UAW On Strike Against GM

Union Says Job Security Is Top Issue In First Nationwide Strike In 31 Years

(CBS/AP)  Thousands of United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors Corp. plants around the country Monday in the first nationwide strike against GM since 1970.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the union launched the strike after "one-sided negotiations" failed to reach an agreement.

"It was going to be General Motors' way at the expense of the workers," Gettelfinger said. "The company walked right up to the deadline like they really didn't care."

Workers walked off the job and began picketing Monday outside GM plants after the 11 a.m. UAW strike deadline passed. The UAW has 73,000 members who work for GM at 82 U.S. facilities, including assembly and parts plants and warehouses.

If you're looking to buy a car, you're not going to notice this strike, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason. GM has a two-month backlog of inventory that will keep it in business for a while.

But if the strike drags on, the whole economy could feel it.

For all the downsizing Detroit has endured, it's still a power engine in the U.S. economy. Nearly 4 percent of our GDP comes from the sale and production of new cars and trucks, adds Mason.

As GM workers filed out of a big Cadillac plant just a few miles from GM's headquarters in Detroit, most were surprised, reports Jeff Gilbert of CBS News affiliate WWL. Many expected a settlement.

Pay and job security are the big issues. Both sides say they want to keep talking, adds Gilbert.

Bargaining broke off Monday morning, and then resumed in the afternoon at an office building in Detroit.

Included in the negotiations was a groundbreaking provision establishing a UAW-managed trust that will administer GM's retiree health care obligations. GM pushed hard for the trust - known as a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA - so it could move $51 billion in unfunded retiree health costs off its books. GM has nearly 339,000 retirees and surviving spouses.

"This strike is not about the VEBA in any way shape or form," Gettelfinger said at an afternoon news conference in Detroit.

"The No. 1 issue here is job security," Gettelfinger later said, adding that the union also was fighting to preserve workers' benefits.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said the automaker was disappointed in the UAW's decision to call a national strike.

"The bargaining involves complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. work force and the long-term viability of the company," he said. "We remain fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing GM."

It remained to be seen what effect the strike would have on the automaker and consumers. The company has sufficient stocks of just about every product to withstand a short strike, according to Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.

Worker Anita Ahrens burst into tears as hundreds of United Auto Workers streamed out of a GM plant in Janesville, Wis.

"Oh my God, here they come," said Ahrens, 39. "This is unreal."

[condumism]

The Corporate, wholly owned GOP Congress of 1994-2006, and their elimination of US fuel economy standards, are the only reason this story indirectly subsidized by Corporate America (ie: CBS News) even exists.

[mainttom]

The UAW members have to realize that companies are no longer going to take care of you forever. Many of the members have never worked anywhere else, and don''t know how good they have it. The UAW needs to realize they are a dinosaur, and nearing extinction quickly. The union mentality has to stop, or the domestics will not be in business.

I''m certain that the big three would be generous, if they were allowed to get rid of the dead wood.

[feelfree1]

We desperately need a general-strike, in order to reclaim control of our country from the corporate pirates that have overthrown it.

If big labor unions will not support the people of this country with such an effort, I see no reason for the people of this country to support big labor unions.

Any union folks care to share their opinion on this matter?

[peoplepower-2009]

The UAW needs to also realize there is no such thing as job security, even life itself. Who''s to say you won''t be hit by a truck tomorrow?

[olebd]

If big labor unions will not support the people of this country with such an effort, I see no reason for the people of this country to support big labor unions.Posted by FeelFree1 at 03:37 AM : Sep 24, 2007

Wouldn''t this require all of us to pay dues, put on Grand Poo-Bah hats and say some chants? If so, I''m all for it! (except maybe the paying of dues)

I agree, to survive, the modern day unions have to spread out a bit more to help all workers, not just the few who still see some very nice benefits and above normal pay. They need to focus more on protecting workers rights instead of asking for more money and benefits as they seem to always do.

[skyk-2009]

Well what the labor unions need to realize is that the world marketplace has now caught up with them. Also since their now the worlds #2 automaker its time to make some changes.

General motors can no longer afford to pay people 80,000 a year to install hubcaps on vehicles that are scoring lower and lower in neutral public tests and consumer forums.

By all means strike away and give Honda and Toyota a larger share of the automotive market. Great strategy useing 1930''''s tactics in the year 2007.

