 members Romeo Engine- 700 members Sterling- 2000 members DDMP- 300 members Cleveland Engine-500 members Livonia Transmission- 700 members Buffalo Stamping- 500 members Rawsonville 500 members TCAP- 400 Sandusky- 800 Saline-1,200 Sheldon- 400 Indy-300 Milan-100 Trades that need work that are in production-600 Adding these numbers up impacts over 10,000 members. Identifying new investments in the plants they are currently in or plants that they will need transfer to keep employment with Ford is a huge task that the UAW must get right again. Failure to gain investments will lose thousands of jobs The UAW has a tough job in getting products invested in the plants What do you think is more important to the people listed above? COLA that may climb to $1 per hour over 4 years? Signing bonus above the usual $1,000 to $2,000? A raise? No, Johnny you are correct. Job security is the most important item on the bargaining table. Without jobs where is the raise, cola, benefits, signing bonus? Your priorities are aligned and correct moving forward. I am sure the UAW will get the most for our wages without hurting our future job investments and job security

Dont forget the 2007 investments in Cap (Taurus, MKS and Explorer), LAP (All new Escape) and MAP (All Focus derivatives + a product to be named 2012) should all be adding a 3rd shift soon so we could see postings for those locations as well as any new investments in the 2011 agreement Trades postings are dependant on new products period

Treason?????

[Yes changing seniority rules does nothing but place a burden on another person The Cap, Lap and Map shift additions are a real possibility in the near term. This should help trades get back to work. If more product is committed in this agreement then there should be more trades opportunities soon. We need a windfall of investment commitments like the 2007 agreement brought us as we can see now how important these commitments can be for our job security

Bravo,,,,,,,,, Well said Jeff If we dont secure products and investments in this agreement then there is no reason to complain about wages, benefits, cola and entry level if we have no job. The entry level is not going away and it sounds like our raises will be in the form of a bonus like profit sharing as a benefit in profitable years I am sure the IUAW will be proactive once again (like the 2007 agreement) in protecting all 40,000 of us with products which translates to our coveted job security Good job Jeff and keep up the good work.

Chuckie that butcher job was the equivalent of what a first grader would try to pull. The sad thing is you spend so much time and energy trying to discredit the UAW that it must consume all of your time. You remind me of the road runner and coyote from loony tunes. You of course are the coyote that is always getting his due from unsuccessful scam after unsuccessful scam while the road runner continues to thrive. You need some help

Good post but you attacked the poor guy with both barrels......... Settle down.......... We have been labeled as competitive and we should get more work based on our current rates We know we are paid well and have good benefits. We just need more investments as you said which generates job security. To lose the investments (no job) there is nothing to fight over. Fine line to walk for sure Keep attacking each other and the company wins

You and the rest of the ILO/Production trades are in a bad position. The zone seniority that you are asking for does not fix anything. It just swaps out trades. The real way to fix this situation is to bargain more products and investment in our plants. Hopefully CAP, LAP, MAP and the related plants that got huge investments from the 2007 agreement will put 3 shifts on requiring many skilled openings. If the IUAW can negotiate more products in 2011 that would generate even more skilled positions. That is what really needs to happen. The zone seniority doesn’t fix the problem Best of luck to all trades reduced to production and ILO. The 2011 agreement with product investment is the only hope.

