All out attack on union workers at Ford.

[cornermouse]

No point in buying American any more. Might as well go foreign.

Just announced on NBC evening news.

[Double T]

1. Toyota and Honda have MORE LOYALTY to their AMERICAN workers.......

than Ford or GM. Sometimes choices are easy.

[Missy M]

2. This can be the end of the American middle class...

the unions are what made the great American middle class and we should never forget that. I'm very sad at what is happening to the unions in this country. They fought hard for a decent living wage and now it is being taken away. It's a bad time in our history and will affect the middle class big time.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. You are so right

NT

[Cornerstone]

5. Yep Missy M

How right you are, "It's a bad time in our history." I knew they would come full force against the union. It was just a matter of time before the 'mass robots' could be completed.

First it was attack Affirmative action and knock the blacks down a peg. Then, attack the 'right to sue for big bucks' big business and government wrongs and so knock 'all' Americans down a peg, even the gullible, foolish ones who voted for the right-wing. Now, it's 'oh the bad union' how dare they want 'all that money' that could be going in our greedy little pockets. Let's go exploit the 3rd world countries and make it all back and then some.

Yep, real bad time in our history.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. God It's So Useless And Annoying When Someone Posts A Thread With Zero

info.

Hey, here's a tip for ya. One of the most common uses of DU is to get and gather information. When you fail to provide any, for all intents and purposes your thread is then friggin useless. Try a little harder next time, Ok?

[OneBlueSky]

6. Henry Ford HATED labor unions . . . some things never change . . .

from wikipedia . . .

The Battle of the Overpass was an incident on 26 May 1937, in which labor organizers clashed with Ford Motor Company security.

The United Auto Workers had planned a leaflet campaign entitled, "Unionism, Not Fordism," at the pedestrian overpass over Miller Road at Gate 4 of the Rouge complex. Demanding an $8 six-hour day for workers, in contrast to the $6 eight-hour day then in place, the campaign was planned for shift change time, with an expected 9,000 workers both entering and leaving the plant.

At approximately 2 p.m., several of the leading UAW organizers, including Walter Reuther and Richard Frankensteen, were asked by a Detroit News photographer to pose for a picture at the top of the steps of the overpass. While they were posing, men from Ford's "Service Department", an internal security force led by Harry Bennett, came from behind and began to beat them, then was soon joined by more than 50 employees of the company.

Frankensteen endured perhaps the worst punishment of the 16 people injured in the melee. He had his jacket pulled over his head and was kicked in the stomach--when he went to protect that area of his body, the group hit him in the head. They then proceeded to continually knock him down, while also spreading his legs apart to kick him in the groin.

The group then beat some of the beret-wearing women arriving to pass out leaflets, along with some reporters and photographers, while Dearborn police at the scene largely ignored the violence.

The mob also attempted to destroy photographic plates, but one News photographer was able to smuggle his away, and photos of the brutality were spread across the country. In spite of the many witnesses who had heard his men specifically seek out Frankensteen and Reuther, Bennett claimed, "The affair was deliberately provoked by union officials. . . . They simply wanted to trump up a charge of Ford brutality. ... I know definitely no Ford service man or plant police were involved in any way in the fight."

The incident greatly increased support for the UAW and hurt Ford's reputation. However, it took 4 more years before Ford agreed to collective bargaining with the UAW.

[Rosemary2205]

7. Bullshit

Ford has no choice but to trim it's workforce to survive. If Ford does nothing then employees get pink slipped with nothing when the company goes belly up or they can take a decent buy out now based on their individual circumstances and have something. Ford is making an effort to take care of people and avoid going out of business.

Contrast this with what most companies do to employees - show up to work and find the doors locked and no one answers the phone.


Ideally, Ford will gets it's cheese together and manufacture vehicles people want. However, history has shown that once market share is lost is nearly impossible to get it back.

[MisterHowdy]

8. I agree.

Labour is expensive in auto-manufacturing. High union salaries, medical coverage, pensions for previously retired workers and their medical coverage as well. You need good sales to maintain all this.
Ford, along with other domestic manufacturers, makes an inferior product when compared to most european and japanese makes.
They must step up their game, stop making disposable cars.

