A Thank You Card!

[Die Wahrheit]

Dear President Obama

Dear Bob KIng

Dear Jimmy Settles

Dear IUAW leaders

 

Your membership hear at Ford Motor Company would like to show our appreciation for all your hard work in presenting us with the best possible contract imaginable. We all know without your backing Mr. Obama we would not be here today. We are very grateful for all you and our IUAW leaders have done for us. Thanks for your dedication to seeing the middle class is not wiped out by the republicants...Bob King you are a fearless leader and advocate of the middle class and we thank you for battleing your ass off.

 

Keep up the good fight guys, we here on the battlefield will continue to support you.

 

P.S. Mr. Obama tell Michele and your wonderful family we all said hello. 4 MORE YEARS!!!.

 

 

Signature goes here ________________________________________________

[doubleagent13]

Dear President Obama

Dear Bob KIng

Dear Jimmy Settles

Dear IUAW leaders

 

Your membership hear at Ford Motor Company would like to show our appreciation for all your hard work in presenting us with the best possible contract imaginable. We all know without your backing Mr. Obama we would not be here today. We are very grateful for all you and our IUAW leaders have done for us. Thanks for your dedication to seeing the middle class is not wiped out by the republicants...Bob King you are a fearless leader and advocate of the middle class and we thank you for battleing your ass off.

 

Keep up the good fight guys, we here on the battlefield will continue to support you.

 

P.S. Mr. Obama tell Michele and your wonderful family we all said hello. 4 MORE YEARS!!!.

 

 

Signature goes here ________________________________________________

 

 

Well said, DW.

[Raws41900]

Laying the sarcasm on thick, i love it!

[CD4EMAN]

Dear President Obama

Dear Bob KIng

Dear Jimmy Settles

Dear IUAW leaders

 

Your membership hear at Ford Motor Company would like to show our appreciation for all your hard work in presenting us with the best possible contract imaginable. We all know without your backing Mr. Obama we would not be here today. We are very grateful for all you and our IUAW leaders have done for us. Thanks for your dedication to seeing the middle class is not wiped out by the republicants...Bob King you are a fearless leader and advocate of the middle class and we thank you for battleing your ass off.

 

Keep up the good fight guys, we here on the battlefield will continue to support you.

 

P.S. Mr. Obama tell Michele and your wonderful family we all said hello. 4 MORE YEARS!!!.

 

 

Signature goes here ________________________________________________

 

 

This is satire? right? please tell me you are not that ignorant!!!!

[Die Wahrheit]

Well said, DW.

 

 

Thank You. I wasn't sure if it was too formal.

[Transguy]

I think it's a little over the top.

 

But there's something I've been thinking through all of this, part of it going all the way back to the 2009 modification vote.

 

When we have a contentious fight over a contract, it doesn't make us look good. In 2009 I read about the proposal in the paper, on the net, where ever, and honestly I wasn't really happy for it. But at the same time, I trusted out leadership, I wasn't in the negotiations, and there was at least some potential good to come from it. As it was, since the leadership had endorsed it, and the leadership at my plant (STP) is fairly approachable, even if I wasn't going to support it, I though the best course of action for me was to quietly vote however my conscience drove me to and let it happen as it happened. And I feel that way about all the things that get decided "up north" when I'm not in the room and don't know how they got to what we, the members, see in the end. If our leaders aren't bringing us back things that will pass, they're not serving us well. Furthermore, before they called the press and announced that deal, I'm pretty sure all the UAW negotiation team got in a room and decided before they left that room to support it. And when they did that, they can shout, fight or hold their bvreath until they turn blue, to try to move that discussion. In pivate, before the press knows anything about it. Because when they come out of that room, and get up on the stage with BIll And Allen and Mark, they are not the individuals anymore, they are the visible face of the entire UAW and even though who don't agree have an obligation the all of us who didn't get to go and don't know what happened behind closed doors to not leave that room until they have something they can support. Some of our committee came back to Sharonville and spoke out against the agreement proposal. My question was then, "why did you let them do this if you can't support it. I respect you don't support it, but before they announced what it was, YOU had an obligation to very strongly make it know that YOU can't come back to your plant and sell it to the members.

