Give me a break. What a bunch of babies. I can’t believe they just walk out and strike like this, but, they bring lawnchairs and coolers like it’s a tailgate party. At least go do something productive like mow your lawn or something. As for the non-lazy union members, well I just hope they don’t lose their jobs to Guadalupe.

Sad, the one American car company that’s really showing some promise is slowly being whittled away by some UAW members. If the UAW wants better wages and more benefits then they need to earn it. I’m not saying that the top brass at GM shouldn’t shoulder some of the blame for what’s going on at GM both now & in the past, but it seems like they’re at least trying to turn the company around.

I am so sick of the UAW that I think next time around, if I buy a domestic brand, I am going to make the effort to ensure that I only buy a car that is not UAW built – at least mostly. Am sick of these bastards. Boring as Toyota and Honda are, at least they are not UAW.

Believe when I say this Hemi, Labor Relations is giving backdoor deals(more $$) to get the lazy sick leave ****ers out, mayer if you feel that strong about it go to UAW.org and find out what we do make and have at it.

GM just needs to let ‘em all walk… move everything to mexico. Maybe if the Mexicans had some good jobs they’d quit coming here.

^ The dumbasses (most LLN bloggers) who say this have no clue what really goes on in this industry, I feel sorry for your kids, how can you wish somebody loses their job, regardless of what they do, do my job then judge me or shut the **** up.

I want the guys that work at the UAW to keep there jobs. I don’t really care about the guys that have the easy jobs, they can keep them too. But the ones that use every little excuse to walk out and get more and more benefits and money need to go. Unions used to be a good thing, but now it just seems their milking it. I’m not saying the CEO’s shouldn’t take a pay cut, if LLN posts a story about them on here, i’ll REALLY let them have it.

400SS… I will gladly come and do your job for whatever pay they are offering you. Guarantee it’s better than what I’m making now.

Then you can wake up with your hands, back and feet hurting on the weekends like me too.

I pack boxes and load/unload trucks all day… by hand. No fork lift. I know a thing or two about being sore after a hard day’s work.

But you know what’s said… no pain… no gain.

At least you @$$ doesn’t hurt you like 1115’s does EVERY morning!

Yep, my brother delivers furniture for a major furniture here im Missouri for peanuts, the owners said they close up shop because the Teamsters wanted to come in .

Funny Hemi.

“major furniture company”

Just remember boys… no matter how hard you think you’ve got it, there’s always someone in a worse situation.

I know plenty of guys that would gladly go put together cars and car parts all day for $20 an hour… little lone $30 or whatever it is you guys are making.

^^^^^^^^^^ Word.

‘horsey’, you know none of this is personal. Point being, you are making too much for that line of work. Not to say the monkeys higher up aren’t raping the company but that’s where your fighting should be focused … make deals where there is some semblance of negotiation and reciprocity between the bottom of the ladder and everyone else in the company. For example, no head should be making 400X the lowest on the ladder. The problem is systemic.

This is like a religous experience for me, we should all go out and get a beer later.

^ Did you know Toyota makes more hourly and recieves huge bonuses…………………….

I just dont get how someone can tell a man he’s overpaid when you’ve never done that job.

I honestly wish Americans could make that kind of money and never strike, get fired, get laid off and the company was happy and the cars were cheap enough for anyone to buy them. But their pay, even though I have nothing wrong with anyone making money, should not be that high IF, the jobs will be lost, people can’t afford those cars soley on the inflation caused by unions, or it gives the labor money to another country like china, mexico or india.

$14 should be minimum wage in this country.

If we stopped sending EVERY country in the world BILLIONS in dollars for NOTHING, the minimum wage should be that high, I agree. Stop giving other countries money just to support them and start supporting our own people starting with the rapidly fading middle class. I WANT to work for another 25-35 years!

If that was the case… gas and food would cost twice as much as it does now.

Raising minimum wage gets you nowhere… b/c if the companies have to pay their people more they just jack up the costs of their products to compensate for it.

The oil companies just need to be stopped with their multi billion dollar profits… when every other major industry is taking losses left and right. Fuel prices control everything.

That’s right. But we send ALOT of money to countries that provide us with absolutely NOTHING other than more demands to give them more of our tax money.

I’ll go for that, Hemi. Stop paying foreign aid out the ass, cut welfare, and up the min wage to $14. Fair trade.

Sending jobs overseas has put us in the recession were in now, it just built up over the last 5 years, everyday we hear about outsourcing, like CITI today.

Maybe president Clinton/Obama will address that Mayer.

