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T O P I C     R E V I E W
ETMIDZT	To Strike Today? 5a.m. news this morning said ......Likely! Anybody heard any more about it??
tangled up in BLUE	11:am is the deadline
MIKE GATLIN	I can't imagine anyone is interested in a strike.
WildCat	quote: Originally posted by MIKE GATLIN: I can't imagine anyone is interested in a strike. no one in our plant is wanting a strike. You never recover what you loose. Just heard on the news that health care is what the hold up is. I have heard absolutely nothing on the talks........but this is not good(:
tangled up in BLUE	GM is on strike...
ALLEY CAT	Tubby > maybe Corvette sales will catch up to production with a strike in place?
ETMIDZT	73,000 on STRIKE!! Go to www.cnnnews.com
Wayne Finch	I don't think the automakers have near as much to lose as the workers. Inventories are high, sales are slow. GM probably loses less money while on strike than working Workers have bills to pay, mouths to feed. The longer this goes on, the more pressure will be on the union. One of these days, one automaker will hold out and bust the union.
BeWare	Larry, I hope for you and others the strike doesn't last long.
quincy	SOB's are picketing our facility right now. I drove my Prowler in today. If one of the swine touches my Kat send bail money for my release on 2nd degree murder!
ETMIDZT	So are you referring to them as Sweet Ol Boys?? or.....
ALLEY CAT	Its time for a good ole strike,,,,,,,,GM hasn't had one in a long time. They want to cut health care benefits to the working employees, and the retired workers. Also,,,GM would rather be building most of their units in Mexico, than the U.S. > hence, more Americans losing their jobs. Job security is a huge issue now,,,,,and I'll stand behind the working Americans. Toyota can build cars and trucks here, and make billions in profits,,,while GM cries. Step up GM and trim out the fat and white collar crime!
tangled up in BLUE	quote: Originally posted by ALLEY CAT: Tubby > maybe Corvette sales will catch up to production with a strike in place? ...I have no interest in a C6, maybe another C1....and maybe a C7 if there is a substantial change
Wayne Finch	quote: Originally posted by ALLEY CAT: Toyota can build cars and trucks here, and make billions in profits,,,while GM cries. Its called legacy costs(pension, healthcare). GM paying massive benefits to 300,000+ retirees with a workforce of 70,000. Some quick math says this doesn't add up. Sure it is GM's fault that they didn't stand up to the union over the years, but what do you do now. Let it ride and there will be more layoffs or bankruptcy and everyone loses their jobs. Or deal with some pain for the long term viability of the company. Legacy costs are not a factor for Toyota so they have a huge cost advantage. Legacy costs need to be severly curtailed or eliminated, salaries and wages brought in line with the rest of the market and a revamp of operations is imperative. The dealer network is cumbersome and inefficient and needs to be trimmed in half at least.
WildCat	quote: Originally posted by Wayne Finch: Its called legacy costs(pension, healthcare). GM paying massive benefits to 300,000+ retirees with a workforce of 70,000. Some quick math says this doesn't add up. Sure it is GM's fault that they didn't stand up to the union over the years, but what do you do now. Let it ride and there will be more layoffs or bankruptcy and everyone loses their jobs. Or deal with some pain for the long term viability of the company. Legacy costs are not a factor for Toyota so they have a huge cost advantage. Legacy costs need to be severly curtailed or eliminated, salaries and wages brought in line with the rest of the market and a revamp of operations is imperative. The dealer network is cumbersome and inefficient and needs to be trimmed in half at least. Wayne, could not agree with you more, BUT, union busting isn't the answer. My dad was the local union president in the 50's. I do not agree with what the union is doing now, but as with any business, and yes that is all it is now they focus on the $$$$. Both business and labor needs to look at what is going on and come up with a plan. Who would have thought since the start of the 30 and out that people would live so long, health care would increase by double digits each year and the demands from the goverment to make cars that people don't get hurt in, EVEN IF YOU DRIVE LIKE AN IDIOT. I don't know the answer, I was raised 8 hours work for 8 hours pay and still think this is what the businesses expect. Too many people now think they deserve a pay check for showing up a few days a week. I'm OK with lowering wages some, but the health care for current and retires should not continue to be taken away. This is the point that the GM workers are trying to make, but it could not have come at a worse time for a strike. They will never recover what they lose during the strike. As`far as the cost for Toyota, WE ARE STUPID TO ALLOW THEM TO COME HERE, BUILD PLANTS, GIVE THEM TAX INCENTIVES and when the rebates end, they ask for more and take their profits back overseas. Worker for Toyota make a good living, but they have a much younger work force, they offer nothing when you retire except the 401K if you used it, get hurt on the job, TOO BAD WE DON'T HAVE A JOB FOR YOU. The company I worked for before going to Ford was owned partly by Toyota. They announced last month they were closing the factory and moving production to mexico. So much for those jobs, OH, their tax abatements ended. time to move on. Oh Well, I hope the GM employees don't have too long of a strike.
ETMIDZT	Might be over! Rank & File voting today!
ALLEY CAT	Who caved in,,,GM or the union leaders?
ETMIDZT	Dunno! $200 bucks a week strike pay or $25 Bucks an hr. working X 40 = $1,000.........
ALLEY CAT	Its a war,,,,,,,sacrifices sometimes have to be made. Without the UAW all of these years,,,,,,it would be $8.00 an hour X 40 = $320 a week with few benefits, if any. We don't need more Wal-Marts > Always Lower Wages,,,Always
WildCat	sounds like GM got what it wanted.........rank and file to vote on new contract package. They wanted to underfund the health care and pass it odd to the union to run, guess we will not have any health care in a few years when they go belly up Glad it is over, waiting to see the results
Wayne Finch	The way I see it is the union realized that if they did not cave of health care, the company likely reorganizes out of chapter 11 and they could end end with close to zero benefits for the future. At least now they get some money and they can sort out how to deal with the issues themselves. I suspect at some point in time, retirees will take a hit so that the current employees can survive. There is no good way out of the current mess and one way or another, all employees and retirees will suffer to some degree
Al's Prowler	If enough G.M retirees vote on this contract it might not pass,all you have to do is look at what happened to the Cat retirees health care.
ETMIDZT	So if the Union handles the retires Health Ins. & costs are excessive. Just raise the Union dues.