That's important. The public perceives us and all unions as walking in lockstep and true or not they think anything handed down to us to vote on should be 90% for, and if it's not, they start asking why. In 2009, I was of two minds about it, and I'm not gonna say how I voted because that doesn't matter here. What does matter is that we had a few weeks in the press where we were having a knock down drag out fight over the deal our supposed leaders had agreed to.

It hardly made up look strong. In fact, it made us look (and to Ford Management) like we had a large section among membership that wasn't interested in supporting the leadership. That didn't make us stronger for this negotiation.

Again in this fight, we were divided. It's not much comfort that the division turned out to be a little bit more bark than bite, and history will record the people who were against the contract we passed as being a small number of dissenters whose bark turned out to be worse than their bite. But still, this division, and the rancor of it, has not made up stronger for the fight ahead in 2015.

I would like to ask everyone to spend the time we have to prepare for the next contract trying to heal these wounds and make up stronger in 2015,. Did I want a better contract this time, you betcha. But after the people we trusted to go get it brought this one back, I took it on their word that they got the best they could. We got an equitable deal, and while it's hard to not mention big bonus checks, profit sharing, inflation hedging payments and such, the important thing we gained in this contract is bringing jobs back and keeping Ford profditable.

And both are important, And when we return here in 2015, hopefully WE will have 53,000 people voting instead of 41,000, big win for us! Just as important, hopefully FORD will be riding 4 more years of excellent profits and gains in market share, quality and customer good will. All good things for the company and all things we have a right to ask about our rewards for helping to bring them about,

My challenge is, if you don't think your plant leadership didn't do all he could to represent you and the whole of the UAW Ford Department, work to hold him or her more accountable, or replace them with someone who will. If your committee person made a big splash in the press and turned out to be more mouth than muscle, maybe you should see if you can find someone else who will not say so many inflammatory things, by not saying as much to begin with. We allowed the press to focus early on on members who were tangentially at leadership levels in locals and take shots at the national team. Again, that didn't help up, and a few times, when the votes came in it made us look silly.

 

I'm not saying we need to get rid of the ones who want to get us better deals, more power to them, maybe I ca set up my toolbox next to Bill Ford's desk, but I'd like to see all the leadership, at all levels, have the big knock down drag at fights while they're in private and deciding what we're gonna agree to in the proposal, and once we agree on what we let the leaders say in the press they support, ALL OF THE LEADERSHIP needs to support it, from Bob King down the the alternate committee person at the plant.

 

We cannot negotiate in the press, face it, the press doesn't like us and the public doesn't understand us. Hard as it is to swallow, the people who best understand the issues we present are the company. We can negotiate with them, precisely because they know that us getting a bonus at all isn't crazy (as people unfamiliar with the industry think) and even though they're on the other side of the table, they at least know what we're asking for and know why we should get it. And in these negotiations, behind closed doors, we can fight for everything we want. We'll win some, lose some, but when it becomes public we have to trust the leadership to have gotten as good a deal as they could., And since I wasn't there, I'm not going to second guess them. Unless you were there, you shouldn't either. That doesn't make us stronger. And that's what we really need, to make ourselves stronger.

 

 

I hope everyone has a safe and happyu upcoming holiday season, and save a little of that bonus for a rainy day fund, again, if most members have a month's worth of bill money in the bank, that makes us stronger, too.

Edited October 19, 2011 by Transguy

[FordM/R]

This is satire? right? please tell me you are not that ignorant!!!!

 

No he's serious. He's been blowing Obama for years and if you dare to disagree your a right wing nut. Of course he can't stomach that 10 percent of profit sharing goes to retiree health care. He feels they should have planned better for retirement and we owe retirees nothing. He's tired of having to carry the lazy retirees who were to dumb to save enough. Thankfully only about 3 people take him serious and the rest just walk by the blithering idiot.