The UAW is proactive and will insure a good contract to protect all 38,000 of us, walking the fine line of the highest wages paid and the new work and investments and job security in our plants Entry level is not a permanent status in the eyes of the UAW. They will be uplifted contract after contract. The IUAW never intended for entry level to be a permanent rate of pay. It was negotiated in exchange for job security and products invested in our plants. We received a windfall of investments that protected us and the entry level would be hired knowing the wage structure before they were hired. Its called bargaining 101. We get investments-we must be competitive. The entry level know the rates of pay, benefit package and a 401k member/company contribution pension and accept them when hired. These are the terms they are hired under. Entry level is a good strategy that stops outsourcing and brings keeps investments in our plants. This is not new to the UAW. In the late 1980s and early 1990s John Deere and Caterpillar were sending jobs to Mexico and South America at a devastating rate. As a way to stop the huge job loses they agreed to the entry level. This entry level started at 30% of the work force and half the wages of the master wages. Currently entry level at Deere and Caterpillar are at 15% and paid $25 per hour and the master wages are at $29 per hour. Bob King is a strategist and has the ability to look in the future to protect all of our jobs. The entry level is not new but an effective tool to get investments in our plants and uplift those entry level members contract after contract Not a new strategy but an effective one. This was the IUAW strategy all along as history shows from Caterpillar and Deere. Good post Johnny 99

That posting was down right cruel. Who would do such a thing with so many trades praying everyday to return to there trade? This is not the time for playing games, posting rumors, starting rumors and just agitating our well being. Who ever posted this should make it right and post an apology as well as a reason why they would do such a hateful action

