UAW and Detroit Diesel

GREED

Published on November 10, 2004 By KarmaGirl In Current Events

Greed. There is so much of it today. Greed will be the downfall of the American economy.

I was prompted to write this article due to a current event- Detroit Diesel (owned by Daimler Chrysler, and is local to where I live) went on strike. 1300 people are not working today. Why? Greed. Their contract wasn't approved. They couldn't possibly bear a bit of cost of the amazing burden of health coverage (which they currently get a premium coverage for free). No, they couldn't settle on getting a raise every year if they deserve it or not, even when the company gets hit by downturns like our recent recession. No...they need more. They need to be making a premium wage, get premium healthcare, and do no more, or possibly less than the previous year, and make it virtually impossible to get fired. Why? Greed.

The Union takes away the ability of the corporation to function as needed. It creates the burden of extra management to deal with Union issues. It creates animosity between employee and employer where there shouldn't be any. And, it does it while killing America's hope of being competitive.

Michigan will lose. Maybe not this year, but it will happen AGAIN. What does this type of action by the UAW tell the corporation? It tells them that their employees are greedy and want to price themselves out of the market. Look at what happened to Flint and the UAW. Flint thrived on the GM plant. That town was built around it. Then greed set in, and the plant struggled. So, what did they do? They closed the plant down. Flint went down the drain and many people became unemployed. Flint and Michigan lost big time. And, as another example, look at Detroit News and Free Press. The workers went on strike. What happened? The papers hired different people not in the union and continued on. The Union screwed those people out of a job. (You can say that the paper did, but if it wasn't for the Union demanding what the paper couldn't give, then it wouldn't have happened).

So what will happen with DDC? Well, they will settle their contract. But, the management will be thinking about how to make things better for the corporation. DDC engines have to be built in the US, but that doesn't mean that they have to be built in Michigan. No, they could move them to the new Automotive state- Kentucky. Why? Kentucky has lower taxes. Kentucky workers will work for about half as much. Kentucky workers embrace employment. The greed hasn't set in yet.

We need to wake up. We need to start looking at what our personal greed is doing to America. This isn't a matter of a "fair wage", this is a matter of people making $20+ an hour for unskilled labor. This is a matter of people being able to do less and get a raise every year because their contract entitles them to. This is a matter of corporations losing control over how they do business and thus having to pass the cost on to the customer.

Greed. Pure and simple. It's why corporations outsource. It's why corporations are failing. It's why our economy is going down, and why there is so much unemployment. Employers have to pay $20 for a $10 job. Instead, they could be paying $10 to two people and employ more people and produce more. But, our greed won't let that happen.

I, personally, could make more than I do right now. I know that I could. If I was forceful and pushed for a raise every year even if I didn't do much more than the year before, then I could be making a lot more than I do right now. But, I don't. Why? Because I make a fair wage, and I budget for that wage and live with that wage. I'm not greedy. I rather see more employees in the company than make more money myself. It's more productive and it helps society. But, I feel alone. I feel very alone. I feel like everyone is out for money. They are looking out for their own pocketbook and can't see the big picture.

I can't blame companies for outsourcing to stay competitive. I won't blame DDC if they move their new line to another state (like Kentucky or North Carolina). If they can employ people who can do the work and appreciate the fair wage and become competitive again, why shouldn't they? If they can regain control of their own business, why shouldn't they make the move? I don't blame them- I blame the greedy people who want more pay and benefits then they truly deserve. I blame the Unions for forcing companies to lay off employees by seniority instead of work accomplishments. I blame the Unions for making it hard for companies to streamline work-flow (how many employees does it take to remove a pump? Well, you have the technician, the tinsmith, the pipefitter, the electrician, etc, all accomplishing in 4 hours what the technician could do in 1/2 hour by himself). I blame the antiquated way that we do business.

Wake up Unions! You did your job. You got fair labor laws passed. There is a minimum wage. There are laws about how many hours an employee can work. There are laws for every aspect of fairly treating an employee. The only employees that are getting screwed today are the ones that lose their jobs due to the greed. Unions fuel the flames of greed, and it needs to be reformed. If we don't reform, America will suffer.

Comments (Page 2)

joeKnowledge

on Nov 14, 2004

Link

I believe that sometime unions are not nessicary when the employee knows there rights.

I am slowly learning my own because of what is going on with me and my employer.

At anyrate, the situation you mention karma, seems very bad for the workers, not for the car company. I think the union isn't really thinking about its workers in this one at all. If they were, there would be a different deal and there really would not have been a strike of any kind.

slokarma

on Nov 15, 2004

GREED?? On whose part? Companies go overseas because of lax enviromental laws and salaries that are near slave labor. Where does this mentality come from that allows corporate greed and shames workers who stick up for theirselves??
Have you ever spent 8-12 hours on an assembly line doing brain numbing and joint dystroying work??

Why is it my current salary is only 3 times what I made 30 years ago, but the same new car is 5-8 times more, my first house would now cost me 6 times more. Gee, my salary is not keeping up. Yeah, we used to make a very good wage, now it is just a good wage. Enough so a family could probably have a parent stay home and care of their children. BUT you think that's too much, so instead of raising wages of other jobs to make them more attractive and give their workers LIVING wages, you thing those folks should take a pay cut. Gee, then no one could afford a new car, a new house, KFC, or shop at all those low wage department stores etc.

