Ford's Absentee UAW Workers Hurt Company

[tgagneguam]

Ford absentees don't understand that performance makes a difference

By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News

Solid UAW-Ford members should be honked right about now.

Because too many people scheduled to come to work each day, clock in and help assemble Ford Motor Co.'s most important product - F-150 pickups - aren't reporting for work.

Because the situation has deteriorated so badly that Ford managers and local union leaders are using letters and workplace notices to urge chronic no-shows to show up - or else. How embarrassing, especially since Ford's state-of-the-art Dearborn Truck Plant, Ford's environmental showpiece, appears to be the epicenter of absenteeism.

Because after 20 years of intensifying competition, ebbing market share and wild swings in the prosperity of the Detroit automakers, there evidently are more than a few fellow workers who still don't seem to understand that their performance on the line - that actually being on the line - can make a real difference to the products people buy and the profits employers book.

Most of all, UAW-Ford members should be angry because the lackadaisical actions of a few reinforce the most negative stereotypes of union auto workers and make the vast majority who show up regularly, work hard and do what's right look like a bunch of ungrateful losers, which they mostly aren't.

Truth is, most UAW members understand, if only intuitively, that they have good jobs with good benefits and those jobs still, more than 100 years after Henry Ford founded his auto company, set a standard for American manufacturing.

Ol' Henry didn't shape the American Century and influence industrial development from Britain and Germany to Japan and the Soviet Union with workers who didn't show up. And the Arsenal of Democracy didn't help win World War II with workers who weren't there.

Come on. A major theme in this fall's presidential campaign is disappearing American manufacturing jobs. Here's Ford providing those kinds of jobs and an alarming number of workers aren't showing up. My guess is that there are a few men and women out there - like in Greenville, where Tower Automotive just announced that it would eliminate 135 jobs - who would happily move to Dearborn to work the line.

Look, no one should begrudge UAW-Ford members their bargained vacation days and holidays because they're in the contract both sides are bound to uphold. Nor should management or union leaders hassle workers for legitimate absences.

But the inaction of chronic absenteeism carries consequences that are best visualized in terms most people understand ... self-interest.

No-shows bleed money from the bottom line, undercut manufacturing efficiency and endanger product quality because Ford (and GM and Chrysler) must compensate for the absences with temp workers, supervisors, whoever. If Ford makes less money in less efficient plants building products that aren't as good as they can be, there's less cash to invest in new cars and trucks. Fewer new vehicles mean fewer hourly jobs over time.

This isn't complicated, but it is serious. The people these hourly no-shows hurt most are their fellow workers and that's not right.

Get to work!

[LGRpup]

ARRGGGH This topic gets me going. I read a similar article in the newspaper yesterday. They always say they are going to get tough but never do or dont get tough enough. In my experience the reason people dont come to work is that they dont have to, or some just really have poor work ethic. The managers are too scared to punish people who dont show up, and the Union is too soft on the issue. It still boggles my mind on how for the money that we make that you feel like you just come to work when you want. And to think that the management doesnt know what its is doing money wise to the company. My Union is always finding ways to get more members, heck shape up your damn members so the financially burdened companys dont have to close or move plants to different countrys. There are very few good reasons to not show up work, but for some reason I didnt feel like it is one of them. As you can tell somedays I am not too popular with my Union brothers, but like they say the truth hurts.

[tgagneguam]

Originally posted by LGRpup@Sep 11 2004, 07:06 PM
ARRGGGH This topic gets me going...

Uh-huh, though in the end these people will be punished when they lose their jobs permanently. Unfortunately, a whole lot of good, hardworking people - along with their families - will pay the price, too.

It amazes me that linemen and women have not been scared senseless by the flow of manufacturing jobs overseas. And it infuriates me that these less-motivated people cannot see that they have a great thing going for them; there are definitely worse compensating jobs out there than being an assemblyline worker at one of the Big Three.

[big swede]

It's kinda short sighted for this guy to act like it's only a problem at this plant. It's a problem at a lot of workplaces. My wife is a manager who manages 20 people and the attitude of a lot of workers is, you don't have to pay me what's the big deal. It is a big deal because she has a certain amount of people to get the job done. The fact that these people are not getting payed when they don't come in means nothing to her because she isn't paying them but she does have to answer to the owners if things don't get done. You would have to be very naive to think it's a union thing, it's a work ethic thing that is usually learned or taught by your parents.