Posted by didntinhale at 07:28 AM : Sep 24, 2007
+ report abuse

Anyone who can not see what we have done by turning on our fellow American''s and fellow Workers, you are BLIND. These Workers worked HARD, very HARD for what they have and anyone who blames them for fighting for their pensions and Jobs is simply cutting their own Throats. Don''t think so? Look at where this nation was BEFORE we started down this "free trade" slope and where we are today. Our standard of living was FIRST in the entire world when we were lied to by the Corporations.. today? We are DEAD LAST in the Industrialized World and sinking lower. I fully support the Workers at GM and ALL Unionized American Workers. The stronger they are the better things are for ALL of us!!

[slim1h2o]

The UAW members have to realize that companies are no longer going to take care of you forever. Many of the members have never worked anywhere else, and don''''t know how good they have it. The UAW needs to realize they are a dinosaur, and nearing extinction quickly. The union mentality has to stop, or the domestics will not be in business.

I''''m certain that the big three would be generous, if they were allowed to get rid of the dead wood.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by mainttom at 02:23 AM : Sep 24, 2007

So you would advocate that, on retirement, that workers be taken out back and shot! That''s one way to get rid of the dead wood!

People who have worked and slaved their whole lives should be treated with respect, after all they paid their dues, more ways than one !

And skyk, you are soooooo right!! Great post!!

[Krazcarl]

Raised in a union town in Maine {paper mill} to be honest one of the finest towns in the area better schools better fire and police protection due to taxes paid by union workers have 3 brothers in the union never lucky enough myself to work union but would if chance presented itself I would be first in line. The working man needs protection the union offers that mgt. could care less there only goal is to raise as much capital as they can and low wages and lack of bennies is there favorite tool ask any nonunion working man. But then again my favorite americaim is the infamos Eugene Victor Debbs, The only people anti-union are folks that wish they were in one or cooperate heads that want to make extra cash.

[olebd]

Where were the unions when jobs and manufacturing started bleeding out of this country in the 80''s? They''ve had over 20 years to fight it but have lost so far.

Today, jobs continue to be outsourced, manufacturing is done in third world and/or communist countries, and the CEO''s continue to make millions.

I believe it was the constant demands by unions for higher wages and better benefits that caused this to happen. The unions spent too much time looking out for the worker and not enough time looking out for that worker''s job. The unions have not shifted their paradigms since the days of sweat shop and child labor in order to keep up with the times.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by olebd at 08:38 AM : Sep 24, 2007

You''re right, the unions should have been more balanced, when it came to saving workers jobs.
Sometimes though, you have to fight a mile, before you gain an inch. But also management won''t waste a second to cut costs, no matter what, the worker be danmed!

[usayesterday]

"Gettelfinger didn''t offer specifics, but the UAW had been expected to ask GM for guarantees of future production at U.S. plants as part of the negotiations."
.......

Wow! That line so befuddling that you have to read it two or three times.

It''s quite clear that the UAW union leadership has never, NEVER taken a class, or learned anything in a subject called...


... E C O N O M I C S !


I mean really! "Guarantees of future production..."

So if sales of the Suburbans declined to only 100 units sold each year, the unions would want GM to continue to make (10,000 units for example) each month?!.... for the purpose of very large planter boxes? Or fish tanks?

1930''s tactics, with 1830''s thinking.

[mbcsmith]

The unions have killed the goose that laid the golden egg. They also have BOUGHT the LIB party.

[ianlou]

Why is it that corporate unions only get the bad rap? Auto, Airline etc. If we are going to eliminate unions in America let make sure to also kill the teachers union, the fire and police unions, postal and all other government unions.
Lets get ride of all pensions for goverment employees all the way to the top levels of Washington, let them depend on their saving abilities like the rest of us!
Why should they be spared simply because they are unaffected by the winds of capitalism and our new global economy.

And for all of you with post that basically say "screw-em, I''ve got mine"

BITE ME!

[charlesdjohn]

What were the Union leaders doing when the Clinton administration and the democrats were pushing NAFTA?

They were blindly using all their members union dues to support to democrats just like they are doing right now.

The union forces it''s members to support the democratic party.

GM should mandate that the union listen to their workers when it comes to political donations.

[charlesdjohn]

Having worked for Toyota in Georgetown KY for 11 years I do realize that the workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler work hard! But they have it easy compared to the workers at Toyota. In short, they don''t have a clue! They want, want, want all the way to the poverty line...

[charlesdjohn]

Domestic automakers are at a great disadvantage against the foreign transplants. Toyota has oh so many temps working for half wages and no benefits. Toyota can produce a vehicle for a fraction of the cost compared to the domestic plants. Where does this extra profit go? To make Toyota even larger and stronger! When GM, Ford and Chrysler go down the tubes the Union will go with them... Bye bye Union!

[charlesdjohn]

The union should get off their rears and call a vote at Toyota instead of holding the former BIG 3 over the barrel. The union is struggling to survive but they are killing their life support while they do it.

