Good read >>

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=122805

I wholeheartedly agree with points 4 and 5.

 

Amen!!!!

 

Hell has frozen over Finally a UAW contract that actually makes sense. Get working you three, "Time Starts Now..."

 

Unfortunately there really isn't much reason to celebrate even now. The UAW mysteriously ended up in a concessionary mood about the same time that they ended up with absolutely nothing to offer a newly private Chrysler Corporation. Thus the hurry to seal a deal with GM, however much ground they may have to give up to get it, is hardly a surprise...they were trying to preempt Chrysler's coming invitation for the UAW to take a long walk down a very short pier.

If Ford and GM were smart they would use this to pull what it is left of the rug out from under the UAW.

 

I think the UAW feared a prolonged standoff with GM would end the way it did with CAT: Bad press for CAT for awhile but in the end their stock's a rocket and the UAW's a non-factor. In their current state I don't think any of the automakers are beyond taking this approach and the UAW knows that too.

So, in the end all they can do is try their best to ensure the UAW's long-term survival, which is essentially what this contract breaks down to. Minimal promises which amount to ensuring the Union's surival, not any employees in particular. GM, if anything, missed a golden opportunity by giving up what little they did.

 

I don't see how the arithmetic of a sustained UAW presence in the American auto industry can work, personally. The problem is that with global free trade, there is no way for an American auto maker to pay American workers high wages and still remain competitive.

One of the stipulations of this contract was that GM would promise not to ship jobs out of the country (a la Ford building the Fusion in Mexico). The irony here, of course, is that the Fusion costs much less to build in Mexico, and yet its quality is considered to be the best in the history of Ford North America.

I'm not sure "American-made" cars can continue to be made in America without killing the American automakers. Not unless American workers are prepared to work for MUCH less.

It's another big reason why they're targetting the Chinese market so actively. It's the new frontier where they can build cars for less money and then have a potential market of 1.3 billion people. Four times the size of a potential North American market with reduced building costs. When you're hurting in your home market, that's gotta seem like a dream-come-true.

 

Of course there is the other route American auto makers can take to actually reap the benefits of production within US borders....a very high tech approach employing state of the art levels of automation leading to world beating productivity. When implemented correctly the U.S. still does this better than anybody else and several young (read:unencumbered by Unions, etc) American corporations are using this approach to beat competition from everywhere into submission.

The problem is that taking this approach inherently leads to fewer employees being necessary, and this in turn would lead to even greater cuts in this area by the auto makers which will leave the UAW just as unhappy. This approach is truly the natural progression of things with basic economics leading to a shift in the types and areas of employment from time to time. It isn't always a kind process, and the UAW might not like it, but it is necessary.

 

I think that's expecting a miracle from companies that are swimming in red ink and who only just recently made quality inroads against their import rivals.

Best they learn to walk properly first before worrying about running the Boston Marathon.