Today, Ford Motor Company realized that the UAW workers at its plants are not going to ratify a new contract requested by the company; contract UAW leaders have endorsed.
Ford, which did not go bankrupt and is not receiving any federal bailout dollars would like to be on an even competitive playing field with GM and Chrysler who did go bankrupt, received federal bailout money and could then re-write their UAW contracts to help them be competitive with the foreign car manufacturers.
What Ford UAW members are telling their company is that GM and Chrysler can have favorable UAW contracts but Ford, because it is doing better than GM and Chrysler, cannot? Ford workers want Ford to be uncompetitive with other manufacturers and therefore fail because their cars will be priced above the competition to cover their higher labor costs. Ford UAW workers believe like they always have, that Ford is in business to provide them jobs and not to build and sell cars.
My socialist wife thinks this is fine since the Ford workers deserve what they can get from a company that is being run well. She has no concept of the big picture and the fact that Ford has to remain competitive or they will die and all those high paying UAW jobs will die with them; UAW leaders understand this but the rank and file is having trouble grasping the concept.
This whole issue pisses me off to no end and I think Ford needs to make a hard move to quash this union blackmail once and for all. Times have changed FOREVER and cushy union auto jobs do not exist and never will again; there has been a sea-change in auto manufacturing and the Ford workers need to be shown the new way or the highway.
GM and Chrysler are licking their chops in anticipation of Ford falling behind in cost control so Ford needs to make a big decision here; they cannot survive a prolonged strike or is that the only way to make the union come to their senses. The UAW cannot afford a strike either but Ford may want to force them into a strike to bankrupt them.
This is a historical time for Ford. Allan Mulally has been great at stewarding Ford through this treacherous time but now may be his finest hour and I hope he is up to it. He cannot give in or the company will falter. I hope he has the balls to castrate the union once and for all!
Ford, which did not go bankrupt and is not receiving any federal bailout dollars would like to be on an even competitive playing field with GM and Chrysler who did go bankrupt, received federal bailout money and could then re-write their UAW contracts to help them be competitive with the foreign car manufacturers.
What Ford UAW members are telling their company is that GM and Chrysler can have favorable UAW contracts but Ford, because it is doing better than GM and Chrysler, cannot? Ford workers want Ford to be uncompetitive with other manufacturers and therefore fail because their cars will be priced above the competition to cover their higher labor costs. Ford UAW workers believe like they always have, that Ford is in business to provide them jobs and not to build and sell cars.
My socialist wife thinks this is fine since the Ford workers deserve what they can get from a company that is being run well. She has no concept of the big picture and the fact that Ford has to remain competitive or they will die and all those high paying UAW jobs will die with them; UAW leaders understand this but the rank and file is having trouble grasping the concept.
This whole issue pisses me off to no end and I think Ford needs to make a hard move to quash this union blackmail once and for all. Times have changed FOREVER and cushy union auto jobs do not exist and never will again; there has been a sea-change in auto manufacturing and the Ford workers need to be shown the new way or the highway.
GM and Chrysler are licking their chops in anticipation of Ford falling behind in cost control so Ford needs to make a big decision here; they cannot survive a prolonged strike or is that the only way to make the union come to their senses. The UAW cannot afford a strike either but Ford may want to force them into a strike to bankrupt them.
This is a historical time for Ford. Allan Mulally has been great at stewarding Ford through this treacherous time but now may be his finest hour and I hope he is up to it. He cannot give in or the company will falter. I hope he has the balls to castrate the union once and for all!
No comments:
Post a Comment