[FiredMotorCompany]

No he's serious. He's been blowing Obama for years and if you dare to disagree your a right wing nut. Of course he can't stomach that 10 percent of profit sharing goes to retiree health care. He feels they should have planned better for retirement and we owe retirees nothing. He's tired of having to carry the lazy retirees who were to dumb to save enough. Thankfully only about 3 people take him serious and the rest just walk by the blithering idiot.

 

Schizophrenia?

[FordM/R]

I think it's a little over the top.

 

But there's something I've been thinking through all of this, part of it going all the way back to the 2009 modification vote.

 

When we have a contentious fight over a contract, it doesn't make us look good. In 2009 I read about the proposal in the paper, on the net, where ever, and honestly I wasn't really happy for it. But at the same time, I trusted out leadership, I wasn't in the negotiations, and there was at least some potential good to come from it. As it was, since the leadership had endorsed it, and the leadership at my plant (STP) is fairly approachable, even if I wasn't going to support it, I though the best course of action for me was to quietly vote however my conscience drove me to and let it happen as it happened. And I feel that way about all the things that get decided "up north" when I'm not in the room and don't know how they got to what we, the members, see in the end. If our leaders aren't bringing us back things that will pass, they're not serving us well. Furthermore, before they called the press and announced that deal, I'm pretty sure all the UAW negotiation team got in a room and decided before they left that room to support it. And when they did that, they can shout, fight or hold their bvreath until they turn blue, to try to move that discussion. In pivate, before the press knows anything about it. Because when they come out of that room, and get up on the stage with BIll And Allen and Mark, they are not the individuals anymore, they are the visible face of the entire UAW and even though who don't agree have an obligation the all of us who didn't get to go and don't know what happened behind closed doors to not leave that room until they have something they can support. Some of our committee came back to Sharonville and spoke out against the agreement proposal. My question was then, "why did you let them do this if you can't support it. I respect you don't support it, but before they announced what it was, YOU had an obligation to very strongly make it know that YOU can't come back to your plant and sell it to the members.

That's important. The public perceives us and all unions as walking in lockstep and true or not they think anything handed down to us to vote on should be 90% for, and if it's not, they start asking why. In 2009, I was of two minds about it, and I'm not gonna say how I voted because that doesn't matter here. What does matter is that we had a few weeks in the press where we were having a knock down drag out fight over the deal our supposed leaders had agreed to.

It hardly made up look strong. In fact, it made us look (and to Ford Management) like we had a large section among membership that wasn't interested in supporting the leadership. That didn't make us stronger for this negotiation. Again in this fight, we were divided. It's not much comfort that the division turned out to be a little bit more bark than bite, and history will record the people who were against the contract we passed as being a small number of dissenters whose bark turned out to be worse than their bite. But still, this division, and the rancor of it, has not made up stronger for the fight ahead in 2015.

I would like to ask everyone to spend the time we have to prepare for the next contract trying to heal these wounds and make up stronger in 2015,. Did I want a better contract this time, you betcha. But after the people we trusted to go get it brought this one back, I took it on their word that they got the best they could. We got an equitable deal, and while it's hard to not mention big bonus checks, profit sharing, inflation hedging payments and such, the important thing we gained in this contract is bringing jobs back and keeping Ford profditable.

And both are important, ANd when w return here in 2015, hopefully WE will have 53,000 people voting instead of 41,000, big win for us! Just as important, hopefully FORD will be riding 4 more years of excellent profits and gains in market share, quality and customer good will. All good things for the company and all things we have a right to ask about our rewards for helping to bring them about,

My challenge is, if you don't think your plant leadership didn't do all he could to represent you and the whole of the UAW Ford Department, work to hold him or her more accountable, or replace them with someone who will. If your committee person made a big splash in the press and turned out to be more mouth than muscle, maybe you should see if you can find someone else who will not say so many inflammatory things, by not saying as much to begin with. We allowed the press to focus early on on members who were tangentially at leadership levels in locals and take shots at the national team. Again, that didn't help up, and a few times, when the votes came in it made us look silly.

