GM Inside News Forum - View Single Post - UAW head says that unions aren't to blame for Detroit's problems

**zete** · 11-16-2008, 04:33 PM

Although everyone has some level of blame in this, you can't blame the UAW for assembling the uninspired, bean-countered-to-death, sea of plastic cars of the past. They were told "Build this" and they did. The fault for the crappy cars GM is still living down is courtesy of a bunch of guys in white shirts in GM, not the guys wearing blue collars on the line. Sure, some of them didn't take care in building the cars but there was way more to the problems than someone not tightening down a bolt. It was a problem endemic to GM. Blaming the UAW is silly. The crap product of the late 70s, 80s and most of the 90s (and some of the stuff of the 2000s) is solely the fault of the "geniuses" who designed and cheaped out the cars.

Quality control is not solely a line problem but a problem relating to part durability, fit and finish, etc.

And as many know on this forum I'm no fan of unions, but in this regard they're not the sole problem. Sticking up for themselves and saying we're not to blame is the right attitude. There's plenty of blame to go around and a slew of senior folks -- present and retired -- at GM need to stand up and admit they designed crap, they put in crappy, cheaped out interiors, and figured they could get away with it. Well, they couldn't and didn't.

Ultimately, I take Harry S Truman's view on this: The Buck Stops Here. And that is with the senior management, designers, accountants, etc. in GM in the past 30 years. You get what you sow. Or, to put this another way, the line workers at GM couldn't manufacture silk purses from the sow's ears they were provided.

11-16-2008, 04:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
zete GMI Staff Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: NCR, Great White North Posts: 5,307	Re: UAW head says that unions aren't to blame for Detroit's problems Although everyone has some level of blame in this, you can't blame the UAW for assembling the uninspired, bean-countered-to-death, sea of plastic cars of the past. They were told "Build this" and they did. The fault for the crappy cars GM is still living down is courtesy of a bunch of guys in white shirts in GM, not the guys wearing blue collars on the line. Sure, some of them didn't take care in building the cars but there was way more to the problems than someone not tightening down a bolt. It was a problem endemic to GM. Blaming the UAW is silly. The crap product of the late 70s, 80s and most of the 90s (and some of the stuff of the 2000s) is solely the fault of the "geniuses" who designed and cheaped out the cars. Quality control is not solely a line problem but a problem relating to part durability, fit and finish, etc. And as many know on this forum I'm no fan of unions, but in this regard they're not the sole problem. Sticking up for themselves and saying we're not to blame is the right attitude. There's plenty of blame to go around and a slew of senior folks -- present and retired -- at GM need to stand up and admit they designed crap, they put in crappy, cheaped out interiors, and figured they could get away with it. Well, they couldn't and didn't. Ultimately, I take Harry S Truman's view on this: The Buck Stops Here. And that is with the senior management, designers, accountants, etc. in GM in the past 30 years. You get what you sow. Or, to put this another way, the line workers at GM couldn't manufacture silk purses from the sow's ears they were provided.