Breaking News: Strike is Over!

[samkung]

Good news for GM n its share

[stevews602]

Looks like the Strike worked, let's hope they ratify soon, having this linger is no good for anyone.

[Avdude]

It will not matter what is in the deal the union bashers will still go on!!!!
For such an important deal, seperate press releases does seem strange. It screams of someone not getting what they wanted.. I hope its a fair deal but something tells me someone isn't really happy!! The proof wil be in ratification, if the union can "sell" the deal to the members, and from the few reports so far that might take some doing..

[noelvm]

So if GM had any sense they would now use the next four years to build plants in Mexico so that they could move all of their production away from the UAW.

noelvm

[unkillsam]

Originally Posted by noelvm

So if GM had any sense they would now use the next four years to build plants in Mexico so that they could move all of their production away from the UAW.

noelvm

I still say that a slightly longer strike of 1 to 2 weeks would have been better for GM.

Not that I am anti-union, but I am anti-UAW leadership. I somehow have a feeling that GM caved in a little too much, but I guess we will see when the details are released.

Also, how in the heck can GM afford to fork over 30 BILLION dollars for the Veba, plus cash bonuses to the 73,000 workers, which could easily run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If the white-collar workers don't get bonuses, it somehow doesn't seem fair.

[mrfunji]

Funny that the strike wasn't about VEBA, yet that was most prominently mentioned all throughout the article.

Modifications to the Job's Bank better mean saionara!

Now the UAW will probably charge GM overtime to make up for lost work in the non plant environments, all the while kicking back with their feet on the desks reading the paper most of the day.

[mkaresh]

I'm also very interested in the details.

Two possibilities:
--the strike worked because GM caved, and the union got what it wanted
--the strike worked because it was more or less orchestrated between the GM and UAW leadership so that the latter could demonstrate they were fighting as hard as possible for the rank and file, and everyone's now ready to ratify

There will be something in the agreement that appears to appease the union. The question is whether GM management had already planned to give this up before the brief strike was called.

It is very good that there will be no long strike.

[wolverine]

From what I am reading about the details in the Detroit News paper, and I do realize it is only leaked information at this point, this deal is a disaster for the UAW. A total cave in to everything GM wanted. Mr. Gettlefinger has sold his membership down the river. This agreement truly demonstrates just how weak and powerless the UAW has become.

[jckjds]

I am anxious to find out about the terms, too.

I highly doubt that GM got much of what it wanted. Sure, there will be a VEBA, but it is a VEBA that is totally funded by GM, so that can hardly be considered a concession. It simply shifts some of the uncertainty/risk to the UAW.

Furthermore, I doubt that there will be significant wage/benefit cuts. There probably will be a two-tiered system that results in new hires being paid less, but that's a long term solution without a lot of immediate help.

Finally, I would bet that GM has to offer a substantial signing bonus to get this ratified, negating much of the benefit of the "concessions," minimal as they probably are.

Whatever. I never understand why these companies on the verge of bankruptcy tolerate this type of union BS. If I were in charge of GM I would have offered the union the EXACT wages that Toyota is paying and not a penny more. I would tell them that if they struck, then I would hire permanent replacements. I would have done all of the advance preparation possible (stockpiling parts, inventory etc., and getting managers ready to train replacements). I would rather take my chances hiring replacements than to continue to tolerate the union for an indefinite amount of time in the future.

Imagine how well GM could be doing if it had broken the union 20 years ago. Instead, it's more of the same.

[GMforME]

Michael
I'll give Farrago 15 minutes before he says GM caved. No make that 3

[smith7629]

Originally Posted by noelvm

So if GM had any sense they would now use the next four years to build plants in Mexico so that they could move all of their production away from the UAW.

noelvm

I respectfully disagree with that strategy. I am impressed with the swiftness of the negotiations. UAW is a huge pool of technically trained personnel that would be almost impossible to replace in timely manner. I think both sides are getting better at respecting each other and knowing that if they don't act reasonably toward each other, the competition will eat them alive. I'm proud of our American and Canadian workers. Let's keep the domestic industrial base alive, actually, let's grow it!

[A Bum In A Bus]

Originally Posted by wolverine

From what I am reading about the details in the Detroit News paper, and I do realize it is only leaked information at this point, this deal is a disaster for the UAW. A total cave in to everything GM wanted. Mr. Gettlefinger has sold his membership down the river. This agreement truly demonstrates just how weak and powerless the UAW has become.

Not true, if they did that it would never be ratified by the membership. The most important thing for GM was the VEBA, there were some fears on long term increased cost of healthcare for the UAW, and keeping jobs in this country. Job security is something that is bargained on from contract to contract. Who knows maybe with the right people in the White House and Congress, someone will do something about healthcare and it will no longer be the killer it is for all of our American industry. As it stands today we are losing our industries and becoming nothing more than a service nation. A nation without a strong industrial base will not be a super power very long.

Our political choices have got to be about more than abortion and same sex marriage, they must be about saving our jobs and our nation.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by noelvm

So if GM had any sense they would now use the next four years to build plants in Mexico so that they could move all of their production away from the UAW.

noelvm

Why on earth would you want that? Producing vehicles in America doesn't just help the UAW... it helps everyone! If an agreement is made that both sides can agree to that keeps vehicle production in the US we should all be happy, not wishing to send production to other countries!

[Clocker]

Originally Posted by unkillsam

I still say that a slightly longer strike of 1 to 2 weeks would have been better for GM.

Not that I am anti-union, but I am anti-UAW leadership. I somehow have a feeling that GM caved in a little too much, but I guess we will see when the details are released.

Also, how in the heck can GM afford to fork over 30 BILLION dollars for the Veba, plus cash bonuses to the 73,000 workers, which could easily run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If the white-collar workers don't get bonuses, it somehow doesn't seem fair.

Agreed. I think GM was in a good spot and probably could have negotiated something better for the company. With the MI economy and credit/mortgage problems abound, I think GM could have held out longer and many of the UAW clowns would have gotten desperate enough to take whatever deal GM game them after a couple of weeks of strike pay. At least janitors are taking a big pay cut!!

[vetteman]

Any chance the strike was PLANNED to be 2-3 days? Maybe the union leaders knew that they were going to make huge concessions to GM, but the only way they could get the rank and file to agree to them was to strike, just to show that GM wasn't getting everything they wanted. As has already been noted the line workers didn't know all of the details of the strike, just that leadership said to strike. A 2-3 day strike ordered by UAW leadership could save face for them, yet wouldn't really cost GM or the UAW members any significant money in lost time. Just a thought.