United Auto Workers Union

[Aristomommy]

The only way to make 80k is to work lots and lots of overtime. Unless you are talking about the benefits + wages that everyone LOVES to quote when they say how much auto makers make.

I used to live south of Detroit and as a health care worker treated many auto maker employees. Often the talk would go into salary/benefits etc. Many of the people I am related to and my patients would easily make $29/hr with a high school level education. Thats about 60k and with overtime they were easily in the 80k level. They had free health ins. and in addition to vacation time they got 2 weeks off with pay during the summer shut down period. When a worker needed physical therapy, they could drive to work, clock in, drive to therapy, drive back, work 2-3 hours and clock out. More senior employees could easily do nothing all day and put all the work on the newbies.

Making this kind of money and benefits, I thought the union protection encourages taking advantage of the system. I have a college degree and did not make $29/hr out of school let alone high school. While I believe that every person should be able to make a living wage, this seemed excessive to the type of job these people did. I wonder what these people will do once laid off without an education. I blame the unions for creating this type of situation to begin with...

 

[JimFitz]

I just wanted to add that I do not think GM Top Execs should be making millions at ALL. If they were "knocking the skin off the ball" and turning huge profits then yes, they should be rewarded. Wagoner should be shown the door.

 

[S. C.]

It was kinda easy to figure it out with your location and knowledge of all this.

I find it interesting that you assumed I was married to an auto worker based on that and not that I could possibly be an auto worker!






BTW: I have been an auto worker for 30yrs.

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

I am not a fan of unions but I don't think the UAW has killed the auto industry. It is definitely due to poor management. While the Japanese were developing workable hybrid technology, we were still building gas guzzling SUVs.
American cars may drive well, but their design and efficiency is horrible. Detroit needs a complete overhaul.

 

[natenapril]

Yikes is exactly what I said too. With a few other "words" that went along with it.

I am someone that needs realiability and has no patience for things that don't work. And that does not mean just cars. I have been begging my DH to get a new car because I just cannot stand my Explorer but now, unfortunately, it is worth nothing because it is an SUV.

I am glad that you have had good luck though!

Kristine

I am with you there. We bought a 2005 Expedition in 2005. Brand new. It had maybe 40 miles on it when we drove it off the lot. Nothing but trouble. I was stuck when the car wouldn't start and it was -10--25 when I got off work. After walking home and ending up with frostbite the POS was traded in and we lost 11,000 We bought a GMC and have not looked back. So while some American vehicles are junk not ALL of them are. Our GMC has been a great vehicle with no problems.

 

[S. C.]

I used to live south of Detroit and as a health care worker treated many auto maker employees. Often the talk would go into salary/benefits etc. Many of the people I am related to and my patients would easily make $29/hr with a high school level education. Thats about 60k and with overtime they were easily in the 80k level. They had free health ins. and in addition to vacation time they got 2 weeks off with pay during the summer shut down period. When a worker needed physical therapy, they could drive to work, clock in, drive to therapy, drive back, work 2-3 hours and clock out. More senior employees could easily do nothing all day and put all the work on the newbies.

Making this kind of money and benefits, I thought the union protection encourages taking advantage of the system. I have a college degree and did not make $29/hr out of school let alone high school. While I believe that every person should be able to make a living wage, this seemed excessive to the type of job these people did. I wonder what these people will do once laid off without an education. I blame the unions for creating this type of situation to begin with...

If they were able to clock in and then drive to therapy it would be a work related injury. I am a senior senority employee and always do my own work. Have never clocked out to go to anything medical related.

I've worked for GM for 30 yrs as a line worker and in production. Last year i worked lots of overtime, 10 and 11 hr days with lots of weekends and grossed 89K! After taxes was a whole lot less. Trust me giving up my free time and working all that overtime was not easy.

Does your job give you paid vacation time? Most do!

We are forced to use one of those weeks of vacation time during that 2 week summer shut down. Not complaining just stating a fact.

How long ago did you live in Detroit? It's been quite awhile since GM has hired full time employees. Last time full time employees were hired straight out of high school I don't believe we were making anywhere near $29 an hour. In our plant the lowest senority employees have 10 years with GM.

What a lot of people are unaware of is there are lots of skilled and college educated people that work in the auto factories. Just a little annoyed that some assume all auto factory workers are uneducated.