There are to many people who are willing to work hard and I do believe that there is too much protection with lazy workers. When my wife wants to get rid of a slacker who has been there for more than 90 days she has to actually keep a detailed file and litteraly build a case because these are always the people who believe they are being wronged and everyone is out to get them so she has to have plenty of proof for the inevitable person who wants to sue or bring the company through the ringer.

[desmo9]

I used to supervise unionized autoworkers, and in a nutshell, here's what's at the root of it:

Suppose you have a job that pays you twice what you're worth.... these laborers are worth about $10-12 an hour market rate, but make $25 or more. Now suppose you're content making $50K a year with lots of time off instead of $60K. Heck, alot of us might take a 10-20% pay cut if we could take 10-20% more time off at our choosing. But life doesn't work like this -- unless you're UAW!

But it gets even better than that.... what if you could take 20% more time off but make an EXTRA 10% ???!!!! These pampered elite can make $60K on straight time on Monday through Friday, 5 days, 40 hours in the plant. Or, just work Saturday at time-and-a-half, Sunday on double time, and Monday and Tuesday. Then take Weds through Friday off. That's four days total, only 32 hours in the plant, but with the OT it's a 44 hour payday! How's that sound?

Some unions have had to accept rotational schedules so plants working 7 days a week pay no OT on weekends, and other plants pay no OT until 40 hours have been worked. The UAW, however, are a bunch of spoiled brats, overpaid, paid 95% of pay for layoff (they fight and play seniority over who gets to be laid off...it's a privelege!), yet they pi$$ and moan about management ... who have agreed to fund this nonsense. I've visited Chinese plants, where for a buck an hour people work hard, don't complain, and appreciate what they have.

Some UAW folks are good, don't get me wrong. But they're not really the union folk, see. The union spends 90% of its energy protecting the bad apples, that's it's raison d'etre. The good pay union dues to protect the filth, to pad the pockets of cigar-chomping union leadership, and to sponsor a NASCAR entry (a union!!!).

The overall tragedy is, companies move plants to Asia as a result. Then they realize the efficiencies of having engineering and other white-collar support nearby. So American professionals are threatened, as well. Thank the UAW. In this day and age, this union's time has passed. Unfortunately, outsourcing is the only way GM can deal with the UAW. Shrink the membership, weaken the organization, and perhaps at some point gain enough leverage to bring them back to reality. As much as I hate the thought of outsourcing, breaking the UAW's back is one silver lining of a dark cloud.

[tgagneguam]

But you know the real joy of the above, desmo9? If GM goes bust (not a distinct impossibility, mind you) these union workers still get their pensions, since they are guaranteed by the US government through the PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation). Even if GM goes belly-up, these hardworking folk get 100% of their pensions. So, assuming you buy American (i.e., DCX, Ford, or GM), you get to pay for the car which pays their 60K/year salary (too much in my mind) and you get to guarantee the benefits that the UAW fought for in contract negotiations through your tax dollars! That's the real rich part.

The only hope is that the PBGC goes bust before Social Security.

[Ming]

Originally posted by desmo9@Sep 11 2004, 08:12 PM
The overall tragedy is, companies move plants to Asia as a result.

Meanwhile, Toyohondassan move in to the South, where the Union mentality and culture doesn't exist, and set up shop with workers earning fair, if not fantastic wages. Then they get to name San Antonio, Texas as "Toyota Town".

[Camaroz28lover]

yeah it sucks that gm ford and dcx are saddled with unions
like you all said not all union workers are bad but i know a few union leaders and pressidents (uaw) and they get alot of money that they can just spend and bill to the union plus they are paid. i agree on the overpaid issue we could make 1000s more per car if these people were paid based on their skill level like toyota workers

[jarsworldcom]

Wow that article almost was almost a perfect picture of GM Wentzville.

big swede is right the problem goes beyond unionized places.

desmo9 is right about the reasons why people skip work.

tgagneguam is right about PBGC, but that allows goes for the US Airlines and some other companies I can't think of at this point.

Ming I have a feeling that implant factories might go unionized at some point. That is one the things the Japanese auto unions want over here.

Camaroz28lover certain people at GM used to be paid on depending on thier skills.

[barcodedorganic]

Originally posted by tgagneguam+Sep 11 2004, 08:24 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tgagneguam @ Sep 11 2004, 08:24 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-LGRpup@Sep 11 2004, 07:06 PM
ARRGGGH This topic gets me going...

Uh-huh, though in the end these people will be punished when they lose their jobs permanently. Unfortunately, a whole lot of good, hardworking people - along with their families - will pay the price, too.

