The Big 3 Motor Exec Rant

[GeddyLee]

To come back to this, after I cleared my head, a bail out or managed bankruptcy is required. The shear scope of what would happen to our economy if 10% of its workers lost their jobs is unthinkable. It'd be decades before we recovered. However, whichever is chosen (bailout or managed bankruptcy) there must be strict conditions adhered to.

From Mr. Romney's piece:

Wow Mr. Romney and I must share part of the same brain!!!

I agree with you Sabre', losing just 10% of the work force would be bad enough, but when you think back over the past few years, they have already done that and then some. As I said in my initial post, the UAW has done great things over they years, but they have also damaged themselves almost to the point of no return with their demands for higher wages and garunteed job security.

I wish my job has security like that or even a fraction of what their paychecks are, but I work outside the Union world and live in "real" America where good money is truly hard to come by and your job is never truly safe. The people still working for the Big 3 and even the retirees are making out pretty good. Of course you are going to hear some grumble that their $35 dollars an hour is not enough! is up with that? I would do that job for $25 an hour and I would still be making almost $6 bucks an hour more than at my current job.

This is something they, the UAW and the Union members really don't understand. They have had it good for many years now. And now its time to face the music of the fat lady, cause she is just warming up.

[chrisb]

i hope they go down! its just like someone comin up to u asking for money cause they f**k up spending it on useless crap and expect you to make up for it cause your the responsible one! and then if you dont there going to show u? like its your fault there in trouble,when in reality its there own!
i work for a honda supplier and we work very hard, i only make 13 and hour but at least my job is secured plus they have really good perks 401k, paying for work boots and many other things that companies dont supply. also the owner and the japanese are out there helping and always come by to say hi and talk.

oh yeah gm's owner sucks to! if i had the chance i beat his a$$! lol

[Sabrewings]

oh yeah gm's owner sucks to! if i had the chance i beat his a$$! lol

GM is a publicly traded company, so people with investment accounts and such are the owners... Gonna kick my ass?

[chrisb]

haha no, sorry i should have been more clear i ment the CEO Rick Wagoner and his little buddies that fly around in there private jets that dont care about the working man.

[GeddyLee]

I received this PM today from somone on the boards. I thought I would post it, with the names changed to *** so that it is kept private. But I think I must be posted cause of its truth and possibility of what might happen if our Auto Industry collaspses.

I would like to also add that this will be my last post on this thread. Obviously it runs deep for some and way deeper for others who are directly involved in this.

I am sorry in a way I started this thread, but it was something on my mind and I felt it right to voice it, but now......I must reconsider and think twice before posting something like this again..... Sorry to anyone who I have offended or angered with this thread.

So when *** doesn't have a job anymore because there is no company to specify part specs so no one can make parts anymore...We can come live with you right? And *** can come live with you? and the other people I know who don't work for ford or gm directly but their companies would no longer exist because they supply the plants with parts....you'll support them too?

Just checking so I have a ****ing backup plan.

This was my reply to them. And I think it stands for anyone else who might have been hurt or angered at what I started.


***,

I have been debating on how to respond this. First I was honestly shocked, well more hurt than shocked really, I know what *** and *** do for a living. Believe me, I am well aware of their situation. But to sit here and think that if we just keep throwing money into the sinking ship, that magically the money will absorb the water and stop the flooding is foolish. As I said in my initial post I SUPPORT some sort of bailout, but YES I also said that bankruptsy was another path that needs to be explored.

If you think about it long and hard, I DO NOT WANT ANYONE, well except for the top brass, to lose their jobs. They have done nothing but ruin the Big 3. They are from a time well past, and they have yet to wake up and realize that. How do you think they are gonna spend that money? Sure to pay their workers, but it will also keep their BLOATED pay checks and private jets flying around the world. They have NO SENSE of respect for their workers or for the American people as a whole. They are only out to suit themselves.

I do not know what *** makes, nor do I wish to know, that is private. But when you look at line workers or a person who just screws in lug nuts making 10 to 20 times what *** makes is ridiculous. ***’s job is just as important as theirs. IF NOT MORE! But does he see that kind of pay those workers are getting? I am doubting seriously he does. And I am sure he wishes he could. As would any other right thinking person.

But there comes a time to realize when enough is enough. Have you ever looked at the Union as a whole? I don’t just mean in the auto industry, but the WHOLE union in the US. Time and time again they have priced themselves out of work. NOT because the company just wanted to jump overseas. Sure some have no doubt. But the unions priced themselves out of many markets. Look at the Steel Mills in the US? They are basically gone, except for a select few. We import more and more steel from OUTSIDE the US than we ever produce in country now. And that frankly is a SHAME!

Why or how do you ask that happened? Well the unions wanted more and more until their pay was so far out of scale from what the rest of the world makes, it forced a lot of company’s to look at overseas production for their steel. Our steel products were far superior than that of other countries, but with the increasing pressure from Unions to want more and more instead of being happy with having a job they got greedy and they lost. WE as the US lost!!

The very same thing is happening to the Auto Industry. The unions are wanting more and more and leaving a lot of the Big 3 little choices, but cut their work force to compensate the needs of the union demands, do you think that is fair? I mean how much do you think a person on the line who screws in lugs nuts should make? Do you think he should make more than ***? *** does a whole lot to provide service to his customers and company and than one guy on the line who screws in 25 lug nuts. I don’t care if the guy screwed in 1,000 lug nuts, it still does not equal to what *** does in the same industry.

There are unfair gaps in pay in the auto industry. And those gaps NEED to be addressed. And the UAW is to blame for those gaps. Concessions need to be made and compremise needs to be implemented if the UAW and their associated Unions want to keep their jobs and keep the Big 3 alive and prosperous. The Big 3 need to do their part as well to help in those goals. But with the current hierarchy in place, that WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

I know you probably think I don’t care. Well ***, I DO CARE! I care for ***, I care for you and *** and ANYONE else that is potentially affected by this crisis before us. But if you think just throwing more and more into something that is broke, it is not going to solve anything. And yes if there was space here YES I would house all of you all! But I am not paid big union money to afford a nice house or three or four cars. I am someone who works hard every day like you and *** and ***. I don’t have a union keeping my job safe or asking for more money when I think I deserve it. I just keep doing my job and I can only hope more pay will come with doing a good job. *** I know works his butt off too, and he should be paid better than what he is. YOU should be paid WAY MORE than what you are making given the job you do!

But something has to be done, and just giving the Big 3 more money without some type of change in management is not going to help anything. It will only for another few months to stave off the inevitable. If the unions can change, and make themselves viable in the workforce, than things might work out, but if they bulk at the idea, than everything is lost. And that has nothing to do with me. You can thank ***’s union for putting him out of job. And I DON’T WISH THAT!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to listen.