 

[S. C.]

I'm just going by a bunch of guy's that come over to the house, talk shop and drink beer. There's a bar across from the plant and they come over down a bunch of beer and race back across. I realize it's only about a hundred out of a full shift but it makes you wonder how dedicated these people are towards their job.

I would say that would be during their lunch time since they race back across the street to get back to work.

Wonder how the bars survive once they are back on the job? Unless of course there are other patrons not dedicated to their jobs while downing a beer or two during lunch.

 

[S. C.]

I am not a fan of unions but I don't think the UAW has killed the auto industry. It is definitely due to poor management. While the Japanese were developing workable hybrid technology, we were still building gas guzzling SUVs.
American cars may drive well, but their design and efficiency is horrible. Detroit needs a complete overhaul.

The demand was there for the SUV's and trucks. They were some of the top sellers untill gas prices skyrocketed.



From #1hockeymoms post

Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?

Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read the link below and you will discover, “What’s equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan. ”

Did you catch that?=2 0 A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have.
http://www.greencar.com/features/2008greencar/

 

[#1hockeymom]

...What a lot of people are unaware of is there are lots of skilled and college educated people that work in the auto factories. Just a little annoyed that some assume all auto factory workers are uneducated.

Just wanted to bump this fact back up!

 

[mickeysgal]

The demand was there for the SUV's and trucks. They were some of the top sellers untill gas prices skyrocketed.

Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read the link below and you will discover, “What’s equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan. ”

Did you catch that?=2 0 A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have.
http://www.greencar.com/features/2008greencar/

I'm glad to see SUV's matching sedan mileages in stead of wallowing in the mud at a far lower mpg. However, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't see 21 mpg city as all that wonderful of an accomplishment. Detroit needs to work a lot harder to bring themselves up to speed and create something that has far, far better fuel economy. 21 city is not going to make me get up and buy one. Just my opinion.

 

[Csaks]

I would say that would be during their lunch time since they race back across the street to get back to work.

Wonder how the bars survive once they are back on the job? Unless of course there are other patrons not dedicated to their jobs while downing a beer or two during lunch.

I'm guessing it was afternoon shift, 8 or 9 at night. The rest of us had finished working for the day . The staff would start putting out buckets of beer on every table and lots of it. A wave of people would come across the little bridge and with in a 1/2 an hour be gone. Most would drink more than just a couple, it was an education in power drinking. I would never dream of drinking during work hours. I operate a big excavator and with a flick of the wrist could kill someone so easy, my guys trust me with their lives when we are doing sewers and sneeking a beer or two or three is not an option at lunch.

How did that little local bar survive I guess the same as the little burger joint, a big part of their income was the workers across the street. What's going to happen when the truck plant closes is any ones guess but it doesn't look good.

I'm guessing things are alot different were you are, as I said earlier I'm going by friends and watching what goes on in the area. I don't work there, never want to, I need something more challenging than putting a battery in 280 trucks a shift every day, week after week, month after month. For those that do it my hat is off to you, it would drive me to drink.

 

[SeeVee]

More details:

UAW killed the auto industry along with poor management.

GM should be left to fail and not bailed out by the government.

That, I can agree with. If more of these large corporations realized that Uncle Sam and his 300 million Nieces and Nephews (thats us) are not going to bail them out, they might make better business decisions.

 

[SeeVee]

Most union workers only make 14.50 an hour right now. This is about 2/3's of the plant workers per UAW contract. How little did you want them to make to satisfy your superiority complex over a *shudder* blue collar worker. Would minimum wage satisfy you? Now they can't even afford to buy the product that they build and they get very limited benefits.

How about a little linkie winkie on that?

In 2006 a typical UAW-represented assembler at GM earned $27.81 per hour of straight-time labor. A typical UAW-represented skilled-trades worker at GM earned $32.32 per hour of straight-time labor. Between 2003 and 2006, the wages of a typical UAW assembler have grown at about the same rate as wages in the private sector as a whole – roughly 9 percent. Part of that growth is due to cost-of-living adjustments that have helped prevent inflation from eroding the purchasing power of workers’ wages.

Straight from the UAW website http://www.uaw.org/barg/07fact/fact02.php

 

[SeeVee]

Point of order: 10 years ago, EVERYONE made more money.
Regarding the "It's not my job" attitude, I can testify that this attitude was alive and kicking amongst union workers. Unfortunately, many of those same workers are now saying it to each other because their job went overseas.