It’s a case of supply & demand. If there is someone out there willing to do your job for less on a large scale then you have no right to get pissed at the company for either A) taking the labor elsewhere or B) asking you to take a pay cut. GM & friends can’t do option B though because the UAW has crazy rules that makes it hard for them to fire people. The vast majority of Americans work at an At Will company, so if they (said company) is doing badly they fire you with little to no warning. Working in the IT industry I see it happen all the time. If/When GM does badly they can’t simply let people go, over the years this has taken a heavy toll on the company. I understand what the UAW is trying to do in protecting their members, but simply put the time for unions has passed. We live in a global economy and unions are a very micro-economic mindset.

What most fail to realize is the Unemployment Office is full of people of all types of education, you wonder when its gonna stop.

Kenny W, dont give me that **** Europe has unions too, supply and demand my ass, make a better product not excuses.

Maybe the unemployment office is the place to work. Sounds like they have good job security there. Can I invest my 401K in it?

Cutting American jobs was done by GM in the 80’s when they were profitable They closed the plant in Detroit and moved it to Mexico
Poeple forget how evil GM is

I hope GM keeping a list of all these strikes and threats, so that the next time a plant is begging for a vehicle to be made there, GM can say “ooohh, soorry, we seem to remember you didn’t really appreciate the work we gave you last time you begged…they appreciate us more in Mexico, China, and India. Better luck next time!” That would be classic. Greedy inbreds.

^Hows that anti-union march coming.

A guy told me that CHEVROLET was so big that it was a Fortune 500 company, how do you **** that up.

Now we know that 1115’s daddy got axed by GM in the 80’s forcing him to become a burger flipper and trade down to a crappy honda because that is all he could afford, and now today that daddy got promoted to working the french fry vats on the graveyard shift at Sonic 1115 is here proclaiming his white trailer trash ghetto pride by promoting honda everywhere to get revenge for his daddy’s incompetence at everything except molesting his son.

1115 can’t respond now. He’s on his knees in the men’s restroom in one of the stall’s. Why’s the guy in the stall next to him facing towards him? Is that a hole in the wall……

Ahhh, there we have it. 1115 doesn’t just dislike everything GM, he HATES everything GM. Kinda puts his rants into perspective, sadly enough. Good to know he/she has a clear head when debating things such as quality and design.

The European unions are struggling as well, just like the Canadian unions, just like the airplane unions, just like the steel unions…should I continue? Unions everyone are experiencing the same thing, they’re relics of the past and need to become obsolete.

Products are a large part of succeeding, but so is being able to create a profit. If you’re paying your employees more than they’re worth then all the great product in the world won’t give you a decent profit margin. Unless you’re DeBeers/Big Oil and can create a false value to your product or have a monopoly.

I agree 100% ^^^ The CEO’s need to be held accountable as well. If they have a lousy year, they don’t need a 10 million $ bonus.

Its been well documented that the Big 2.25 problems are from the other big oil…….healthcare.

400SS, how much do you pay for your healthcare from your check each month? i mean as a deduction from your gross.

Look dude, why is it these illegals can go into the emergency and I pay their bill! Man, I can’t even clear my mind enough to comment on healthcare, I know I pay my share.

To tell you the truth Mayer I dont have a clue, but im sure i pay in the form of higer deductibles, and co-pays, something does come out once a month i dont know the exact amount.

‘horsey’, I hope you weren’t referring directly to me re: working for that wage … I DID work at the Oakville assembly plant as a student a decade ago during two separate summers, making $1000/week, working the hardest job on the chassis line. If I didn’t like it I could leave as there were many waiting in line to make that kind of money. Granted, the job sucked HUGE but there were guys there doing jobs in their sleep making more than I was as a student.

I maintain that is too much for that kind of work. But I also maintain that management also needs to be reigned in as well. Breeding animosity amongst workers, no matter the position, is unhealthy for all.

Only reason I asked about what you pay, 400SS, is that I have “heard” (radio and the like) that UAW healthcare is virtually paid in full by the employers, whereas most of the rest of us who are not government workers have to deduct from our checks to pick up a good chunk of the premium, and each year when the company gets its raise in premiums the bulk of that is passed to the employees. So if healthcare is a major problem for the Big 3 and the UAW members aren’t feeling it yet then you are far better off than 98% of the rest of the private workforce in the USA, but yet you strike.

By the way, your colleagues are going to strike shut a Malibu factory next per the article below. GM is becoming more global now in its line-up than ever for a few good reasons, one of which is that they can shut you down and not feel it.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080418/gm_plant_strikes.html?.v=4

2 summers Impulsive WOW, your the first person in American history to claim being overpaid, do the sitty jobs like IP line then get back to me, and Mayer its in a package and the local contracts have beeen expired for a long time.

