UAW strike.

[Internationalraptor]

Stellantis made mention today that they might move Ram production from Warren Michigan to Mexico because of absenteeism.

Yeah that’s a great idea.

Move to a place where 8 balls are $40. lol

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[JohnnyBronco]

Good news is they usually only shut down 1 manufacturer with a strike, being the one they negotiate with for industry wide ( for union shops) contract

Solution? More robots, sad to say. Robots don't go on strike.....yet. No shift changeover.

Better news, for me, our X4 scheduled for first week of September build is in a non union plant

I think the 70’s had a bit more inflation than we have seen in the last three years. Gas prices need to maintain these levels if you want a domestic oil and gas industry. They can’t survive at sub $60 barrels of oil.

Car prices doubled during the Carter administration and doubled again and again since.

Benchmark to me was always a 40hp farm.tractor was same price as average family sedan. For most of late sixties and early 70s that was about $3500. In late 70s jumped to around 7500. Today you are looking at at least $35k for equivalent 6 passenger full size 4 door.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Stellantis made mention today that they might move Ram production from Warren Michigan to Mexico because of absenteeism.

They have been building RAM pickups in Mexico for over 25 years. I seriously doubt they ever brought production back to the US let alone Michigan. I had a Mexican 2500 although at the time it was labeled Dodge.

 

[j_marinelli]

Today you are looking at at least $35k for equivalent 6 passenger full size 4 door.

Please dont take this as a personal attack but where can you find a 6 passenger full size for 35k? Maybe 45k but not sure 35k is a realistic number to talk about for that sector as a whole.

 

[bikesandguitars]

I grew up in Detroit. My dad, brother-in-law, two cousins and virtually all of the family friends were UAW. Solidarity Magazine was a constant in the magazine rack. Trust me, I have stories of union abuses told to me direct from my family. But those were long ago- 70’s and 80’s stuff.

I left Detroit in the early 1980’s. My Dad was laid-of from Chrysler at the time. It was the Lee Iacocca era.

Much of my family is still in SE Michigan. We visit every few years.. I’ve lived east coast, west coast, Midwest and Rockies.

I have to say that I’ve never experienced a place where employment was so tentative As Detroit. I don’t know if that’s the nature of manufacturing or if it’s just “Detroit”. However, it seemed like every third house was laid-off for six months every few years.

When I travel to places like South Carolina or Texas and look at their auto industry, it seems healthier and more stable. I have to wonder if the UAW, with their staffing minimums and “U Ain’t Working” reputation, is doing the local workforce any favors in the modern, competitive era.

Thinking about that subject sent me down the internet rabbit hole trying to find some comparative facts. I found the below study from Ernst and Young that details the health of the international auto makers as opposed to the Big 3. Most of the international automakers are in South Carolina which is, for the most-part, non-union. It may be strongly non-union as they continue to rely on their employers to make good decisions rather than the union.

Again, I think the UAW needs to tread lightly here. It‘s easier than ever to move to Mexico as the country has made vast infrastructure improvements - ironically, they’ve made these improvements by reinvesting US payroll dollars.

The ROI for the Big 3 with reduced labor costs and fewer regs has to be getting shorter in the face of these negotiations. Besides all of that, US manufacturer auto sales are declining globally and the high price / high interest rates we’re experiencing in US and Canada seem like the perfect storm for the Big 3 to run in to problems with sales volumes.

I’m no authority. Just a casual observer. I’ve heard the union arguments and I’ve heard the non-union arguments. It just seems to me that the non-union workforce is doing well, maybe even better, especially in the long term. One has to wonder.

https://www.autosdriveamerica.org/wage-and-benefits

 

[NatureMan]

I grew up in Detroit. My dad, brother-in-law, two cousins and virtually all of the family friends were UAW. Solidarity Magazine was a constant in the magazine rack. Trust me, I have stories of union abuses told to me direct from my family. But those were long ago- 70’s and 80’s stuff.

I left Detroit in the early 1980’s. My Dad was laid-of from Chrysler at the time. It was the Lee Iacocca era.

Much of my family is still in SE Michigan. We visit every few years.. I’ve lived east coast, west coast, Midwest and Rockies.

I have to say that I’ve never experienced a place where employment was so tentative As Detroit. I don’t know if that’s the nature of manufacturing or if it’s just “Detroit”. However, it seemed like every third house was laid-off for six months every few years.

When I travel to places like South Carolina or Texas and look at their auto industry, it seems healthier and more stable. I have to wonder if the UAW, with their staffing minimums and “U Ain’t Working” reputation, is doing the local workforce any favors in the modern, competitive era.