Irony is the dull blade that cuts sharply every so often, yes?

Point of order Poppycock!

My salary has steadily increased over the last 10 years.....but then again, I am not in a sector that is dominated by illegal alien labor.

 

[dvcgirl]

I guess this whole thread is a moot point. The Big Three will get their bailout. And since the economy is only going to get worse over the next six months and their sales aren't likely to get much better......

They'll be back for another handout in six months.

 

[#1hockeymom]

How about a little linkie winkie on that?

In 2006 a typical UAW-represented assembler at GM earned $27.81 per hour of straight-time labor. A typical UAW-represented skilled-trades worker at GM earned $32.32 per hour of straight-time labor. Between 2003 and 2006, the wages of a typical UAW assembler have grown at about the same rate as wages in the private sector as a whole – roughly 9 percent. Part of that growth is due to cost-of-living adjustments that have helped prevent inflation from eroding the purchasing power of workers’ wages.

Straight from the UAW website http://www.uaw.org/barg/07fact/fact02.php

That would be the OLD contract.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/28/uaw-gm-contract-details-revealed-local-leaders-vote-unanimously/

 

[Csaks]

That would be the OLD contract.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/28/uaw-gm-contract-details-revealed-local-leaders-vote-unanimously/

Are you saying that someone 20 yrs in is now getting paid lower or just the new hires?
If it is just the new hires that's the way it should have been all along. I mean if I was there 20 yrs and some kid comes in and gets the same as me right off the street without working your way up, I'd be a little peeved. Or is the job that easy that someone can walk in and get up to speed just like that. I doubt it so they shouldn't be paid the same.

 

[Charade]

I'm glad to see SUV's matching sedan mileages in stead of wallowing in the mud at a far lower mpg. However, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't see 21 mpg city as all that wonderful of an accomplishment. Detroit needs to work a lot harder to bring themselves up to speed and create something that has far, far better fuel economy. 21 city is not going to make me get up and buy one. Just my opinion.

Well, the Tahoe weighs 5500 lbs and the standard gas model gets only 14 city. So going from 14 to 21 (a 50% increase) is a big improvement especially if you need that kind of vehicle.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Are you saying that someone 20 yrs in is now getting paid lower or just the new hires?
If it is just the new hires that's the way it should have been all along. I mean if I was there 20 yrs and some kid comes in and gets the same as me right off the street without working your way up, I'd be a little peeved. Or is the job that easy that someone can walk in and get up to speed just like that. I doubt it so they shouldn't be paid the same.

New hires. You can click through that link and get all kinds of union contract info. No person in my family is a member of an auto union, nor were they when they worked for the Big Three. I grew up in and around the auto industry and obviously it is very dear to my heart. If you live around here its on the news 24/7, in our newspapers, and on our tv and radio.

 

[HumanLegs]

While I am extremely happy that Flint got the contract for the volt, the fact stands that the hybrid engine and battery cost much more to produce. The battery alone costs over 7k, closer to 8k. Instead of just an engine and a transaxle, you have an electric motor, a battery, a whole bunch of different modules to control the system, plus a regenerative braking system.

Yes, I think we need to produce these, but will the general public buy them? The small cars that are being sold in Europe cheap, won't pass the emission and safety standards in the USA.

I've looked and it looks like the Chevy Malibu Hybrid runs about $22,000. That's what I would consider normal price for a new vehicle. Ford Focus runs about $17,000. A Chevy Silverado E85 is $29,400. So I guess you're right that hybrid's aren't necessarily cheaper to buy but they're about the same price as non hybrid vehicles. Also, if you have a diesel vehicle all you'd need to do is change the hoses to silicone and you can use E85. That would certainly save alot of money in the long term. http://www.hybridcars.com/

As far as the general public buying them I think they would. When you figure gas is $3/gallon it's really a drain on the pocketbook. I think if some people would really do the math they'd realize that hybrids, and plugins, and biodiesel is the way to go. Yes, at first you might fork over more money but in the long term the money you save on gas would be worth it. I also don't think we'd need to buy the cars made in Europe. Americans certainly have this technology now and are able to build these cars. I know we in Flint are more than willing to build these vehicles.