jimxo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060914/..._ford_uaw_dc_2

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Wow. That's huge. They might as well lay off as much people as possible to bypass the buyoffs...

Lil4X

Wow, that's going to be expensive. A hat tip and a deeply respectful bow to Ford management for biting that bullet. It has been obvious for years that the deferred salaries and benefits called for in current union contracts would kill the US automakers.

They are turning out junk because that's all they can afford to do - to maintain the margins needed to pay those astronomical salaries. GM and DC are facing exactly the same crisis, and we can look for them to follow suit. They will be watching the Ford buyout carefully. Our domestic automakers know how to build a fine, well engineered, carefully assembled product - we're not stupid, you know. What we lack is incentive, payscales, and management to function in a global market. We cannot compete by paying workers two or three times what our competitors are paying (considering BOTH pay and deferred benefits).

For years US automakers gave the UAW anything they wanted - negotiating deferred payments, raises, and retirement benefits far beyond the actual value of the employee to the organization. Where else in America could you work a mindless job for 20 years and retire in relative comfort? You can't blame the union - they asked and they received. No such thing as hard bargaining.

Look for the US automakers to emasculate the unions - or ditch the "closed shop" provisions in their contracts. States with right-to-work laws will continue to be the benefactors of these changes as the Rust Belt closes down. The traditional industrial core of this nation may well close up shop. Whether that industry moves South or Waaaay East (China) is up to our government.

I talk with manufacturers every day that are right now having trouble getting enough raw steel to manufacture their products. One company has over $2 Billion in backlogged orders - they can't get steel out of mills in China and Japan because THEY'RE backed up. In the last 25-30 years we let a huge portion of our basic industry migrate overseas without a thought to the impact on our growing specialty manufacturing and service sector.

Unless we can provide the economic incentives to bring basic industries, mining, steel, heavy manufacturing, and heavy transportation back to our shores, we're going to be in REAL trouble in the near future.

Bean

iTrader: (1)

YES!!!!!! Ford FTW!!! I wonder how much the new CEO had to do with this. It was either this or bankruptcy

mmarshall

This whole thing IMO is totally absurd. Not only will it cost Ford quite heavily to get RID of these people, but in the end it will come back to bite them in another way as well. Ford needs to sell vehicles to stay in buisness. Laid-off people, in most instances, CANNOT buy new cars....either from Ford or from anyone else. Ford would do better to keep the employees they HAVE, even though, of course, they get new cars at " employee " prices.

Ramon

What would you propose they do??? These empoyess are simply costing them way too much money to remain competitive.

LexFather

Crap, gonna buy Ford stock!! I SMELL A COMEBACK!!

mmarshall

The point I was trying to make is that Ford has to sell more vehicles...and perhaps make more on each vehicle...if they are going to make it. You are NOT going to sell more vehicles by getting rid of tens of thousands of people.....most of whom probably buy and drive Ford products in the first place. As I said in my last post, you can't sell cars to people in the unemployment lines.

And then the question comes up, if you get rid of these people, who is going to BUILD these cars? Last time I checked, cars don't assemble, paint, and test-drive themselves, even with today's increased automation and robots in the plants.

You ask me what I would propose. Simple....a small pay cut for EVERYONE, from the CEO all the way down to the janitors, in equal ratio. The UAW might not buy it, but IMO it is the simplest and best way to deal with the situation. Making everyone bite the bullet a little, for a small percentage of their income, IMO is way preferable to losing jobs, period...even with a buyout package.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

no more union contract hires will help the domestics greatly, thats one of the main things thats neutering their ability to compete, HUGE operating costs. Honestly why did I go to college when I can make 65k tightening lug nuts, ridiculous overpaid salaries

mmarshall

Try actually tightening lug nuts 8-12 hours a day for 30-40 years and see if you THEN think it is overpaid or a piece of cake. Repetitive-motion jobs can rank among the world's most stressful, leading to all kinds of muscle and tissue injuries.
In addition, wheels and tires today have to be mounted and bolted on JUST RIGHT....it is not necessarily a job for flunkees. Too little torque on the nuts and the wheels loosen and fall off. Too much and threads can be stripped, wheels can be stuck on, and rotors can warp.
And the prevalance of custom alloy, alumimum, and magnesium wheels today has made the job even more sensitive......they are not as resistant to overtightening as steel wheels are, and are more easily damaged.

Stage3

iTrader: (3)

FINALLY! The UAW is what has been keeping Ford and GM down with their ridiculous claims and demands. There was a time when we needed unions to keep the bosses on the up and up ... but that time has LONG since gone. Unions need to disappear.

Good for Ford... I hope they can pull it together.

Bean

iTrader: (1)

Oh please. People that work in the food service industry go through 10x the amount of stress and are on their feet the whole day. Try bartending at a busy restaurant bar: 11-12 hour shifts, on your feet from 3:30pm until around 3:00am... no smoke breaks sometimes... opening beer bottles, changing kegs, pouring drinks non stop... thats harder than tightening lugnuts. And there are a lot of people that do it their entire lives.
Factory jobs, with all the ridiculous benefits are not worth the money the UAW says. What Ford did was essentially cut the ***** off the UAW. After buying out the contract, I say force a rehiring via formal employment. Not some contract-signing. If the UAW tries to step in again, tell them to F off; I'm sure Ford can find plenty of people willing to work for lowered wages.

I think this is a huge step. I see ford making a HUUYYOOOOG comeback if they can keep the ball rolling. They are laying off/firing like 10,000 white collar (management and other useless crap) jobs too! I hope they fire Carol Shelby too (yea, yea I know; but he turned the cobra to solid axle)

Ramon

Well I don't think FORD will be getting rid of EVERYONE and not be able to build any cars, I doubt the're that stupid.