UAW sends workers at American Axle on strike

K DeHaw wrote:

<quoted text>I don't hear anything about Honda workers going out on strike!

because they dont have or need unions........

Pat wrote:

Here are some excerpts from an email I received. Read the last paragraph carefully and then thank the AAM workers for having the spines to try to maintain our middle class, a future for our children and retain the principles this country was built on.
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.
'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say,'Stay the course'
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory.
So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way These are times that cry out for leadership.
Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression','World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this:
'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.'

Wow Must be true if it was an EMAIL.

jimcarravallah wrote:

<quoted text>
Unions mean fair pay for a fair day's work.
American productivity has gone up and wages to workers down since Reagan first was elected. It's at its nadir today (sorry for the "big word," but maybe you can look it up to understand what was said!).
Unions balance the greed of business owners, whose allegiance is to the board of directors and the profit line.
Check up on Enron, Keating, WorldCom, and the recent Mortgage crisis to see what unconstrained business opportunity does to average people.

Just a few corrections. In your first sentence- change mean to MEANT.
In the first sentence of the second paragraph change balance to MATCH, and change board of directors and the profit line to UAW LEADERS.
Change Enron, Keating, WorldCom, and the recent Mortgage crisis to LABORERS LOCAL 91, and OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 17, and change business opportunity to LEGALIZED EXTORTION.
Now it reflects the real world

70plyRR wrote:

<quoted text>Of course you don’t, they are robots dressed in little white coats. It’s the acceptance factor; they are unable to operate on a higher level. Similar to the negro in an urban ghetto. Tomorrow is your dream, yet today holds you back; an absolute oxymoron if the facts are visited.

The black man has failed to adapt to modern society, just turn on the news, or tour a correctional facility.

laughingatyoumorons wrote:

<quoted text>
Just a few corrections. In your first sentence- change mean to MEANT.
In the first sentence of the second paragraph change balance to MATCH, and change board of directors and the profit line to UAW LEADERS.
Change Enron, Keating, WorldCom, and the recent Mortgage crisis to LABORERS LOCAL 91, and OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 17, and change business opportunity to LEGALIZED EXTORTION.
Now it reflects the real world

Best post yet! Glad to see the union goon squads heading to jail.

Truckin wrote:

<quoted text>
The black man has failed to adapt to modern society, just turn on the news, or tour a correctional facility.

true

If you havent realized that honda is still working while we are layed off here in ohio. There making profits.

laughingatyoumorons wrote:

<quoted text>
Wow Must be true if it was an EMAIL.

If you had read the post, it stated that it was an excerpt from Lee Iacocca's book. The name of the book is "Talking Straight" Maybe you should read it and you might become enlightened by a very intelligent man. Or you can just live in your dark little world-- your choice.

what year was this book written in? 90's???

i think so,

get up to date...

get a job...

go back to work if you can...

watcher wrote:

what year was this book written in? 90's???
i think so,
get up to date...
get a job...
go back to work if you can...

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Intelligence knows no year,(although I'm not too sure you know anything about intelligence). This crap has been going on for years, it's just coming to a head, boy I'm glad someone noticed and cared enough to fight it. Get a clue, and maybe learn something from wiser men.

Hey Pat,

see you at the soup kitchen...

With GM's production cuts it is now reported that AA&M can supply 100% of GM's axle requirements from its Mexican plant.

This is no longer a strike....

watcher wrote:

Hey Pat,
see you at the soup kitchen...

I don't intend to be there, but enjoy.

READ MORE: http://futureoftheunion.com/...

The United Auto Workers union is close to reaching an agreement with American Axle & Manufacturing that will accept company demands on every major issue, including cutting wages and closing at least two plants. More than 3,600 workers have been on strike at AAM for ten weeks.

Details of the agreement have been reported on blogs run by American Axle workers and in the media. The Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday that a framework for a settlement was near, and would include the closure of two plants, substantially lower pay for all workers, and the breaking up of the national agreement into separate plant-by-plant contracts. The newspaper cited “people briefed on the talks” as the source for its information. Talks are expected to continue throughout the weekend.

According to the Free Press, wages would be cut to $17 an hour for production workers,$14 for non-production workers, and $25.50 for skilled trades workers.

Before the strike, American Axle workers earned $28.15 an hour, with skilled trades at more than $30 an hour. The terms outlined above would mean a pay cut of between $11 and $14 an hour (or upwards of $25,000 a year) for most workers.

Prior to the strike, the UAW had agreed to substantial wage cuts that would have given workers a few dollars an hour more than what they would receive under the framework reported by the Free Press.

Two forging plants would be closed—at Tonawanda, New York, and in Detroit, Michigan. A third plant in Three Rivers, Michigan could also be closed.
Shutting down the Detroit forge plant would mean the loss of hundreds more jobs in a city that has been devastated by the decline of the US auto industry and the outsourcing of labor to cheaper locations in the US and internationally.

The closure of the Tonawnada plant would likely mean the end of American Axle’s operations in the Buffalo, New York area, further devastating a region that, like Detroit, has been hit by the destruction of its manufacturing base. Tonawanda employs about 400 workers, and a companion finishing plant, whose future existence is also questionable, employs about 110. Last year, American Axle idled a plant in Buffalo that once employed over 2,000 workers.

According to reports on blogs run by American Axle workers, the company was prepared to keep the forge plants open if the workers accepted $10-$14 an hour wages for production workers. If the forges are shut, the work there will be replaced by low-wage plants in the US and Mexico.

The closure of these plants will leave only two remaining—the manufacturing facilities in Detroit and Three Rivers, provided that the latter remains open. Extremely significant is the proposal to break up the remaining plants into separate contracts. This framework, which has been adopted by the UAW at other auto parts suppliers, would serve to pit the different plants against each other in a competition for lower wages and benefits, under the threat of closure.

AAM is reportedly threatening to close Three Rivers in one year if the concessions are not high enough. The company is insisting on a clause that would allow it to shut the plant down if the company’s financial situation worsens.

Over the past 25 years, the UAW has worked to impose concessions by blocking any mobilization of workers across the auto industry. Separate contracts are negotiated at separate companies, and concessions at one become the foundation for demanding concessions at another. This model is now being extended within each company itself, as a means of breaking up any solidarity among the rank-and-file.

READ MORE: http://futureoftheunion.com/...