CAW's Hargrove To Detroit: Piss Off You Back-Stabbing Bastards
I'm paraphrasing. In fact, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union president Buzz Hargrove told Autoweek [sub] he'll play hardball when it's his union's turn to talk contracts next summer. There'll be no concessions from the CAW. As in none. Hargrove's fuming over the speed with which GM and Chryslerberus announced shutdowns and layoffs after the UAW approved their contracts. "This just reinforces my thinking that you can't change a situation with two-tier wages, VEBAs and concessions." Then in the "DUH!" statement of the year, Hargrove observed if Chrysler's workers had known what was coming they wouldn't have approved the contract. "You'd have to be blind not to see that it was hidden," he added. So… uh… did he just say the UAW was stupid for ratifing the agreement?
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As a Canadian in all seriousness, where did the CAW get this clown ? Whenever this guy speaks every toilet in Ontario simultaneously flushes.
Poor Buzz, He purchased a "Jeep" last year and from what I hear has regreted it ever since ie from a Sedan Car to a Jeep lol. Buzz gets re elected every time he has to run for his office, someone must like him, met him once at Tim Hortons, great experience!
Mikey, I agree, in the grand scheme of things one doesn't want high paying jobs, regardless of what they are doing, to disappear. What I resent is that the UAW seems to believe that they deserve some kind of special government treatment. When Nortel tanked, vast numbers of highly educated people lost their jobs. As they were all in the same community, they had a hell of a time competing with one another for the same jobs. In fact, when I went car shopping, one of the salesmen was a former Nortel engineer with a masters. No one was screaming for the government to save their jobs. Why is the government somehow 'obligated' to save UAW jobs? BTW, I grew up in a town with a huge Ford plant, and I know plenty of people who worked at Ford. I have lots of stories about the workers at Ford. If half of them are true...the UAW is even less deserving of sympathy than people realize.
In 2002 the CAD$ only traded at .63USD$ Auto mfgs. could make huge profits on the exchange. The quality of the vehicle was secondary on both sides of the border so it didn't matter who made what particular model. Now the CAD$ is at $1.07USD and heading UP. The Bush war machine has steadily sucked billions of those eroding USD$ out of the USA and now this once powerful currency is on shaky ground. Without a gold standard the value of any currency is only a reflection of the worlds perception of that countries worth. Buzz Hargrove is a toothless old dog with nothing to do but bark at anyone who will listen. Dark clouds are forming over the NA auto industry and Canadian workers will not be immune to the pain that is heading this way. If I was a CAW auto worker right now I would be very worried. Does Buzz honestly believe that the Canadian auto workers will be treated any differently then their US counterparts? And also does he really believe that anyone in Japan would buy a hemi powered Dodge Magnum or a 300 series behemoth? Where would they park it??? How would they afford the gasoline to go in it??? He has been singing the same old tune for so long that he doesn't realize how ridiculous or irrevelant that his arguments are. Buzz should get together with Bush....maybe these two great minds could figure out what went wrong???