Well you are tenacious in your defense of the UAW, but you're tilting at windmills here with the pro-corporate capitalists on this forum, many of whom are upper income types with anti-union biases ingrained from decades of listening to Wall Street pundits.

But Mike, you're correct: the UAW membership authorized this strike via a democratic and transparent vote. Apparently excercising freedom of assembly and free speech is wrong to some people because it hurts the Wall Streeters and billionaires who will gladly outsource anything they can to pad their riches. The UAW leadership ain't no angels. They deserve to be criticized but the workers who are most senior would not be affected by GM's changes, they are striking for the next generation behind them.

The company's latest offer on Sunday came just two hours before the contract expired as a form of brinksmanship, to see of the UAW and its membership would cave. That's who the employees are dealing with here.

 

Most of the time, I'm not particularly that pro-union either, and often give companies the benefit of the doubt. But, IMO, GM and Ford, particularly, in their actions as of late (say, the last 12-18 months or so), have given both employees and customers (particularly their traditional sedan customers) reasons to fight back. In this case, it is difficult, IMO, to have sympathy for corporations who abuse their employees and customers in this way. So, I say to the strikers...pickett away, more power to them. Now that GM's management is losing $100 million a day, maybe they will start to sober up.

The UAW itself also made it possible, ten years ago, to help finance GM's bailout. They put up a good chunk of their OWN cash, in addition to the cash that was coming in from several other sources. Then, they made other pay/benefit concessions on top of that. GM owes the UAW a huge debt of gratitude...not the closing of a half-dozen plants.




Agreed. Union bosses can sometimes be corrupt, and, in some cases, have even had ties to mobsters. But they are not the ones that the public is behind.....it's the rank-and-file that now have the public sympathy.

Mary Barra, to her credit, actually ran the corporation pretty well for most of the time she's been in her position. But, in the last 12-18 months, she completely blew it.....that's much of what brought on much of this strike to start with, and a (possible) Canadian UNIFOR strike coming up. It's not my call, but if I were on GM's board, I'd vote for her expulsion.

 

You want to make this about GM canceling sedan models but that has nothing to do with this strike. GM’s canceling models that sell in small number or the numbers may not be that small, but the models are unprofitable anyway. As you said, the Silverado’s slipped to third because it’s simply not as good as the RAM. It’s cheap and ugly inside and out. It’s not about an ‘angry public’ lol.

Really? Evidence? You mean this ‘resistance’ is because the blazer’s not body on frame?

yeah i’m sure there was no pressure to vote for the strike.

 

sounds like Ram will again beat Chevy again another quarter if they dont make and keep selling silverados

 

There are many factors.....I don't have time here to list them all. But a significant part of the strike is over the multiple plant-closings/layoffs....and, like it or not, those plants built mostly sedans.


The public is involved more than you think. Full-size truck owners are usually the toughest nuts in the industry to crack when it comes to vehicle-loyalty. When they move away from something, it is for very serious reasons. Part of it is indeed the Ram's ride-comfort and refinement, but you can't pin the whole thing on that....after all, the Ram also has a reputation for unreliability.


That's a part of it, but the main issue is the Mexican-build. GM couldn't even display it in some places because of the resistance.

Read this:

https://www.msn.com/g00/en-us/autos/...Z2xlLmNvbS8%3d

 

Well, yes, but that goes without saying. But, in the current climate, even producing them won't guarantee their sale.


And I say that objectively, ignoring my own opinion, because I myself generally like the new Silverado...my only complaint is a somewhat choppy ride, with some porposing, and the upmarket GMC Sierra, with a softer suspension, solves that problem.

 

Anyhow, I don't have much else to say about it right now (I don't want to dominate even my own thread). I saw this event coming a number of months ago, and I'm just going to sit back, relax, and watch the show. Good Night, folks.

 

Gm putting a Mexican-made vehicle in a prominent place in Detroit is certainly a stupid PR move!

 

I agree. GM made an error announcing the plant closures. They are looking to find ways to keep something in there for the short term.

 

I don't get what you are saying here.

Are you saying she made an error on closing the plants? Because that's reversible, if it is truly an "error".

Or do you mean exactly what you said: she made an error in announcing the closures? Because closing the plants without announcing it ahead of time would be (1) subhuman, (2) a terrible PR move, (3) probably in violation of the union contracts, and (4) probably against the law, as in certain circumstances, large layoffs must be announced in advance.

 

A PR error.

 

Some UNIFOR workers, Bless their Hearts, brought over donuts, from a Windsor bakery, this morning to show support, across the river, in Detroit, for the UAW people striking at the Hamtramck plant. Hamtramck is slated to be shut down....that is where a number of the discontinued (or soon to be discontinued) sedans were built.

https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/new...ifor-1.9976345

 

Yeah because that’s what fat uaw workers need... donuts.

 

They burn up a fair amount of energy working on the assembly line....especially under stress. That work is not a piece of cake (no pun intended)...although it is true that automation and robots do more of it now.

 

Here's something interesting that I would probably not have guessed. According to this article from the NTY, GM actually has a smaller UAW work force than Ford or FCA.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/b...trike-uaw.html