Vette Nut

3 days ago there was a post saying how nice and friendly the workers are. How much they loved making our beloved cars. How much we enjoyed meeting them. Someone even wanted to know where they could buy them a beer a few weeks ago..... What did the workers do that was so bad ??? They want plant safety issues addressed and they want the quality issues taken care of before the cars leave the plant.... How dare they !!!! Just get me my car, too bad if you hurt your back or get hit by a fork truck. If the quality does not meet my standards i can always bitch about it here.

Now i know most people are resonable here, but the few that are bashing the workers at the plant need to realize they do not know whats its really like to work there. Most managers are paid to produce profits for a company. GM is no different. People would be suprised at the contract langauge the UAW puts in their agreements to insure quality. Most people don't know that.

This is most likely no more than the UAW and the Plant managers needing to sit down and talk about some long festering issues. Nobody wants a strike and i doubt if it will happen. Both the UAW and GM know what they need to do both short and long term. I expect this will work itself out in time .... ok now you can bash me

Bill Baird

Well said.

mjw930

Agreed, well said.

flaagan

I've got no problem with the workers, in fact I'm eagerly looking forward to getting the plant tour as part of my R8C, would be nice to thank the folks who will have built my new car.

What I've got a problem with is the apparently lack of transparency on the UAW's part to try and throw a wrench in the works by doing what looks to me as nothing more than squeezing GM for money now that the C7's become so popular.

KenHorse

Interesting situation since the UAW is part owner of GM....

Sure seems like a conflict of interest to me......

MJDVET111

So the most important item on UAW agenda is quality? Yeahhhh....right.

The whole notion of unions is archaic and low brow....legalized reverse collusion....we don't get what we want, we don't work. Real intelligent and mature. If the employees are not happy with the pay, the conditions, etc, then why don't they use their right to procure another job. Without knowing any details about THIS particular case I can tell you I've been exposed to unions in the manufacturing world and they are a huge drain on flexibility and incentive. Any quality you get is in SPITE of the unions not because of them.

ATX-C7

Boo hoo.

Strong arm tactics are so 1970's. These guys need to get into the 2014's...you either want your job or not. Companies have the right to hire or fire. You strike, I'd say fire them...for the rest of us that's what would happen.

I'm sure the old guard here is all about unions--fine. But reality says they are dead or on there way out. Not going to argue the points as we can do that in off topic. I wasn't impressed by the way these workers dress, the way some of the QC is and certainly not about bit*hing about $$.

I say GM needs to shut down the plant and move it to a non-union state so they can get on with making Corvette a strong brand and product for the future. The past is over.

Diver Down

I've often been skeptical of union leadership because of these reasons. I've seen it with the UFCW and SEIU in the grocery industry and UAW has a history as well. The workers are hard workers and want the best for their families. I'm typically skeptical of union bosses because I think they tend to create an adversarial relationship between workers and management. There is a reason why the CEO of Whole Foods said that unions are like herpes...

sly1

And a big part, almost 40%.

TLC5 In CT.

Spot on!

~Stingray

I have no problem with a hard working, honest American. So if we were all hard working and honest we wouldn't need them.

When I worked for Chrysler, the union was nothing but a joke. Its was a way for lazy people to get paid more money than any of them deserve, prevented bad and really bad employees from being fired, and took the authority out of any management position. I don't know about BG's union, but if it is anything like Chrysler....it should be dissolved before it causes the Corvette department of GM to dry up and go bankrupt.

KenHorse

One good thing about them going on strike is that they won't have to walk that far to the parking lot to drink and smoke dope during their lunch breaks.

VETJAZZ

mjw930

Get off the $$$ bandwagon, this has nothing to do with money regardless how much people here want to turn it into that.

BTW the UAW gave up their right to strike over pay or benefits until 2015 as part of the
Bankruptcy settlement.

Wow, it certainly didn't take long for this thread to go to hell but that's par for the course around here.

gthal

Really? Here's a quote from the article quoting a union rep...

P.S. I applaud their generosity for not wanting a wage increase for them but for the benefit of all

laborsmith

Noted and noticed.

By the way, the laws that regulate US unions in essence require an adversarial relationship. Have you never heard of "the duty of fair representation" or taken the time to understand why unions exist?

I agree with the OP.


Laborsmith

AttyVette

I went to work at Texaco and joined the OCAW 4-23 union and then later hired on (during one of our many Texaco strikes) at Mobil Chemical non-union plant as an operator. Thus, I have worked at both union and non-union labor jobs and can say both have their place and are necessary. Yes sometimes both sides ( union and big business representatives) have swung the pendulum of power too far at times in their respective power plays. This is why it takes all sides working together for the betterment of all parties involved, whether union workers, non-union workers, or big business representatives.

Since I am not employed at the Bowling Green facility, I do not know all the issues on the bargaining table but we know several of the issues , Better working conditions and quality control. These things are necessary anywhere you work because I literally saw people running for their lives at Texaco after a stabilizer fire ,at our plant, killed 8 workers. The unit had been down for repairs and they were starting it back up at time of the explosion and fire. Texaco was in a hurry to get the unit back up and running..do I know this is what caused the explosion and fire, no, but I am pretty sure it was one of the causes of this tragedy ( pushing to get unit back online in a hurry).

On the other hand, I have also witnessed ridiculous things occur regarding who could do what on a unit, I.e. , light bulb out on unit and we had to call electrician to replace the bulb. The non- union plant I then worked for did not have these rules and our pay was more than the union plant workers. Guess why...to keep the workers from going union at the plant.

I was a sub-steward at Texaco and saw things the company was doing that endangered our lives...literally. I also saw things that made no sense and unnecessarily complicated getting something done (ie changing a light bulb was only allowed by an electrician). Both sides in a contract negotiation need to use common sense when dealing with each other's respective viewpoints, which isn't too common anymore IMO. Hopefully, wise heads will prevail at Bowling Green and that takes both sides learning to give and take a little.

jr3

I had a friend that worked for UPS for 20 years and he said those same kind of things happened there also.

Big Lebowski

They overwhelmingly passed a vote to strike! Yeah, yeah, I know it was only the authority to strike, but actions have consequences. Their actions may directly impact the financial investment of many forum members.

Riiiight. A modern assembly plant that is producing the crown jewel of the GM fleet that offers daily tours to the public and enthusiasts has safety and quality issues that only the UAW is willing to solve?

If you believe that, I've got a bridge in brooklyn I'd like to sell you.

This is where you lost me...your being dramatic and it clouded the point you were making. No one thinks these folks are bad people, but their motives are guised in fighting for the greater good and it's insulting.

Correction. EVERY employee at every company across the country is paid to produce profits. Period. This is not a crime. THIS IS THE POINT OF BUSINESS.

mjw930

I hadn't read that but I did find the article with the quote. I believe if the person speaking, who wasn't the local president, just a committee member, reads the amended contract agreed to by his "brothers and sisters" (I hate that way of speaking, they aren't your family and it's disrespectful to your real family to refer to them as such, they are co workers) he will discover they can't strike for wages and benefits and if they try and pile that on with the claimed issues they will get the door slammed in their faces.

Regardless, there won't be a strike.