Thinking about that subject sent me down the internet rabbit hole trying to find some comparative facts. I found the below study from Ernst and Young that details the health of the international auto makers as opposed to the Big 3. Most of the international automakers are in South Carolina which is, for the most-part, non-union. It may be strongly non-union as they continue to rely on their employers to make good decisions rather than the union.

Again, I think the UAW needs to tread lightly here. It‘s easier than ever to move to Mexico as the country has made vast infrastructure improvements - ironically, they’ve made these improvements by reinvesting US payroll dollars.

The ROI for the Big 3 with reduced labor costs and fewer regs has to be getting shorter in the face of these negotiations. Besides all of that, US manufacturer auto sales are declining globally and the high price / high interest rates we’re experiencing in US and Canada seem like the perfect storm for the Big 3 to run in to problems with sales volumes.

I’m no authority. Just a casual observer. I’ve heard the union arguments and I’ve heard the non-union arguments. It just seems to me that the non-union workforce is doing well, maybe even better, especially in the long term. One has to wonder.

https://www.autosdriveamerica.org/wage-and-benefits

Lol at U Ain't Working. I've had a few grievances filed against me for working as a salary supervisor. Funny that it was the lazy ones who filed, not the hard workers that i was helping.

 

[j_marinelli]

Lol at U Ain't Working. I've had a few grievances filed against me for working as a salary supervisor. Funny that it was the lazy ones who filed, not the hard workers that i was helping.

 

[JimmyG]

I "heard" that if there is a strike and it's prolonged, some tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers may go out of business. That would be sad.

 

[bikesandguitars]

Lol at U Ain't Working. I've had a few grievances filed against me for working as a salary supervisor. Funny that it was the lazy ones who filed, not the hard workers that i was helping.

I don’t want to give away to much info as Detroit is a small town when it comes to UAW stuff but some years back, one of the old plants was modernized. With the modernization came new staffing requirements from the UAW. An acquaintance was a UAW skilled trade worker. They were one of 14 with that skill set that was assigned every week night. I once asked, “If that was a lot of people with same skill set to be staffed every night. They said, “It’s a brand new plant. We rarely need one.”

 

[bikesandguitars]

I "heard" that if there is a strike and it's prolonged, some tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers may go out of business. That would be sad.

Never count out a Federal Assistance program…

 

[KABQ]

It is a delicate time for negotiations for sure. I believe your assessment about the union leadership is probably correct. I think most of it stems from all the "give backs" we gave the company in 2008. I took a pay cut, lost COLA , lost holiday pay and the hourly employees worked for at least the next 10 years without a pay raise. The company, as soon as profitable gave back almost everything to salary employees that they took away. They refused to give back anything to the hourly work force. Again i agree this is a delicate time to "dig in" but if not now, When? When we gave up everything Ford asked us to(and we did) most of us thought we were bargaining in good faith. When profits returned, we quickly found out we were not. I hope there is no strike, but it really feels like there could be. I 100% support the UAW on this issue.

You and @flip are looking at the issue from different points of view, but I think you're both showing that Ford ultimately finds a way to pad the profits and execs' bank accounts at the expense of the hourly employees, whether they're on the line or in the bay.

Do UAW guys have way more benefits than us average wrenches in the real world? Absolutely. But that doesn't make them wrong. They're fighting for what we all deserve. I'm not saying shit should just be handed out, but wrenches earn every penny and execs get paid to chill in Cancun.

 

[jon]

Every person is important and they need to consider what is best for the company longer term. Being part of a winning team has it's benefits. If you want to keep manufacturing in USA you need to consider all factors just not today.

 

[KyTruckPlant]

The contract grandstanding happens ever 3 years. UAW strikes don’t happen very often. If the UAW does strike it is after multiple extensions. Your bronco timing should not be affected.

Oh, but this time we have international leadership that is just chomping at the bit to strike. I've been with Ford for 31 years and have never been through a strike, but this time, I get the feeling that there will not even be any extensions, and the rumor mill has it that all 3 are going to strike, not just one at a time like years past.

 

[Taltyman]

I had a friend that worked at the GM plant in Arlington Texas in the way back times. He took off work for months at a time when he would hurt his back (yea right) or drop something on his toe. He may have worked 6 months out of every year. He claimed that his friends that worked there did the same stuff all the time.

 

[jon]

Oh, but this time we have international leadership that is just chomping at the bit to strike. I've been with Ford for 31 years and have never been through a strike, but this time, I get the feeling that there will not even be any extensions, and the rumor mill has it that all 3 are going to strike, not just one at a time like years past.

Not surprised that international leadership would create a situation to drive manufacturing out of USA

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