Matter of fact they do pay but save on the deductables by raising them and by healthcare i meant “legacy cost”

if you look at GMs past along with Ford and Chrysler you will see that not only do they make ****ty cars they are unethical as well
Remember you are telling on yourself everytime you post some gay **** Hemi You seem to know a lot about that lifestyle

Whats harder? Putting pickles on Big Macs or torquing bolts with an impact wrench? They are both happen on a highly engineered assembly lines designed to make the process as easy as possible. The Big Mac guy makes minimum wage, the impact wrench guy makes $30 an hour. Why is that?

Random Jerk, the difference in wage should br proportional to the product assembly workers produce: in Big Mac case it is a $5 hamburger and in auto assembly it is $25-$50K auto.
My guess GM called trouble when they constituted full pay salaries for their dysfunctional mismanagement team. When contracts were negotiated I am sure they pointed out that management team is making only 50% of multi million salary. Now they are not: people want their salaries restored as well. I cant blame them. If Lutz deserves 3-5 mil package the grease monkey does deserve his 60K-80K.

‘horsey’, I repeat, I had the most difficult job on the line and I still believe I was overpaid. I used to go home and ice my hand every night because it was swollen so don’t cry to me about pain and suffering. Two summers or no summers, I have watched many work on many lines and the majority have it so easy it’s laughable. Sorry to break it to you but you are paid too much, IP line, chassis line, trim line … it don’t matter. Suck it up. If you think your job is too difficult, let the union step in and effect some change. That’s probably the only reason a union should exist nowadays.

‘autonut’, Lutz doesn’t deserve what he gets, that’s the bigger problem.

Most of the people on here who are bashing Unions including HHR, drive American cars made by Unions. You can’t get more ironic then that!

Again… **** the UAW. I’ve never seen a group of people so hell-bent on rather having nothing than something. The fact remains they’re entirely overpaid for what they do and shouldn’t continue to be paid more than the average manufacturing/factory worker simply because they always have been. UAW members needs to get this misconceived sense of entitlement out of their heads – they’re not entitled to anything, especially in the current economy. Some may say they’re “only” paid $28/hr… but that’s not including the ridiculous amount of benefits they also get. Still… even if they were “only” paid $28/hr without benefits that would still be high. They’re all in the same tax bracket as me… which means that the least any of them clear (those who are single with no dependents and no house) is around $42K a year… NET! Honestly… I give all of the major kudos for getting away with such a high salary for so many years, but I won’t cry a single tear for anyone once they’re salary better reflects they job they do. If you won’t be able to continue the lifestyle which you’re accustomed… then you’ll have to change your lifestyle – or get a second job.

It all really doesn’t matter because eventually Detroit is going to give the big “up yours” to the UAW sometime in the near future… Frankly, I think Chrysler will be the ones to do it first being they hold the unique position of being privately owned. Either way.. once one does it, the rest will follow.

GM just needs to grow some balls and not even bother showing up to the negotiating table… tell them – “Take it or leave it,” because there are many others out there who gladly would. And once they strike… fire them all. It would be far more beneficial for GM to just shut down for 6-8 months, start a massive hiring campaign, and hire all-new non-union employees. Then… if they’re feeling generous, they’ll offer all the old employees their jobs back on a one on one basis.

I have no sympathy for those who are committed to screwing themselves.

I commend Obama for speaking about a “say-on-pay” view for compensating failing leaders and management.

‘AMGoff’, the same view should be held towards unaccountable management … they rape the company orders of magnitude worse.

Impulsive, “say-on-pay” is actually working to a degree in free economy society. The candidates to manage corporations are usually well trained and educated, except at Ford. Perhaps another exception is Lutz, bit Wagoner does have Harvard MBA and it is a sure sign of intelligence or past intelligence. Management does have to solve very complex multidimensional problems and some of those problems have no solutions. Boards of directors recognize that. The problem occurs when CEO can appoint “his/her” board and then democratic control within corporation don’t work. We do have a number of activists investors or sharks, depending on your point of view, who shake boards and CEOs. From what I read of Obama’s statements he does not have grasp of economy or economics. If you like some really good education on economics I strongly recommend “Freakonomics” – an easy read and informative. Was actually required reading at Stern school of economics in NYU.

Thanks ‘autonut’. Having a Harvard degree doesn’t guarantee the ability to lead any company. I honestly think I could do a good job. I’ll read Freakonomics. You will see me leading some company soon.