 

I'm not saying we need to get rid of the ones who want to get us better deals, more power to them, maybe I ca set up my toolbox next to Bill Ford's desk, but I'd like to sede all the leadership, at all levels, have the big knock down drag at fights while they're in private and deciding what we're gonna agree to in the proposal, and once we agree on what we let the leaders say in the press they support, ALL OF THE LEADERSHIP needs to support it, from Bob King down the the alternate committee person at the plant.

 

We cannot negotiate in the press, face it, the press doesn't like us and the public doesn't understand us. Hard as it is to swallow, the people who best understand the issues we present are the company. We can negotiate with them, precisely because they no that us getting a bonus at all isn't crazy (as people unfamiliar with the industry think) and even though they're on the other side of the table, they at least know what we're asking for and know why we should get it. And in these negotiations, behind closed doors, we can fight for everything we want. We'll win some, lose some, but when it becomes public we have to trust the leadership to have gotten as good a deal as they could., And since I wasn't there, I'm not going to second guess them. Unless you were there, you shouldn't either. That doesn't make us stronger. And that's what we really need, to make ourselves stronger.

 

 

I hope everyone has a safe and happyu upcoming holiday season, and save a little of that bonus for a rainy day fund, again, if most members have a month's worth of bill money in the bank, that makes us stronger, too.

 

Nice post here. This is a much better way to go about this. To think Obama, any democrat or any republican cares about us us assinine. They all serve the all mighty dollar. We have to take charge of our own future.

[wingzrule19]

No he's serious. He's been blowing Obama for years and if you dare to disagree your a right wing nut. Of course he can't stomach that 10 percent of profit sharing goes to retiree health care. He feels they should have planned better for retirement and we owe retirees nothing. He's tired of having to carry the lazy retirees who were to dumb to save enough. Thankfully only about 3 people take him serious and the rest just walk by the blithering idiot.

Well said!! Just ignore the idiot, maybe he'll go away!

[Transguy]

No he's serious. He's been blowing Obama for years and if you dare to disagree your a right wing nut. Of course he can't stomach that 10 percent of profit sharing goes to retiree health care. He feels they should have planned better for retirement and we owe retirees nothing. He's tired of having to carry the lazy retirees who were to dumb to save enough. Thankfully only about 3 people take him serious and the rest just walk by the blithering idiot.

 

The thing is, the current retirees are covered pretty well. The 10% is gonna be what keeps the VEBA stable when WE retire.

[2911screwed]

Yeah 4 more years of "taking it up the ass UAW contract".. 4 more years of no raise, no COLA, unfair profit share, no break time, were already giving a fair days work for unfair wage. No raises I got for the past 4 years yet 2nd tier gets a 3.50 cent raise..

 

that's ok, I got 4 years now to promote a "fuck no" on the next vote.

 

You people really fucked yourself.

[Transguy]

Yeah 4 more years of "taking it up the ass UAW contract".. 4 more years of no raise, no COLA, unfair profit share, no break time, were already giving a fair days work for unfair wage. No raises I got for the past 4 years yet 2nd tier gets a 3.50 cent raise..

 

that's ok, I got 4 years now to promote a "fuck no" on the next vote.

 

You people really fucked yourself.

 

 

Well, look at that a minute. First, I didn't get everything I wanted either. For instance, I'd judt love to go up to bed tonight and find, umm, Katie Perry. Ain't gonna happen, and the fact is Ms Joni is pretty good to me, so I'm fine with that. No, we didn't get a raise, but the bonus is something, not all I wanted, but not bad. As far as COLA, I think we did alright there with the $1500 inflation payments, if you think about it, on a 2000 hour year, that works out to 75 cents and hour, and I cannot think of any year that we ever did get 75 cents in COLA, so that's a win, and it's guaranteed, what if you had gotten your COLA and the CPI was flat, and COLA never increased? That could very well happen and I'm dead certain $1500 is better than ZERO. The profit share can't be unfair, by definition, it's the shareholder's profit, they're gonna share it with us, and from now on under better terms to us, so that looks like a win from here in the well armed bunker complex where I'm watching from. I know we work hard, trust me, I get it, and I would like more, too, But calling it "fair days work for unfair wage" is hardly gonna fly with the other 99% of people working in factories all over america for something approaching half that. We're well paid, it's a fact. We can want more, ask for more, and we'll often get more, but our wages aren't gonna garner us much sympathy when we try to get the proletariat to storm the bunkers with us.

