Upcoming UAW Strike

[Rlaf75]

It’s called negotiating. You don’t ever ask for exactly what you want right of the gate. Pretty sure UAW knows they’ll never get what they’re asking for. That’s a given.

The’ll eventually settle somewhere in the middle and everyone will be somewhat happy. Don’t doubt they’ll strike for awhile but as usual loss of wages and living only on minimal strike pay tends to bring reality back to the majority needed to pass the contract.

Everyone has their opinions about unions but without them there are a lot of other non-union shops that would be paying a whole lot less and have way worse benefits without the competition from the higher paying union companies. Like unions or hate them they do have value.

It's called collective bargaining for a reason. They negotiate and sometimes it goes on to arbitration. In this day and age unions are a double edged sword though

 

[n8zcc]

The problem is that not everyone has 401ks, a lot have pensions.

If they strike how does the UAW lose in the long run?

Back around 2013 or so, I had just left GM and went to work for a supplier. At GM (white collar worker), I had both a pension and a 401K. GM stopped inputting funds into my pension and started contributing to my 401. My GM pension was frozen, that is, was not rolled into my 401. Now that I am retired I am receiving my pension along with my 401.

When I started working with the supplier, they were just ending their pension program for their 401 program. In this case, the existing employees (not any UAW though) had their pensions rolled into a 401 managed by Fidelity. Actually, Fidelity did well in managing the 401s.

The same could be done with existing UAW members, roll the pension or freeze it and start a 401 where they can match contributions and also provide catch-up funding.

The UAW will lose in the long run because of EVs. There are several reasons why and I am not going to regurgitate that here, this info is available on almost every financial website. Start here;

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/23/electric-cars-autoworkers-contract-strike

I just hope a strike doesn't happen, it will be devastating to our economy. Vehicle manufacturing has long deep tentacles into the economy and a strike will hurt.

 

[HSKR R/T]

The problem is that not everyone has 401ks, a lot have pensions. You think it’s ok for one employee to get a pension and the guy working right next to him doing the same job to not get one?

If they strike how does the UAW lose in the long run? This is their absolute best shot at getting wage increases, COLA and pensions back. Stellantis averaged 2 BILLION a month profits for the first 6 months of this year. You have to make these types of demands when the company is this profitable. What if this ev **** fails and the big 3 take a loss, you think they’ll be getting any type of increases or retirement benefits restored when the contract is up again in 2027? Nah. This is the time to throw every demand you have at them.

Lots of companies switched to 401ks while at the same time having employees grandfathered in with pensions. Get over it. Learn to manage your 401k and if invested properly, it could be more lucrative than a pension. At least with a 401k, if you get fired, or leave the job, your 401k stays with you. Get fired, or quit with a pension, and bye bye pension. You can't transfer that **** over to a new employer.

 

[HSKR R/T]

It's called collective bargaining for a reason. They negotiate and sometimes it goes on to arbitration. In this day and age unions are a double edged sword though

Yeah looks how well that worked for railroads last year. The unions actually voted to not accept the deal that their own leaders negotiated. Not all deals are good for everyone. The railroad one benefited the leaders of the union more than the members. Once unions stop making money off their members then they can say they are doing good. But for now, most union leaders are just bilking the unions themselves

 

[Rlaf75]

Yeah looks how well that worked for railroads last year. The unions actually voted to not accept the deal that their own leaders negotiated. Not all deals are good for everyone. The railroad one benefited the leaders of the union more than the members. Once unions stop making money off their members then they can say they are doing good. But for now, most union leaders are just bilking the unions themselves

The unions of today are not the same as they were. They line their own pockets now more than ever. I work in an "open" shop. We have a union but aren't required to be members but still get basic representation from them. They have a very low membership within my particular facility because they protect the lazy useless employees better than the productive ones. Like I said, unions are a double edged sword

 

[Rick3478]

Wonder if this will help Tesla's momentum.

 

[Rebel2022]

The real winners of unions are the lazy, unreliable chronic sick leave employees. Everyone makes less money because of them. I would bet without the UAW there would be 25% less employees and much higher wages for everyone else.

 

[OutlawHemi22]

Lots of companies switched to 401ks while at the same time having employees grandfathered in with pensions. Get over it. Learn to manage your 401k and if invested properly, it could be more lucrative than a pension. At least with a 401k, if you get fired, or leave the job, your 401k stays with you. Get fired, or quit with a pension, and bye bye pension. You can't transfer that **** over to a new employer.

Get over it you say
I have a pension and 401k but almost half of my union brothers and sisters don’t have a pension only a 401k. That’s not right to me.
During the bailouts we agreed to put pensions and other benefits like COLA on freeze until the companies we profitable again. We never agreed to getting rid of them and not reinstating them. I’d say the Big 3 are more than profitable and can absolutely afford to bring these benefits back.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Get over it you say
I have a pension and 401k but almost half of my union brothers and sisters don’t have a pension only a 401k. That’s not right to me.
During the bailouts we agreed to put pensions and other benefits like COLA on freeze until the companies we profitable again. We never agreed to getting rid of them and not reinstating them. I’d say the Big 3 are more than profitable and can absolutely afford to bring these benefits back.