It amazes me that linemen and women have not been scared senseless by the flow of manufacturing jobs overseas. And it infuriates me that these less-motivated people cannot see that they have a great thing going for them; there are definitely worse compensating jobs out there than being an assemblyline worker at one of the Big Three. [/b][/quote]
why should they care they've got the big bad UAW to back them and their lazy asses...(note i'm not saying all line workers or all members of the UAW are lazy) they feel what the hell can the auto companies do we've got the UAW who's got the companies by the balls when they rip their means of support beneath their feet they'll have no one else to blame but themselves...the UAW needs to crack down on these few bad eggs and say guess what we're not here to serve your individual interests but the interests of the group...and a few measely letters wouldn't do it...impose fines for chronic absenteeism if needed...

[barcodedorganic]

Originally posted by jarsworldcom@Sep 12 2004, 05:58 AM
Ming I have a feeling that implant factories might go unionized at some point. That is one the things the Japanese auto unions want over here.

wouldn't that be something? all the US assembly plant workers for the japanese companies become part of a japanese union i think it would be a wake up call to the industry to be honest...they just need a catalyst between the japanese unions and the american non union workers...the easiest way for that to happen is get an american who's been "japanized" who understands japanese culture and is perfectly fluent in the language...

i say do it...

[jarsworldcom]

Originally posted by barcodedorganic+Sep 12 2004, 06:52 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (barcodedorganic @ Sep 12 2004, 06:52 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-jarsworldcom@Sep 12 2004, 05:58 AM
Ming I have a feeling that implant factories might go unionized at some point.&nbsp; That is one the things the Japanese auto unions want over here.

wouldn't that be something? all the US assembly plant workers for the japanese companies become part of a japanese union i think it would be a wake up call to the industry to be honest...they just need a catalyst between the japanese unions and the american non union workers...the easiest way for that to happen is get an american who's been "japanized" who understands japanese culture and is perfectly fluent in the language...

i say do it...[/b][/quote]

I am not sure they want that. I think they want the us factories to be under the UAW. I am not sure the reason why they want this.

[jarsworldcom]

Originally posted by barcodedorganic+Sep 12 2004, 06:48 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (barcodedorganic @ Sep 12 2004, 06:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Uh-huh, though in the end these people will be punished when they lose their jobs permanently. Unfortunately, a whole lot of good, hardworking people - along with their families - will pay the price, too.

It amazes me that linemen and women have not been scared senseless by the flow of manufacturing jobs overseas. And it infuriates me that these less-motivated people cannot see that they have a great thing going for them; there are definitely worse compensating jobs out there than being an assemblyline worker at one of the Big Three.

why should they care they've got the big bad UAW to back them and their lazy asses...(note i'm not saying all line workers or all members of the UAW are lazy) they feel what the hell can the auto companies do we've got the UAW who's got the companies by the balls when they rip their means of support beneath their feet they'll have no one else to blame but themselves...the UAW needs to crack down on these few bad eggs and say guess what we're not here to serve your individual interests but the interests of the group...and a few measely letters wouldn't do it...impose fines for chronic absenteeism if needed...[/b][/quote]

It really isn't that simple for the UAW or management. The "bad eggs" have at their disposal the family medical leave, which gets abused. And then there is racial discrimination or sexual discrimination lawsuites among other Ford, GM, and DCX have to worry about.

[MN12Fan]

All I know is that things have to be complicated if one has to resort to words like lackadaisical in order to describe things as being sluggish :lol:.

[LGRpup]

Originally posted by jarsworldcom+Sep 12 2004, 02:02 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jarsworldcom @ Sep 12 2004, 02:02 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

why should they care they've got the big bad UAW to back them and their lazy asses...(note i'm not saying all line workers or all members of the UAW are lazy) they feel what the hell can the auto companies do we've got the UAW who's got the companies by the balls when they rip their means of support beneath their feet they'll have no one else to blame but themselves...the UAW needs to crack down on these few bad eggs and say guess what we're not here to serve your individual interests but the interests of the group...and a few measely letters wouldn't do it...impose fines for chronic absenteeism if needed...

It really isn't that simple for the UAW or management. The "bad eggs" have at their disposal the family medical leave, which gets abused. And then there is racial discrimination or sexual discrimination lawsuites among other Ford, GM, and DCX have to worry about. [/b][/quote]
Family Medical Leave.... AAAAHHHH!! Ok lets go to the Asylum.