Hey, I can solve your problem for you. Go get a job at Walmart, where just about everything comes from China and they don't pay their employees enough to raise a family nor to have health care. Now that's an iDEA!

Grow up....whatever your beef is with unions, get the facts and quit your whining. After all, these are the few middle class left that can afford to spend some of that shrinking pay check at Buger King.

And while I'm at it, even if these workers don't get a raise or any other benefits, you can bet the farm that the price of a car will not be staying the same or dropping. It just doesn't work that way! NOT even if they had a work force of ROBOTS!!!!!!

KarmaGirl

on Nov 16, 2004

Have you ever spent 8-12 hours on an assembly line doing brain numbing and joint dystroying work??

Yes, I have. And, then I went to college to get a better job. Does that mean that the person who didn't better themselves should still get premium pay?

Why is it my current salary is only 3 times what I made 30 years ago, but the same new car is 5-8 times more, my first house would now cost me 6 times more. Gee, my salary is not keeping up.

I think a short course in economics might help you. The reason that the good keep inflating is because people keep making more money. If an average worker on the assembly line makes $20+ an hour, how do you expect that auto to be cheap? Add the dual income family structure, and you can easily see why costs have risen to where they are.

LIVING wages

$20 and hour isn't a living wage. The estimated living wage is around $8 to $10 depending on where you live. Remember that "living" wage covers living, not your new car, nice house, and trips to Burger King.

Hey, I can solve your problem for you. Go get a job at Walmart, where just about everything comes from China and they don't pay their employees enough to raise a family nor to have health care.

Hey, I have an idea for you- don't shop there and tell everyone else to do the same. If they go out of business, all those people who at least have a job will lose theirs and it will make everything better, right?

Grow up....whatever your beef is with unions, get the facts and quit your whining.

Obviously my maturity will never match yours. (Sorry, I just can't say that with a straight face...) I have presented many facts about a very specific instance. Where are these "facts" that you seem to know that I am missing?

And while I'm at it, even if these workers don't get a raise or any other benefits, you can bet the farm that the price of a car will not be staying the same or dropping.

You obviously didn't actually read the article. DDC doesn't make cars. You should worry about the cost of everything raising due to the engines in semis costing more. (Transportation companies always pass their costs on to the consumer.)

You may want to look at the current economic structure of todays world. You are obviously still thinking in terms of what was current 30 years ago. Times have changed, and so has the economy and labor laws.

But thank you for at least taking the time to make an account so that people can know who you are....oh..wait..you didn't.

KarmaGirl

on Nov 16, 2004

I think the union isn't really thinking about its workers in this one at all. If they were, there would be a different deal and there really would not have been a strike of any kind.

That is the way I feel, too. The Union is trying to get the most money/benefits possible without looking out for long term stability. If they were looking out for the workers, then they would have caved on some demands in order to get a longer contract. My hope is that DDC is kind enough to keep the jobs where they are. Detroit has enough problems without losing a major employer like them. (Detroit is in the process of closing schools for lack of funding, as an example).

Slokarma

on Nov 16, 2004

I ran into this article while doing some research, right before I fell asleep. It was certainly a coincidence, as I had just had a discussion with my husband concerning people who, instead of wanting to elevate the standard of living for others, want to lower everyones to match their own.

Then I happen to read your post. Yes, it hit a nerve and I fired one back a reply. There's a good story on PBS Frontline tonight that might pique your interest. It concerns Walmart and the progression of the Chinese economic situation. I hope you take the time to watch it. I will.

Today I heard a German professor describing how jobs that came from the US to Mexico have now left and gone to China, where they are working for 23 cents to 40 something an hour. That ought to very disconcerting to you and everyone else who lives in this country and every other country with a manufacturing base.

I also read that the creeks and rivers over there are turning black from polution and the cancer rate is skyrocketing. This is what's happening to our jobs and now the jobs in Mexico where they too were working for pennies an hour. Mexicans weren't unionized and their losing their jobs too!

So to sum it up, you can rant and rave all you want about unions, but that's just a small part of the labor force now. I don't think all those folks who used to answer phones for Dell computer in the customer service department were union, but now their jobs are being taken over by lower paid workers in India.

If you think you are immuned to losing your job to a much lower foreign paid worker, I can't imagine what profession your working in.

So to sum it all up, this is much bigger than a strike that seems to have settled, it has to do with our way of life in the US.........and CORPORATE GREED.

By the way, while you were busy making your points, you forgot to reply to my opening statements.

As for not registering, I'm not hiding, I just fired off that post very quickly and strangely enough, the name Slokarma I have used continuously for my username for the last five years. Odd isn't it! The idea behind that......Slowly I'm working on it.

Sue

Slokarma

on Nov 16, 2004

And one other point, it's not the cost of the engine in a semi that raising prices, try gasoline, health care, and the biggie....... Liability INSURANCE
Sue

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