OK Chuckie. Thanks for the KCAP report

OK Chuckie

Here is the complete article with the forum responses. The IUAW never intended for entry level to be a permanent rate of pay. It was negotiated in exchange for job security and products invested in our plants. We received a windfall of investments that protected us and the entry level would be hired knowing the wage structure before they were hired. It’s called bargaining 101. We get investments-we must be competitive. The entry level know the rates of pay, benefit package and a 401k member/company contribution pension and accept them when hired. These are the terms they are hired under. Entry level is a good strategy that stops outsourcing and brings keeps investments in our plants. This is not new to the UAW. In the late 1980s and early 1990s John Deere and Caterpillar were sending jobs to Mexico and South America at a devastating rate. As a way to stop the huge job loses they agreed to the entry level. This entry level started at 30% of the work force and half the wages of the master wages. Currently entry level at Deere and Caterpillar are at 15% and paid $25 per hour and the master wages are at $29 per hour. Bob King is a strategist and has the ability to look in the future to protect all of our jobs. The entry level is not new but an effective tool to get investments in our plants and uplift those entry level members contract after contract Not a new strategy but an effective one. This was the IUAW strategy all along as history shows from Caterpillar and Deere. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> By Nat Shirley Friday, Aug 19th, 2011 @ 5:02 pm UAW President Bob King stated in an interview today that raising the wages of entry-level employees, who have been vociferous in communicating their displeasure with current compensation levels, is one of the union’s top priorities in the ongoing labor negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three automakers. The $14 hourly wage currently paid to entry-level UAW workers is “not a livable wage,” King said in an interview with Automotive News. First instituted in 2007 as a way to help American automakers survive the economic downturn and become more cost competitive with foreign companies using non-union labor in the South, the two-tier wage structure helps companies save money by paying entry level workers $14 to $16 an hour, about half the starting wage for veteran workers. King said that the newly profitable Big Three are now in the position to better compensate auto workers. If they don’t, he implied they could run the risk of losing them to other jobs. “We’ve got to raise those wages so workers will want to stay and workers can support their families by working full-time in the auto industry,” said King. King’s comments may be intended to placate second tier union members, who have not been shy about voicing their dissatisfaction with the current wage system. “They’re not representing us,” said one worker, speaking in reference to UAW management, at a rally in Detroit last Saturday. “They’re oppressing us.” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Responses on the article from the public on Entry Level below: Insensitive, 1 day ago 25 8 In 1986 I started in the automobile business as a helper for a mechanic. $3.10 was not a livable wage back then. Get over it. I would love to see the American car manufactures tell the unions to pound sand. Reply jayjc08, 1 day ago 16 2 My feelings are you should be able to enter into any full-time job making near living wage. The gopher position you had back in 86′ didn’t pay enough I bet for you to pay rent and pocket a little bit, and I bet you hated it too. They say living wage in NY is $11.50, in one of the highest taxed states, so they have no case for crying about $14 not being “living wage”. No, it isn’t enough to pay for a house, car, etc., but for an entry position it is good compared to most fields. Does that picture of Bob King remind anybody else of a weasel? Motrop, 1 day ago 15 1 The average living wage is around $50k a year for an average sized family, in all areas of the country where UAW plants are. Assuming 2 adults making the minimum, that’s $25k a year. $28k is decently over that. If you don’t live beyond your means, you’ll be fine. Stay at the job, do it well, and you’ll see that number increase over time. And if you don’t like that, leave your job, and give it to an unemployed person. They’ll appreciate it greatly. rarson, 16 hours ago 0 0 You were making more than me. I started at $4.25 an hour ten years later. amerikanst, 1 day ago 29 3 If you start off in this job at $14/hour and you can’t afford to live, you’re living beyond your means. Don’t procreate if you can’t afford it. Don’t live in a house if you can’t afford it. $14/hour is enough to afford an apartment, food, gas, insurance, etc. Don’t like it? Go to college. Reply twinprop, 1 day ago 22 6 thats what union dicks do, they all live beyond their means. thats why they’re always crying poverty. Smegley Wanxalot, 1 day ago 20 11 …. “If they don’t, implied they could run the risk of losing them to other jobs.” Do they need help finding the door Bob? It’s the one that says EXIT on top if they can read. Because trust me, there’s a line of people, mostly literate, who will gladly take their jobs at $14/hour building up outside the personnel dept. You UAW commie job- and company-killing leftist dumbass. Reply smoeke, 1 day ago 20 2 Let the $14-$16 $ employees leave, If they are not happy that they even have a job right now,good riddance. People come in fresh with no training and start making $28-32 an hour, BS, earn your raises over a 10 year period and then maybe you can make what the top payed hourlies make. Reply teahead, 1 day ago 13 30 $28k/year is poverty. Why is it that Germany is highly unionized, makes the best products in the world, exports 4x as much product as the U.S., can pay their workers a decent wage??? U cheap bastards would love it if America is the next China. Rich CEOs and workers making $2.00/hour. Reply rarson, 16 hours ago 4 0 Newsflash: janitors don’t become janitors to get rich, and easy jobs don’t pay a lot of money. If you’re trying to live off $14/hr (which isn’t even hard, by the way… just stop eating so damn much and buying every stupid thing you see on TV), and you can’t do it, then you need to find another job that pays more. The solution is not to demand more money from your job that you don’t deserve simply because you’re too lazy to find another job. steve333, 1 day ago 16 2 The answer is simple. reduce the other worker’s salaries by $5/hr and give it to the low tier workers. Problem solved Reply teahead, 1 day ago 10 14 http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/19/infographic-wage-gap-between-ceo-and-employees/#continued Why is it that the Ford CEO makes almost 20x the salary/compensation that the Toyota CEO or HOnda CEO makes? Greed. Reply WalthamDan, 1 day ago 16 1 The $14 hourly wage currently paid to entry-level UAW workers is “not a livable wage,” King said in an interview with Automotive News while dining on fresh lobster and filet mignon at his lake side Summer home …… Reply Borat, 11 hours ago 0 0 But he is true proletariat: there was no report of knob polishing by member of strip dancer union at the same time. TakeNotes, 1 day ago 12 5 That analysis was performed by an incompetent moron with the same liberal leaning view you obviously share. Does that article and comparison take into account the fact that Mulally accepted $1 PER YEAR SALARIES while the company was