Ford Workers: Mixed Feelings About Concessions

I feel it's sad that our government has forced the UAW people that have already made many choices to help the American Auto Ind. To force these consesions on the American Auto Workers when they gave billions to the banks and wall street who I feel are the people that made this mess in the first place. The wall street people and the big banks take our money and give it as a bonus to the people that helped create our problems. They have to be laughing all the way to their banks. A bonus is when you do a excelent job for your company not a bad job. I loved all my years working for Ford Motor Co.

I assume Mr.Lutman that you do not feel that the Unions have in any way contributed to to demise of the Auto Industry. I do not uphold the huge bonuses given to the head exucitives of the Auto Companies or the Wall Steeet Bankers. However you have I sssume have lived fairly well off your Ford employment and your retirement. I, however have had to live off Social Security and what I was aable to save for retirement, including paying for my hospital insurance. Who, may I ask is paying for your retirement except the people they arae now asking for concessions. I would ask that you fairly look at your position in life and then determine who is at leasst partly responsible for th e mess we are in.

Capac Retilree wrote:

I assume Mr.Lutman that you do not feel that the Unions have in any way contributed to to demise of the Auto Industry. I do not uphold the huge bonuses given to the head exucitives of the Auto Companies or the Wall Steeet Bankers. However you have I sssume have lived fairly well off your Ford employment and your retirement. I, however have had to live off Social Security and what I was aable to save for retirement, including paying for my hospital insurance. Who, may I ask is paying for your retirement except the people they arae now asking for concessions. I would ask that you fairly look at your position in life and then determine who is at leasst partly responsible for th e mess we are in.

Corporate America has been extremely arrogant, pushing the blame for their mistakes on hard working middle class families who organize to make a living wage. I know many auto company employees, past and current and I can assure you, none of them are rich amd many work second jobs just to make ends meet. Organized labor is what built a strong middle class that drives the American economy and allows you to collect the social security check that many of us who are working now doubt will even be there for us. The gap between the corporate eleite and upper managemnet vs the little guy just trying to feed his family has gorwn in astounding proportions. If you want to live in a third world country with a rich class and a poor class then leave. America needs good jobs for hard working men and women and it sounds to me like you are jealous because of your shortfalls that kept you from getting one of these types of jobs(yes these jobs require testing and performance standards, if you couldn't meet them well I'm sorry).

Yes, it is time to start standing up for the American worker again, otherwise our kids and grandkids do not have a chance.

I don't understand why so many people think labor unions are thae cause of our problems. Labor unions protect workers rights. I worked for Ford Motor Company at the old Ford Tractor Plant in Romeo Michigan. When things got bad back in the early 80's I was laid off. There were no jobs that were available that would pay my bills and unemployment only lasted for 26 weeks. I went to truck driving school and started my own trucking business but I was always on the road. Because of the UAW I was called to see if I was interested in returning after being off for 10 years back to Ford at the Romeo plant that was converted into an 4.6L V8 engine plant. I returned back to work at Ford and retired in 2005 with a nice pension, Paid health insurance, low cost medicine, and a 401K. I thank Ford Motor Company and the UAW for my happy retirement. My daughter works for a non union company and the way that company treats their workers is almost criminal. When you work for a union company you have a union contract and that contract tells you and the company what you can do and what they can do.

Many locals at Ford are voting the new concessions down!!! Good for them, time to stand up for the average worker!

America needs to start standing up for her workers again. This union busting corporate greed nonsense has to stop.

I've never understood how people could be suckered into blaming the rank-and-file hard working people on the front lines for "greed" and the problems in corporate America. You would think with acts of malfeasance among corporate executives in the headlines on a near-weekly basis, people would be all too aware of the charlatans running business and trying to frame the discourse, but I guess too many people are easily suckered into shilling against their own self interests.

I think a lot of animosity toward union workers is sheer jealousy. Jealousy over the fact that these people are willing to band together, stand up for their own self interests and not allow themselves to be pushed around. The average American wage slave has lost any self-respect or principle or courage to stand up for themselves, and it drives them nuts to see others who have not sacrificed their principles at the altar of corporate exploitation.

Now it's getting even more ridiculous. People who are smart enough to cut their costs and save their money are being scapegoated for preventing economic recovery. It's fine for corporations to cut costs and lay people off, but if I choose to save MY money rather than waste it on things I don't need,*I'm* the one hampering recovery. You're hearing the rhetoric in the news now: "People aren't spending enough," or "people aren't borrowing enough..." That's right. Just like a prudent business, I'm cutting my costs and not spending money where it does not NEED to be spent. Meanwhile, the executives of failed and failing businesses are in the news trying to rationalize their multimillion dollar salaries and obscene (and undeserved) bonuses.

The corporate media has certainly found out how to sucker many people into standing against their own self interests and trying to assign guilt to those least deserving of it, while at the same time, excusing the actions and behaviors of those most to blame.

Frankly, I'm kind of bewildered how I stumbled upon a group of self-respecting people on the Internet! I mean really...out of eight posts (including mine) here, I'd generally expect at least seven of them to be bashing hard American workers and excusing the actions of corporate America.