[charlesdjohn]

I would like someone at CBS News to ask Toyota the really tough questions! One of which is, "What is the divorce rate at Toyota for Team Members both past and present!" Another would be, "What is the on the job injury rate for past and present Team Members?" The union is beating dead horses in Detroit while the Cash Cows are elsewhere...

[ianlou]

The union should get off their rears and call a vote at Toyota instead of holding the former BIG 3 over the barrel. The union is struggling to survive but they are killing their life support while they do it.

Posted by CharlesDJohn at 11:11 AM : Sep 24, 2007

Good luck,
After seeing the textile industry in the south evaporite after going union, the south has no time for northern union ideas.

Never mind that China would have killed their textile industry, union or not.

[charlesdjohn]

The union would be a good thing if it were used properly!

[mitch0927]

blah blah blah. Unions are a joke. Get rid of them all. If you think unions do a good service, then you''re just as blind as the unions themselves. All unions do is cause problems.

[charlesdjohn]

Toyota has it''s sights set on Mexico! Cheap labor and lax labor laws! Then they will close the North American plants! The future will prove me right....

[charlesdjohn]

Toyota does not fear Detroit because the Unions are doing the dirty work for them. Toyota fears Korea and China! Especially China!

[charlesdjohn]

11:00 AM has come and gone. Is it strike yet?

[mitch0927]

fire all the strikers and bring in the scabs.....

[charlesdjohn]

Scabs! Don''t you mean Mexicans?

[ianlou]

CharlesDJohn,
I support your ideas but for other reasons.
If all American Auto plants are unionized, Toyota, Honda and all others will no longer have any reason to avoid building plants in Michigan where the water is vast, clean and clear, where the summer temps normally sit in the 80''s and rarely hit 100 (not in two years so far), where we have four seasons, not just two (Warm or too Damnn Hot), where there is a generation of auto workers who watched their parents and grandparents work 50 and 60 hour weeks indoors and aren%u2019t new to the idea, where most of the factory automation manufactures call home, and where everyone will eventually have to move if you buy into the global warming theories.

So far the only thing the south has had to offer to foreign auto companies has been the lack of the UAW.

Careful what you wish for.

[carolinamanl]

Sorry everyone but there are so many factors that are in play here that too pick one out isn''t easy. The only thing I know is that G.M.C. auto workers is not the problem, and only to small degree is the union. The union has lost it''s power over the last 20 years, and only really works for skilled trades now. Medical cost is the big thing in the talks and medical cost are out of sight for everyone, so why is the auto worker or the union the bad guy?
Bad leadership, poor pay for mid level mangment, design, etc., These are hired away by other companies. Well like I said, there are too many factors and only 1500 letters to us on here!

[charlesdjohn]

Ianlou,

I agree with you, the union has it''s serious downside!

Let''s start a real union! Of, by and for the workers and this country!

[ministrofgod]

At on time in our nations history there was a need for the unions, there is no NEED for them now. The unions are nothing more than blood sucking leaches draining the life out of American business. I am not pro-bussiness, but I am certainly not pro-union either, shut down the unions and hire people who are willing to do an honest days work for an honest days pay, not $35 an hour to put 5 rivets in that the next assembly line worker pops in place for thier $35 an hour.

[nixonflower]

To answer Charles''s question. Yes we are on strike.

[charlesdjohn]

Big thanx NixonFlower,

CBS did you get that tidbit of news?

[mitch0927]

We have enough cars, trucks, SUV''s on the road now. Just close all the auto plants........

[ianlou]

fire all the strikers and bring in the scabs.....
Posted by mitch0927 at 11:35 AM : Sep 24, 2007

Mitch, are YOU a scab?
Doing a little self promoting?

..or are you high enough in the food chain and removed far enough from the blue collar world to say "Let them eat Cake".

[nixonflower]

A few rivets? I have worked (my plant is now closed) where we built 1200 cars on two shifts. Try putting in 600 batteries or 1200 (2 tires on each side)a night and see how your body feels.

[tnt1954]

like Solidarity in Poland, it will have far-reaching
effects. maybe if they made the kinda cars that
were environmentally friendly. now the yugo
was a good car. mocked constantly. made fun of
constantly. the last car i bought was a nissan
1990 for 1300 with 200,000 miles on it. it lasted
two years before it o.d''d. i don''t have a car
now. way beyond my ability to pay. the cost
of getting to work, is beyond the ability of many.
the cost of getting to work is almost one''s entire
paycheck they get from working. so why work?

[mitch0927]

ianlou, I paid for my higher education (took twenty years) and earned my degrees in electronics and mathematics. Work for a manafacturing company as their go to person for electronics, computers and their telephone system. Nothing was handed to me, I had to earn everything I have.