suffering, or the fact that the reason the payout was so high was due to the fact that his stock options were first issued when the stock was at a 12-year low and due to HIS decisions rose dramatically later? Of course not. It’s biased diarhea worried more about attacking smart business and successful companies and individuals so they can redistribute wealth to drunk and high unappreciate jerkoffs sitting pretty in their union jobs. Read FACT before you spew NONSENSE. http://www.leftlanenews.com/auto-industry-executives-poised-for-major-pay-out.html Reply TakeNotes, 1 day ago 5 5 Ammortize his wage over the years when he made $1 a year and when he finally got paid for the service NOT ONE UAW MEMBER COULD HAVE PERFORMED or contributed to, then tell me the payout was that high. You imbeciles and your intentionally short-term memory convenioently overlook the entire picture. Reply 85ZingoGTR, 1 day ago 7 3 Well I got news for you Bobby. The companies are playing the smallest violins in the world for you right now. They don’t give a sh!t. So learn to make it livable. Reply 85ZingoGTR, 1 day ago 2 5 And I will pay anything to watch you try to sue them over it. I can use a good show. I will take personal enjoyment watching you retards lose horribly to them in court as they shake hands with their buddies in the supreme court. Nihilus, 1 day ago 16 3 Right now I make $0 an hour. If someone called me up and said “Hey, would you be interested in working 40 hours a week at $14 an hour”, my response would be “ABSOLUTELY! When do I start?” So I don’t shed tears for people who have Jobs and then complain they’re not making enough. You have a Job Dick. Stop complaining. Reply 85ZingoGTR, 1 day ago 4 4 My point exactly. Even though I don’t know you Id trust your hands making me a car over theirs anyday. Because you are doing it with the motivation of simply having food on your plate. I’d totally support these companies cleaning house and putting people like you in who simply want to get paid. I hope everything works out for the best with you man. rarson, 16 hours ago 0 0 I make $10.50 an hour right now. My response would still be the same as yours. DetroitWatcher, 1 day ago 13 2 $28k for an entry level job that does not require a college education (and all of the expenses that go with getting a college education) is FANTASTIC. What color is the sky in UAW Land??? Reply iggibiggi, 1 day ago 8 4 Complaining about a starting wage of $14/hour?? Where can I find these people so I can bitch slap them all! STFU and be grateful that you at least have a job! God I hate the UAW!!!!!! Reply Gymkata, 1 day ago 6 1 Entry level @ $14 an hour is plenty. If you can’t make that work in this economy then GFY-self. I’m sure that this isn’t for an overly technical job either. There are many people making less than this with college degrees. Reply NRG, 1 day ago 6 3 Looks like Mr. King is trying a new version of the comb over. Soon he will look like Trump. As for $14/hr, yeah that’s a little low these days, but it is still a liveable wage. Considering the economy, beggars can’t be choosers. I sue to be in a union long ago and we got raises every 6 mths. I’m sure that part of the contract hasn’t changed, but who knows. Reply Thunder Chicken, 1 day ago 6 1 There is a simple test to see if a business is offering a fair wage: If it has a line up of people applying for jobs, it’s offering enough money. If it posts jobs and has no applicants it’s not offering enough money. In other words, if those poor souls making only $14/hr decide the grass is greener elsewhere and leave, and the automakers have trouble recruiting people to fill those positions, then, and only then, King has a valid point. I’ve a feeling, however, that the mnaufacturers would have no problems finding workers for 414/hr… Reply Breezer23, 1 day ago 1 1 That’s why competition works for employees as well. We can all compete for hire wages by promoting or moving on to a different company. $14/hour isn’t livable but it is your job to fix it. Reply Breezer23, 1 day ago 0 1 Oops! I meant higher bdizz587, 17 hours ago 5 9 im guessing all of you have never been in a union and if you were none of these comments would have been made, thats the whole point of being in a union and paying union dues. you pay them to have bob king negotiate and try and get you a better life especially when the company is making billions of dollars. all of you are jeolous that your not in the uaw. if i were you id just stick to finding things on the computer for you to bicker at or whatever makes your worthless lives better, keep typing bulls@&t on your cheeto stained keyboards, and learn to love the uaw and other unions cause they arent going anywhere. bob king for president USA!USA!USA! Reply rarson, 16 hours ago 4 5 You’re an idiot. I worked for the government once. I was FORCED to pay union dues, because if I didn’t, I had to pay to for the privilege of not being in the union. I wanted nothing to do with it, because I’m not a moron and I not only realize that adding bureaucracy is a waste of money, but I’m also perfectly capable of negotiating with my employer on my own. “bob king negotiate and try and get you a better life especially when the company is making billions of dollars.” Bob King does nothing other than spout absurd soundbites (like “$14/hr isn’t a livable wage”) and suck up your money in the form of dues. See, Bob’s not actually getting anything accomplished. Even if he negotiates something, he’s still not adding value to any product or producing anything of worth. All he’s doing is driving the price of your product up, causing it to be less competitive, and trading your long-term stability for a short-term (in your words) “better life”. Obviously you haven’t been paying attention for the last several decades when all the UAW-controlled American auto manufacturers were either bankrupt or on the verge. Try getting a real job sometime and see what it’s like. Thunder Chicken, 13 hours ago 2 2 Hey Bdizz587 – unless unions start seeing reality (very unlikely) or they find a way to take over Mexico and China, they certainly will be going somewhere: AWAY. Manufacturing is a business, not a charity, and those who own those businesses are in it to make money, both for themselves and their shareholders. If those businesses find it cheaper to build something in China or Mexico than they do in USA (not to mention more convenient due to no unions holding their companies hostage for unreasonable demands, and higher quality product because the people doing the manufacturing work as though their jobs depend on it instead of doing it half-assed knowing a union’s got their collective backs) they will most certainly do so. You can thank unions and their unreasonable (and communistic) “Share the wealth” mentality for the state of American manufacturing today, and that state is not good. You can hardly (if at all) find American made electronics, clothing, furniture, etc. About the only domestically manufactured things you can find are cars (and a smaller & smaller percentage of those are union made), houses (only because it’d be too hard to build a house in China and ship it here), and Big Macs (because McD’s can pay their workers what they’re worth – if they had to pay even $14/hr to burger flippers, those burgers would be processed in Mexico faster than you can say “Big Mac Attack”. If those poor workers can’t get by on $14/hr they should leave and find jobs that pay more. If they can’t find jobs that pay more they’ve no right complaining that they’re not paid well enough where they’re at…