 

Work hard, boost the company both in profit and public image, these are things that will make us stronger next time, and we can get more back. Just because something is good for the company doesn't mean it's bad for us.

[FordM/R]

Ok chuckie.

[poop]

Yeah 4 more years of "taking it up the ass UAW contract".. 4 more years of no raise, no COLA, unfair profit share, no break time, were already giving a fair days work for unfair wage. No raises I got for the past 4 years yet 2nd tier gets a 3.50 cent raise..

 

that's ok, I got 4 years now to promote a "fuck no" on the next vote.

 

You people really fucked yourself.

 

I don't get this at all. Aren't we the one's bitching all the time about 2-tier?

 

I don't have a lot of seniority, so people call me naive. Go ahead. The way I see this contract is that we sacrificed wage increase and COLA, and gained in profit share (for the majority of us that work straight time and not a lot of OT) so we could raise up the 2nd Tier and ACH people. Not only that, we can put some more people in America back to work. We can look around and see people are suffering with NO job NO benefits NO security and say, here, let me help you out. We don't have to be happy that we got no wage increase. Fuck, I'm not. I would sure as hell like to be up to 30-32/hr by the end of this contract.

 

And the retiree thing, well that sucks. It just does. But from what I understand, the UAW is legally prohibited from negotiating for retirees. So what can we do about it, except bitch about it and find ways to support our retirees on a local level? I mean, if we are really passionate about that, we need to set up some stuff that helps them. We can donate meals or clothes or whatever. Every little bit helps somebody on a fixed income. My father retired from Ford so I know.

 

But, to me, in the end, the vibrant debate around this contract shows one thing. We are strong. We have a voice. And we need to express it. We need to get involved in our local meetings. Because guess what? A lot of people bitch about the international people not getting elected...they get pulled up from our locals!!! If we don't elect dumbasses to the locals in the first place, they won't get pulled up to the international. That's just my 2 cents. I think we need to get more involved in our union meetings and not just involved in pissing and moaning on BON. I know I plan on doing that, and I hope the rest of you do too.

[FordM/R]

Yeah 4 more years of "taking it up the ass UAW contract".. 4 more years of no raise, no COLA, unfair profit share, no break time, were already giving a fair days work for unfair wage. No raises I got for the past 4 years yet 2nd tier gets a 3.50 cent raise..

 

that's ok, I got 4 years now to promote a "fuck no" on the next vote.

 

You people really fucked yourself.

 

Lol chuckie your to funny and predictable.

 

Don't mind what chuckie says here. He hasn't been relevant or employed for years. Maybe you should worry about getting retired by Ford before worry about voting for anything Mr fitch. Employees only jackass.

[Die Wahrheit]

Well said!! Just ignore the idiot, maybe he'll go away!

 

 

Go away! I have more time in the crapper than you have a Ford wingnuts!

[Die Wahrheit]

No he's serious. He's been blowing Obama for years and if you dare to disagree your a right wing nut. Of course he can't stomach that 10 percent of profit sharing goes to retiree health care. He feels they should have planned better for retirement and we owe retirees nothing. He's tired of having to carry the lazy retirees who were to dumb to save enough. Thankfully only about 3 people take him serious and the rest just walk by the blithering idiot.

 

Im not the one defending those that are trying to destroy my livelihood! And you think I got issues. You nutbags are a sad excuse for a UAW member!

[FordM/R]

Im not the one defending those that are trying to destroy my livelihood! And you think I got issues. You nutbags are a sad excuse for a UAW member!