[Missy M]

9. I don't think it is the fault of the union that Ford manufactures...

vehicles that people don't want. Also, people have to make salaries that enable them to purchase cars that are now at an average price of $15,000 to $20,000. It is a vicious cycle that is not being helped by outsourcing jobs in this country. When you break the back of the unions you break the back of the middle class. If the upper management at Ford had put out a better product this would not have happened. If you go back at least 30 years and remember the inferior garbage Ford was putting out, then you know they are to blame. It is after that time I went from purchasing Ford's to purchasing Japanese made cars. The Japanese cars I buy are now made in this country and they are real fine vehicles.

[cornermouse]

10. Fascinating.

Absolutely fascinating that anyone could support this.

[Rosemary2205]

11. My husband is UAW/ Ford

He is at one of the plants closing soon. The choices they are giving are VERY GENEROUS. In return for the UAW working with Ford on restructuring they have gotten contractual agreements from Ford on callback rights for severed employees and for future US plants should US sales improve. There is a contractual percentage limit of what Ford is allowed to import for sale into the US from assembly plants outside the US.

My husband has 29 years of seniority. He needs another year to get full pension and the plant won't be open that long. Ford offered him full retirement and bennies plus $35,000 to go ahead and retire. Ford also spent about $14,000 over the last 2 years on education for my husband to learn something new. He starts a new career this Monday making 75% of what he made in the plant. Plus his pension.

Workers in this same plant with 10 years seniority are being offered several choices. They can take $140,000 and walk away with only recall rights. They can take about half that and take early retirement with a small pension and lifelong healthcare bennies. Or they can move to another plant with all moving and real estate sales expenses paid by Ford and keep their current salary and bennies.

I'm certainly not saying this is GOOD news. I'm not supporting the loss of union jobs. I'm saying Ford is going down due to mismanagement and instead of workers being left with nothing there is an effort being made to salvage what they can. Certainly even those taking retirement don't want that 50% income cut (or more) that comes with it. But there are going to be people in the plant that have taken advantage of Ford's VERY GENEROUS education benefits and are ready to move on to something that is not so brutal on the physical body. They see this as a great advantage over being left SOL with the plant's doors locked and nowhere to turn.

edit - typo

[Heewack]

12. Glad to hear that.

It's a necessity folks. With the loss of market share the American auto companies made promises to the unions that they can no longer afford to keep. They aren't selling enough cars to legitimize the workforce. It's either trim down or everyone loses their job.

[PassingFair]

13. So glad you've got your parachutes!

We'll wave to you from the bread lines as
you jet off to your vacation paradises!

:hi:

The Youth of America.

[Rosemary2205]

14. It's a real shame so few people support unions.

Pretty much every labor law and benefit anyone has in the work place is due to unions fighting for EVERYONE who earns a paycheck. Not just blue collar union members. A LOT of people died for the basic labor rights we enjoy. Too many people have been brainwashed into thinking union members are on a gravy train sucking the life out of the USA. This is so incredibly far from the truth. Hopefully people won't sit by quietly and let it get back to the 1930's before they decide to stand up for themselves.

And I'll add that IMHO too many in the middle class content themselves with investment profits made off the slave labor of our brethren halfway round the world. This is no way to survive IMHO.

[Blue_Tires]

15. the UAW/CAW have been attacked from all sides for years

in another 5 years there won't be a union anymore, since the big 2.5 will make all their cars in Mexico and asia...ironically, the japanese and german automakers will continue to build non-union plants in the u.s.

[WinkyDink]

16. Republicans hate unions and blame them for ALL corporate

losses, even though CONTRACTS ARE MUTUAL but company DECISIONS are MANAGEMENT'S ALONE.

Try reducing your CEO's salary and the shareholders'dividends. Try making the corporate class pay for their company cars, their sky-boxes, their "expensed" trips, their moving costs, their golf club memberships, etc.

Oh, and try eliminating their donations of company money to Republicans.