Republicans want all of us to join the fight for padding the elite coffers. Read my signature line and you will understand Reuther's message The Republican agenda is to destroy unions Any union member in any union is hurting our future as Unionists and our collective bargaining rights when they vote Republican................. Unions were born in bad times and............... in bad times we must fight with a vengeance for our rights and support candidates that support Unions in ALL sectors

Correct Ford M/R We all know who dummyboy68 really is............ You know, his name starts with a c and ends with a y He is so hateful that he wants to make everyone as miserable as he is, but as you said we should be hearing of an arbitration hearing date soon.

General, I mostly disagree with your twisted posts but you hit a home run with this one Well put and well said. We have this benefit of job security and transferring in or out of zone with our seniority and yet still people complain Unbelievable Good post

Sounds like they signed a irrevocable agreement to go to CAP, the eligibility window closed and it was final and binding at that point. A week later there are postings for DTP. They signed a binding agreement to go to CAP, irrevocable. Am I missing something? Whats the difference of a week, month, years later for any posting in zone? IRREVOCABLE If they were so interested in going to DTP why didnt they sign up the 3 previous times over the past 2 years DTP was offered while they were eligible. Something smells fishy here Are you possibly on the bubble of being "forced" to DTP if these members dont return? Me thinks so............

Our Job Security is a second to none thanks to the 2007 product investments and appendix M N O. Glad everyone has had the opportunity to voluntarily move to other zones with a nice cash incentive to do so. Good luck to everyone

Good post. This guy actually ran for President of the UAW. Glad we had Delegates there that could see thru his lack of experience and lack of vision. The IUAW has the responsibility of protecting wages, jobs and benefits of 120,000 members and their families that depend on educated decision making and experienced leaders.