 

No your the one that hates retirees and can't stomach the fact that 10% of profit sharing goes to veba. That's a sad excuse for a union member and as a human being. Your support solidarity as long as its to your benefit. Solidarity is remembering those before you as well. But you'd rather complain about 10% going to retirees and then give the president kudos for the contract. Please remind us when he sat on in negotiations. Its ok to support the contract, I did as well but don't rub people's nose in it. But back to my original issue with yiu, your hatred and discust for retirees us inexcusable. You will never change our minds on your hypocrisy of preaching solidarity while bitching about retirees. You don't even understand the concept of solidarity.

[nvsked]

Yeah 4 more years of "taking it up the ass UAW contract".. 4 more years of no raise, no COLA, unfair profit share, no break time, were already giving a fair days work for unfair wage. No raises I got for the past 4 years yet 2nd tier gets a 3.50 cent raise..

 

that's ok, I got 4 years now to promote a "fuck no" on the next vote.

 

You people really fucked yourself.

 

LOL the chuckster ..... dumb ass chuck man.... how do you keep all those screen names organized .... Its especially great when you start a topic and then keep it going with one your 25 different screen names

[jerrymaker]

Dear President Obama

Dear Bob KIng

Dear Jimmy Settles

Dear IUAW leaders

 

Your membership hear at Ford Motor Company would like to show our appreciation for all your hard work in presenting us with the best possible contract imaginable. We all know without your backing Mr. Obama we would not be here today. We are very grateful for all you and our IUAW leaders have done for us. Thanks for your dedication to seeing the middle class is not wiped out by the republicants...Bob King you are a fearless leader and advocate of the middle class and we thank you for battleing your ass off.

 

Keep up the good fight guys, we here on the battlefield will continue to support you.

 

P.S. Mr. Obama tell Michele and your wonderful family we all said hello. 4 MORE YEARS!!!.

 

 

Signature goes here ________________________________________________

 

what an ASS KISSER!! must be a dumassocrat!!

[Die Wahrheit]

what an ASS KISSER!! must be a dumassocrat!!

 

 

Nope i only speak truth. Something the righties wouldn't know about. I know how you hate to hear others facts... You are still an angry little man! I thought you would have changed when you left.

[FiredMotorCompany]

Nope i only speak truth. Something the righties wouldn't know about. I know how you hate to hear others facts... You are still an angry little man! I thought you would have changed when you left.

 

You have let your opinion become confused with truth. They are often different. I cannot argue with what you believe or feel. I can argue with what you claim is fact.

 

Please observe the Moderators policies regarding no political comments on the "Employees Only" section and keep these discussions in the "Off Topic" forum.

[Die Wahrheit]

You have let your opinion become confused with truth. They are often different. I cannot argue with what you believe or feel. I can argue with what you claim is fact.

 

Please observe the Moderators policies regarding no political comments on the "Employees Only" section and keep these discussions in the "Off Topic" forum.

 

 

Stop your squilling you rat! every topic I post is about the UAW and Ford. Just because their are outside elements to the UAW doesn't mean its off topic! So you can stop your so called alerting the mods of my post you yellow rat!

[FiredMotorCompany]

Stop your squilling you rat! every topic I post is about the UAW and Ford. Just because their are outside elements to the UAW doesn't mean its off topic! So you can stop your so called alerting the mods of my post you yellow rat!

 

every topic I post is about the UAW and Ford. Just because their are outside elements to the UAW doesn't mean its off topic!

That's how and why I thought the Employee forum political comments were appropriate. We are Ford, hourly and salary, and our perspectives are unique among ourselves. I wasn't the one complaining about them. Your buddy, Aces, brought down the wrath of "NickF1011" upon us and it was he who made the declarations. Can you not work within them?

 

I have not nor do I intend to call the Mods. That's not my style.

 

But, the personal attacks are also frowned upon. I'm just asking you to abide by the same we have been asked to do.

 

BTW, I think you meant, "Squealing", right?

Edited October 21, 2011 by FiredMotorCompany