[mitch0927]

union employees are brainwashed thinking that is the way to go. What they don''t seem to realize is, the union leaders have the million dollar homes, summer retreats and so on. If the union is so great...then why are you all going on strike? Seems as if they aren''t doing what they are sucking you dry for.

[nixonflower]

Personally I wasnt doing well after 2 years in college when I was about to join the aif force. Then GM was hiring college kids for 90 days. They asked me to stay and I did. I cant look back now 24 years and my plant closed in OKC. I sometimes have wished that we had a 401k. Now i would have some money to retire on instead of nothing as I do not have 30 years or the 26 pre-retirement that was offerd.

[rafterman1]

===At on time in our nations history there was a need for the unions, there is no NEED for them now...and hire people who are willing to do an honest days work for an honest days pay, not $35 an hour to put 5 rivets in that the next assembly line worker pops in place for thier $35 an hour.===

Tell you what. When executives stop making millions of dollars a year to sit on their a$$es in an office, then workers will stop asking for $35/hour. They should hire executives willing to put in an honest days work for an honest days pay.

[peoplepower-2009]

And it is no wonder companies build their plants abroad or in non union states where workers can choose to be represented by a union or not. If I had to choose between striking and working, I would choose working because strikes DO NOT put food on the table.

In fact, since no agreement is in place, what is stopping GM from manufacturing automobiles in other countries? Nothing. What is stopping them from shutting down plants entirely, selling them off or simply hiring non union workers? Nothing.

In fact, they can simply go bankrupt and reorganize, there is no union contract so they can actually fire all of the unionized workers. GM has the leverage not the union and in today''s globally competitive world unions as many said are old outdated dinosaurs.

[lawandorder7]

I hope the UAW never go back to work. GM needs to get people that want to work for a fair wage. On strick, I bet Toyota love reading this. They are going, look at those dumb people, Toyota will make money from this dumb a-- misstake. THE UAW NEEDS TO GO.

[lawandorder7]

YES fire all the strikers and bring in the scabs..... I was a UAW menber I know what them do. NOT ONE DAM THING. I would not work for a UAW PLANT. I worked for over 30 years with out the UAW and I DI JUST FINE. THANK YOU.

[rafterman1]

===union employees are brainwashed thinking that is the way to go. What they don''''t seem to realize is, the union leaders have the million dollar homes, summer retreats and so on.===

The great lie of the right and anti-union people. In most cases, union leaders are the same guys working the lines as regular workers do. Those that do make big money still don''t make nearly as much as the executives do.

=== If the union is so great...then why are you all going on strike? Seems as if they aren''''t doing what they are sucking you dry for.===

Huh? This doesn''t even make sense. The union feels they aren''t getting enough for the workers, so they are going on strike and try and get it. The union is doing exactly what it''s supposed to be doing, getting the most for its workers. Duh.

[charlesdjohn]

The UAW wants GM to guarantee that new vehicles would be built in U.S. factories. Why didn''t they demand the same thing of the Clinton Administration when NAFTA was being passed?

[mitch0927]

ianlou, what no come back from you on that?

[edjohn66]

Go UAW!!!!!

How can anyone begrudge the union when it is looking to guarantee that GM keeps using its American workforce? Are you anti-union people really that stupid?

Unions are more relevant now then they have ever been. Go get ''em, UAW!!!!

[bjonson]

What year is this, 1910? Why in the world do these unions exist? I wish I could go on strike everytime my medical benefits increase. That happens every year. GM needs to fire the UAW and replace them with people who appreciate the company they work for.

[edjohn66]

"YES fire all the strikers and bring in the scabs..... I was a UAW menber I know what them do. NOT ONE DAM THING. I would not work for a UAW PLANT. I worked for over 30 years with out the UAW and I DI JUST FINE. THANK YOU."

It seems you''ve done just fine without a 5th grade education, too.

[ianlou]

A few rivets? I have worked (my plant is now closed) where we built 1200 cars on two shifts. Try putting in 600 batteries or 1200 (2 tires on each side)a night and see how your body feels.

Posted by nixonflower at 11:51 AM : Sep 24, 2007

nixonflower,
Right-On!
I worked on the line in a Ford Plant part time for a year, I had a different job each day and they were still the longest hours of my life %u2013 not for the lazy or easily distracted. I graduated from college and CHOSE an engineering job at Ford that paid less than a Ford UAW line job.

There''s nothing more valuable than knowledge gained from experience and nothing more destructive than baseless opinion offered as fact; "a few rivits" said by someone I suspect who never touched a rivit in an auto plant.