UAW Boss: "People Want To Reward Our Members"
Published: November 18th, 2010
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Let me say this as clear as I can, I do not think there will be any concessions in 2011. People want to reward our members and it will be a key component of the 2011 bargaining. When the industry comes back, just like we’re sharing in the downside we’re going to share in the upside. That’s a key foundation of what we’re doing in 2011.
UAW President Bob King gives his best “we will fight them on the beaches” impression, telling Reuters that his union has sacrificed enough, thanks. And though the people who want to reward UAW members are notably absent from public debate, that assertion wasn’t nearly as double-take-worthy as King’s opinion that
There’s no competitive gap between Ford, GM and Chrysler right now
Huh?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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Look, the UAW has on a long-term basis failed its members in a wide number of ways: Could it stop the exporting of american auto and parts assembly jobs which started way back in the 1970s? No. Could it stop the flight of auto plants from the rust belt to right-to-work states? No. Did it support Democrat candidates (Clinton/Gore) that sold out all American workers by giving China Most Favored Nation trading status? Yes. Did it stop the two-tiered wage system which royally screws all new union workers compared to those already in? No. I was working at Delco Electronics in Kokomo when they were starting up their second Mexican plant in Reynosa (resulting in the eventual loss of 100s of jobs in Kokomo). Meanwhile, the local UAW (292) leaders were fighting for how many feet it was from their work areas to a snack machine, and how many parking lot lights there were. Our local plant agreement was a book 1/2" thick! Smart.
All but the UAW itself understand how parasitic the UAW truly is. There was a time that they were needed, but that time has long been over. Why should they be rewarded? For letting their greed almost kill the American auto industry?
Looking at King's picture makes me think of the Hannah Arendt line about Adolf Eichmann: "the banality of evil". He is surely evil but looks like a mere unpleasant midlevel bureaucrat.
Ford needs to open a major new plant in the South as a warning shot to the UAW. Or maybe they will just wait until the UAW pressures them again before getting on the phone to the governor in Georgia and ask about new plant sites.