The UAW's Recipe Against Losses: Spend Some More

by Bertel Schmitt

May 20th, 2012 5:08 AM

the uaw s recipe against losses spend some more

It’s said that people do resemble their dogs. The UAW surely looks more and more like the GM of old. For years, the UAW has spent more than it took, forcing it to live off its savings. Once again, the UAW wants to change this – two years from now. Until then, it will happily go on making losses.

Said Bob King to Reuters:

“We are spending a lot of money, and we’re investing money in organizing. And we’re investing money in rebuilding the ability of the UAW to win good contracts and win good legislation for our membership.”

King told Reuters that in two years, the UAW wants to be cash-flow positive by adding members and managing costs.

In the five years from 2007 to 2011, the UAW sold $264 million in assets. In 2011, the UAW increased its membership by 1 percent. According to Reuters calculations, the union would have to increase its membership by 50 percent to break even, assuming the current rate of spending.

#BertelSchmitt #BobKing #Losses #Uaw #Unions

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7 of 16 comments

-Cole- on May 20, 2012

When's the next golf course. that's what I want to know

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"scarey" on May 20, 2012

[quote]The only tricky part for the UAW is timing the next industry crisis to occur during a Democrat administration.[/quote] It usually works out to about 1 in 3 administrations being the Democrats, due to the quality and credibility of their candidates.

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Dave M. on May 20, 2012

"No doubt the UAW will take great pride in getting the other 94% of the tax payers to pick up the tab for the 6% employed in the auto industry, thereby allowing them to continue to live large on the taxpayer dime." The UAW can't hold a candle to the farm industry or social security/medicare welfare industries. Uncle Sugar helps millions. You'll need him too at some point in time if not already...

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- Highdesertcat on May 21, 2012
  
  Dave, the farm industry feeds people. The social security/Medicare welfare industries were initiated and enacted by the Democrats and actually take care of people. The UAW only takes and gives nothing in return. The UAW has damaged the US auto industry beyond repair and that's why the transplants opened assembly plants in the South away from the UAW sphere of influence. Toyota and the other foreigners remembered the NUMMI plant in California and said "never again". My dad was a union man but even he became disheartened by what the unions did to employers. There was a time for unions, but these days the government has so many regulations and mandates in effect that unions add nothing but expense to the bottom line. I'm already on social security retirement and Medicare. I paid for it, and now I'm collecting it. I hope to live long enough to see social security and Medicare go broke.
  
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- Juniper on May 21, 2012
  
  @highdesertcat I thought you were lifer military, you aren't on either. Or am I wrong.
  
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- Highdesertcat on May 21, 2012
  
  @highdesertcat I was lifer military, paid my dues and now collect social security AND Medicare, as well as VA benefits for my war damages during Viet Nam and TriCare for life for my military retirement. Relax, it's not much, and I pick up more each month in chump change hauling brick and tile and maintaining rentals for my wife's dad. Even in the military we had to pay for all those embellished social entitlement programs like unemployment benefits, workmen's comp, social security, medicare, military life and health insurances, but many never get to collect. Even though we paid for unemployment benefits, for instance, most states preclude a retired military vet from drawing unemployment benefits because they already have a retirement income. Ditto with workmen's comp. And we can never qualify for food stamps or welfare, even though welfare recipients get more money than we do in our military retirement pay. Double standard there. We pay in but we can't get it out. And for my wife it's even worse. Her income was infinitely greater than mine, and in fact I actually get an amount equal to half her social security retirement each month added to my measly social security retirement check. No kidding! She gets the full amount she is entitled to and I get another half of her check added to mine so that we both get about the same. Even so, considering what SHE paid into the system for decades, we won't even come close to getting it all back even if we both lived to age 150. How's that for a pyramid scheme, eh?
  
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SCE to AUX on May 20, 2012

The UAW is cannibalistic; they'll keep their upper officials in pay until Bob King turns out the lights, while the rank and file they claim to represent are devoured. With membership having shrunk 75% over 30 years, I'm amazed the peasants haven't figured this out.

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