Analyst: auto strikes are 'insane'

Strikes against automakers, like the walkout Thursday at GM's Delta Township plant , hurt more than the company.

[one that left GR]

Like this is new news? The auto unions have been dragging everyone down in this great state for years! I say let them wither on the vine and when their gone we can get back to building a real economy.

[TD Jensen]

The day of the Union is dead and the sooner it is buried, the better.

[The Voice Of Reason]

AMEN! The UAW is breaking the backs of business, and thereby the employees. Good riddance.

[Chip]

Its about time an article was written about this. The union is driving the wages to high and jobs are in turn leaving the state, how can you blame them.

[hollander]

I have to agree w the analyst. This is a really stupid time to strike. The economy is a wreck. Gas prices rise daily. These vehicles are nice. I normally abhor big vehicles w lousy mpg, but the Outlook is really pretty cool! They should take some time to look around @ all of the people in this state who are really hurting & reevaluate the situation. This is dumb! Maybe GM will think about shifting production south of the border where they would kill for this type of wage.

[Pro Union]

I can't believe the posts on here. Without the Unions, Michigan would be like Alabama or Arkansas. Respect the people that built the State.

[Chris]

Pro Union.... Have you heard MI passed Arkansas for poorest state in the country?

[money money money]

i didnt hear the the union workers crying about the bonuses every year! year after year. now that their forced to submit they want to cry fowl. please! go cry to someone who got the same pay. the rest of us had to support your sorry lazy asses all these years. oh my nail, stop the line! i broke a nail. save it,because we ain`t buying your over priced junk any more! your union was so great! they screwed you out of jobs. way to keep paying for a mouthpiece. bunch of dummies! hoffa died a long time ago and the union should have died with em! the rest of us real workers, will take our chances with the private ownership companies with no union! this has been coming for a long time. the only real problem is the workers that really worked for a living. you know, the mom and pop companies. well their left holding the bag for the union idiots that did`nt deserve the wages to begin with!

[Kyle]

Pro Union wrote:

I can't believe the posts on here. Without the Unions, Michigan would be like Alabama or Arkansas. Respect the people that built the State.

While I am very pro-union, there has to be a line. They go way to far in many cases. Unfortunately, Alabama and Arkansas economies are in better shape than Michigan's. Toyota and Honda are starting to build the majority of their cars sold in the us in plants in the southeast. The unions are absolutely neccesary but if the flex their muscles too much, any business is going to look at more economical options for labor, especially when the economy is in such a turbulent state. It's sad that my Honda was assembled in Ohio when my mom's Chrysler was assembled in Mexico...

[JOHN WAYNE-RANDOLPH SCOTT]

Kyle wrote:

<quoted text>
While I am very pro-union, there has to be a line. They go way to far in many cases. Unfortunately, Alabama and Arkansas economies are in better shape than Michigan's. Toyota and Honda are starting to build the majority of their cars sold in the us in plants in the southeast. The unions are absolutely neccesary but if the flex their muscles too much, any business is going to look at more economical options for labor, especially when the economy is in such a turbulent state. It's sad that my Honda was assembled in Ohio when my mom's Chrysler was assembled in Mexico...

WELL SAID

[just wait]

Kyle wrote:

<quoted text>
While I am very pro-union, there has to be a line. They go way to far in many cases. Unfortunately, Alabama and Arkansas economies are in better shape than Michigan's. Toyota and Honda are starting to build the majority of their cars sold in the us in plants in the southeast. The unions are absolutely neccesary but if the flex their muscles too much, any business is going to look at more economical options for labor, especially when the economy is in such a turbulent state. It's sad that my Honda was assembled in Ohio when my mom's Chrysler was assembled in Mexico...

hey bud, just wait the rest of everything you buy will be made the same way. thanks for the strong arm of the union! once again they proven that there useless!

[internet troll]

Analyst: auto strikes are 'insane'
Yes, and water is wet. The sky is blue. Ice is cold. Granholm is an idiot.
All of these are true, yet none of them is new news. When are we going to stop kicking this dead horse?

[Ryan]

Pro Union wrote:

I can't believe the posts on here. Without the Unions, Michigan would be like Alabama or Arkansas. Respect the people that built the State.

