No Turkey for Fiat Chrysler, Unifor as Monday Strike Deadline Looms

That's easy. Each "local" represents an entire company, and there are only three companies in the industry. The union chiefs can take the world view, but the locals exist only in their little corner of the world, operating within their company's corporate culture. On their own, the locals can be their own worst enemy. The Union isn't so much a single union as a federation of unions. The relationships among them is political/parliamentary, with a lot of messy internal squabbling. That's why union negotiators try to impose a "cone of silence" on negotiations, or the company involved can get the upper hand by playing off the squabblers. This is how ALL collective unions work/don't work, from the UAW, to Steelworkers, Aerospace, or any large union dealing with a few large corporations in a capital-intensive industry where it's difficult for new competitors to get in. As bad as it looks, those unions are much stronger than unions in weak industries where it's easier for a new player to get in, and there aren't big corporations to set the standard.

No such thing as " sick time" , unless you want to eat 8 hours pay. " Slowing the line down" ...depending on your disciplinary record , "restricting out put" will buy you at least a 30 day suspension, more than likely dismissal . Failure to complete your job assignment ? Depending on the severity , and the intention. Discipline would start at 3 days, and with "progressive discipline "could escalate to 30 days , and.possible dismissal . Now, if the Union promotes, or sanctions such Job action, that can lead to law suits ,court orders, and restitution, against the union, and or the leaders. That was the way the game was played 10 years ago, when the Union was in far stronger position . Me thinks , that in 2016 the penalties would far more severe .

"leaving a loose nut or two in the bottom of the door……" That didn't work out too well for the Republicans and Democrats.

@mikey Must be a minion. WORK TO RULE works and can't be disciplined. You are just removing all the little things extra that you do that technically are not part of your job assignment. This means getting the boot lickers on board.

@onion head "Must be a minion"? Mikey is a rare and very valuable voice on this board, someone with decades of real experience in the plant. I spent my corporate career in management, but I respect Mikey's honest reports on the reality of life on the line much more than I do the right-wing polemics of many others who comment here.

@Lou_BC Well, who knew those loose nuts would work their way to the steering wheel and take control?

@ect "work to rule" looks like onion head has a vague understanding of what that is. Yes, it entails doing just your job but in the context of an industrial assembly line it is extremely well defined. That has been an industry complaint even before job action starts. They claim inflexibility from the workers due to the narrow focus of contract language. That same narrow focus is a pain to employers wanting flexibility but it is a huge benefit when it comes to worker conduct. In other unionized settings "work to rule" can be an extremely powerful tool. Hospitals are a prime example. Nursing staff perform a huge array of functions that aren't in their job description. That would be things like clerical work, housekeeping, and food delivery. "Work to rule" is more effective than striking in that sort of setting.

@ect Lou_BC. Nothing "vague" about my understanding.Been in it for 30 years.You're right the current "work assignments" are clearly defined and have very little leeway.But there are countless areas where there are people going beyond that to keep the line moving.And countless creative ways to slow it down.You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.