Must not have been in writing, or they would be back. If it was in the contract in black and white, then the manufacturing would have no recourse. Your union leaders telling you that's what the deal was, doesn't mean it was a given.

 

[Darksteel165]

If you don't work for the government and expect to get an pension...

 

[Eighty]

Pensions are a vestige of the 20th century. There’s a reason they’ve been abandoned almost across the board (except for Union-land and government).

 

[wegasque]

Pensions are a vestige of the 20th century. There’s a reason they’ve been abandoned almost across the board (except for Union-land and government).

Agreed, but let's also not forget that all Americans are paying into pensions as a result of Joe Biden promising to prop up Union pensions. And at what point have you been told 'thank you'? I know I haven't.

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Historic Relief to Protect Hard-Earned Pensions of Hundreds of Thousands of Union Workers and Retirees | The White House

American Rescue Plan prevents pension benefit cuts of roughly 60% in the next few years for over 350,000 Central States Pension Fund workers and retirees Today, joined by Teamster President Sean O’Brien, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and Teamster workers and...

www.whitehouse.gov

 

[Dewey]

 

[Darksteel165]

View attachment 167309

Nice!

I hope the car\truck market goes insane again and ill sell my 13 Acadia with 100k miles for like $30k and save it for things to coast over and get something better for cheaper when people sell their newer car\truck because they can't afford the interest.

 

[kdoublep]

32 hr week but paid for 40. I do a 50 to 60 hr week and I'm paid for 40. Where do I sign up?

 

[Rick3478]

Reaching for all they can get I understand and respect, but makes those HondaMazdaToyotas look pretty good too. We'll see how it shakes out.

 

[n8zcc]

Our local news here in Detroit said the UAW has 11 weeks of strike funds built up. The 11 weeks is a number based on all UAW members getting a weekly strike check of $500.00.

The UAW is holding their line at the negotiating table but I don't think they are going to win, Ford just announced the elimination of 600 UAW positions at the Wayne assembly plant, as reported by a TV news station.

Throughout my career (engineering) I've never worked for an employer that provided COLA, typically they gave merit raises each year which were around 2% while inflation was a point or so higher. To escalate my career I had to switch employers throughout my career to get the compensation growth. One of my managers once told me he couldn't give me a raise to keep me but he can pay the going rate on new hires. Doesn't make sense. Some of the guys I worked with quit and either hired back in or came back as a contract employee.

Excluding the skilled trade members of the UAW, most are classified as unskilled labor. It isn't easy to do assembly line repetitive work but nonetheless, they are unskilled labor. Anyone can be trained to put on a nut or snap in a plastic piece. They have a weak bargaining position.

My son is working on installing the assembly cells for the new battery plant at GM's Orion plant. The new assembly line is made up of 4,700 robotic cells, and the labor to run and manage the cells is skilled and not UAW. The UAW ship is slowly sinking.

Labor costs in a vehicle typically come in around 10% of the MSRP value. With escalating interest rates and vehicle cost increases, most folks can't afford a new vehicle. As costs soar and inflation is back on the increase, more people join the club of can't afford a new vehicle daily.

 

[Rlaf75]

Get over it you say
I have a pension and 401k but almost half of my union brothers and sisters don’t have a pension only a 401k. That’s not right to me.
During the bailouts we agreed to put pensions and other benefits like COLA on freeze until the companies we profitable again. We never agreed to getting rid of them and not reinstating them. I’d say the Big 3 are more than profitable and can absolutely afford to bring these benefits back.

The problem with that is the company can manipulate its books to show losses every year. Then they "restructure". Every person, place and entity try to do this to avoid the tax burdens.

 

[AnthonyRI]

There is a lot of repetition on the stat that the UAW has enough funds to afford 3 months of pay. That's an easy equation, total # of bodies entitled to the $500/week strike pay.

What it doesn't account for is can each of those HUMANS afford to live on $500/week for 12 weeks. That's a much harder figure to quantify, and to balance the pressures of when it comes to who actually has to deal with it.

I'm going to maintain keeping my hat WAY out of the ring until it all settles, in terms of what I THINK should happen - for obvious reasons - but just wanted to share that thought too!

 

[HSKR R/T]

There is a lot of repetition on the stat that the UAW has enough funds to afford 3 months of pay. That's an easy equation, total # of bodies entitled to the $500/week strike pay.

What it doesn't account for is can each of those HUMANS afford to live on $500/week for 12 weeks. That's a much harder figure to quantify, and to balance the pressures of when it comes to who actually has to deal with it.

I'm going to maintain keeping my hat WAY out of the ring until it all settles, in terms of what I THINK should happen - for obvious reasons - but just wanted to share that thought too!

You see those in interviews saying they need more money to support their families, so if that's the case, I can't imagine $500 a week for three months is going to do that.