Yes and these people have gotten way to greedy. I say if they want to strike that is fine. Fire everyone of them and hire in new people. There are plenty of Michiganders who just want the opportunity to work and support thier families. The UAW needs to be thankful for what they have instead of trying to squeeze more money out every time a contract expires. IF you don't like your work situation then find a new job and let someone who will work in.

[peter]

I agree with the analyst. Union members are being misled into believing a strike will improve their lot in life. The reality is that their jobs are going away at an extremely alarming rate and will never come back! Until US auto makers, especially GM, Ford & Chrysler get back on their feet, strikes only serve to help foreign auto makers by making them (foreign auto makers) stronger and increase their market shares in the industry. US autos cannot compete now both in price & quality with their foreign competitors and strikes and higher costs will only make things worse. The union workers need to wake up - a raise in wage & better benefits does no good if there are no jobs left for them!

[dogeatdog]

Pro Union wrote:

I can't believe the posts on here. Without the Unions, Michigan would be like Alabama or Arkansas. Respect the people that built the State.

.... the same people that are NOW killing this State.

and I might add....

Fire Millen, Grandmole, and Kwame!!!!

[Hard Worker]

I agree with the analyst. Please let me have a high school diploma (maybe), make $25-$50 per hour. Then triple that if I work on Sunday. All for repetitively putting a screw into a piece of metal. While our school teachers are paying for supplies out of their own pocket. I can't beleive how ignorant some people are wanting more money for a job that can easily be outsourced for a fraction of what they would pay in (fill in 3rd world country/emerging economy). Soon enough those same people will be working for a Chinese company in Michigan for minimum wage. People need to see the big picture and understand that Michigan is no longer going to be able to sustain such shortsidedness. Good luck with your strike, hopefully they don't take everything and ship it to Mexico while you are holding those signs!

[Lib Dem]

Pro Union wrote:

I can't believe the posts on here. Without the Unions, Michigan would be like Alabama or Arkansas. Respect the people that built the State.

Right on brother! If the auto companies want to keep all their money for the top execs, then shut them down. We don't need to take their crap. Either they pay us what we deserve or we take away their income. If auto companies don't want to take care of us, Jennifer Granholm will take care of us. She's bringing industry to Michigan from countries that understand the skills of the American worker.

[dogeatdog]

Lib Dem wrote:

<quoted text>
Right on brother! If the auto companies want to keep all their money for the top execs, then shut them down. We don't need to take their crap. Either they pay us what we deserve or we take away their income. If auto companies don't want to take care of us, Jennifer Granholm will take care of us. She's bringing industry to Michigan from countries that understand the skills of the American worker.

No, I think strikers keep doing what they are doing and Companies will take away strikers income.

Keep drinking that Kool-Aid.

[Seenitbefore]

When are people going to get a clue. The UAW is not breaking the back(s) of business. Business is breaking it's own back. In the 80s the company I worked for paid me $45 per hour wages and benefits. They charged me out to the customer at $85 per hour. That's nearly 100% increase over my actual cost to the company...for the companies benefit.

The point is my labors were self supporting AND supported the rest of the people in the company.

That's not to say the rest of people in "the company" aren't important to the company surviving. It's to say that I, and the rest of the people in my capacity, were the ones that the customer needed to get the "product" they needed.

So where did this notion that the people who actually produce the product that the customer needs should be paid so much less than the others. Because in a manufacturing business there are more who actually build the product than those who don't?

Talk about whaaa whaaa whaaaing. It's acceptable for the top management that make anywhere from high six figure to seven figure salaries to also get their health care and retirement paid for by the company when with that salary they can, and should be able to, afford their own, PLUS get million dollar severance packages when they are fired for whatever reason, which gets added into the price of the cars...in this instance. YET, it's not acceptable for the price of the factory workers health care and retirement to be added in when it was they who physically produced the product the entire company relied on.

And just what does this "auto analyst" produce that makes them worth the, probably six figure, income they receive?

It's not the high cost of labor or the businesses leaving this country or anything else of that sort that is ruining this country's economy. It's loss of bastardization of priorities. Everything else just follows that.

[Seenitbefore]

Oooops. Correction. It's the bastardization of priorities.