Original Story: USAToday.com
PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — Boeing will pay $47 million to hundreds of current and former Southern California employees who are owed back pay and benefits, a union announced Friday. A Binghamton Employment Lawyer was involved with the case.
An arbitrator ruled against the aerospace giant in January and laid down guidelines for the payments and interest, but it took months to cull through records and decide how much each worker was owed, said Bill Dugovich, a spokesman for the Seattle-based Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
A union grievance filed 13 years ago claimed Chicago-based Boeing violated contracts with engineers and technical workers in Palmdale and at Edwards Air Force Base northeast of Los Angeles. A Corpus Christi Employment Lawyer had no comment.
The payments will be made in lump sums to 251 current and 233 former employees or their heirs.
The $47 million includes back pay, premium pay, interest, pension and 401(k) contributions along with interest.
The individual amounts range from a few dollars to around $400,000, with an average of nearly $100,000 per employee, Dugovich said. A Charleston Labor and Employment Lawyer suggested that may not be enough.
"Boeing spent more than a decade and countless dollars trying to break its contracts with these employees," Rich Plunkett, SPEEA's director of strategic development, said in a statement. "It's disappointing it took so long, but the employees prevailed."
Company labor spokesman Tim Healy said, "Boeing was disappointed with the arbitration ruling but we are working with SPEEA to fulfill the arbitrator's make-whole ruling." A Boston Employment Lawyer concurred with his statement.
The deadline to distribute the payments is May 21. Healy said Boeing hopes to send them out in early May.
Union officials have scheduled meetings around the country this month to explain the award to recipients. Meetings already have been held in Washington state. California meetings are scheduled next week in Long Beach, Palmdale and at Edwards, with other meetings planned in St. Louis, Philadelphia, South Carolina and Arizona, Dugovich said. The same goes for a Hudson Employment Lawyer.
Showing posts with label unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unions. Show all posts
21 April 2014
24 December 2012
Michigan's Right-To-Work and The Hostess Bankruptcy: The Two Non-Stories Of the Year
originally appeared in Forbes:
Op/ed editors are more privy than most to what’s on the minds of opinion writers. There’s no money to be made on this information, but editors know ahead of time what the commentariat considers news.
Over the past six weeks this editor of what is a consciously libertarian page has been inundated with all manner of downcast op/eds on the Hostess bankruptcy, followed by upbeat ones about Michigan instituting a right-to-work law. While the submissions were almost invariably good, it says here that they were a near total waste of time.
Consumers looking for quality home remodeling sources can work with a local professional that stands by it's work.
Considering Hostess, the fact that it’s a great brand with even better snack foods (my favorite are the chocolate chip muffins) means that soon enough someone will buy the company out bankruptcy. Thank goodness. Bankruptcy, though trumped up by bank and car bailout apologists as code for disappearance, really only means a positive change of ownership.
Legal professionals working in the specialty of child abuse defense are located throughout the state of michigan.
Still, amid Hostess’s hurtle toward bankruptcy copious amounts of ink were spilled on how the snackmaker’s decline signaled the horrors of labor unions stuck in the past. About this, labor unions are stuck in the past for presuming that the very investors who set wages will give in to their wage demands, but that’s really beside the point.
Quality refrigeration and walk-in coolers from SRC Refrigeration are available for restaurants and commercial businesses.
Not asked enough amid Hostess’s decline was why its management employed American workers to begin with. Forget about the fact that the workers were unionized and led by unions demanding absurd levels of compensation, the better question was why Hostess snacks were being baked in the U.S. at all.
Mass production of sugary U.S. goods is very much yesterday’s work, so for so many conservative and libertarian commentators to frame the Hostess story as one of profit-seeking management beset by gluttonous unions was for them to miss the real story. It wasn’t one about an iconic brand thrown into bankruptcy by greedy unions; rather the real, unreported story was that Hostess’s decision to bake its goods in the U.S. was a waste of limited labor, and as such, anti-profit.
If not by labor unions, the very presumption of Hostess’s management that it could profitably mass produce Hostess snacks in the U.S. ensured its future bankruptcy, or departure from the U.S. Of course when Hostess is inevitably purchased, it’s a fair bet that its new owners will quickly shift production to Mexico or some reasonable facsimile.
The above will constitute a good story about free trade and the always healthy division of labor, though it’s a near certainty that when this happens, conservatives and libertarians who should know better will frame the out-migration as evidence of the horrors of labor unions. Not defending unions for a second (though individuals should be allowed to sell their labor any way they wish, including from within unions), they’re really not the Hostess story.
Moving to last week, economically depressed and unionized Michigan adopted a right-to-work law that will give the individual the freedom to not pay dues and not join a union in a unionized workplace. Hysterics on the left talked up the cruelty of such an anti-worker law, but the real truth there is that those who feel their needs are better served by unions will still be free to join them.
On the right, those made downcast by Hostess’s bankruptcy were positively ecstatic about what had transpired in the Wolverine state. In a sense their excitement was warranted when we consider that the right to free association is one of our most fundamental ones. The shame is that states can restrict such a right as is.
After that, there’s really no story to the story that captivated so many who lean capitalist. Indeed, if it’s true that investors, not CEOs, ultimately set wages, and it is, good luck finding investors willing to fund such a labor intensive business in today’s United States. Labor intensive production has long been moving offshore, and that’s been a good thing for the economy as U.S. workers migrated to higher value service work.
About the above, those who should once again know better would cite unions as the cause of work being moved offshore, but this would be a false read. The better answer is that basic economics has pushed low value work out of the United States. As evidenced by low factory pay in China, investors have long understood that the work is worth the price of a Starbucks latte – and falling – on a daily basis, so factory jobs would have left no matter the status of labor unions in the United States.
Much as the economic nostalgists in our midst might wish otherwise, factory labor is yesterdays’ work, and the pay is all the evidence we need. If ever manufacturing jobs come roaring back to the U.S., we’ll know we’re in trouble. Investors loathe backwards moving economies, and manufacturing screams blast to the past. Enough said.
Of course union bashers will trot out statistics showing that job creation is greater in right-to-work states, but it seems here the economists who divine these statistics are mistaking cause and effect. Indeed, what investor would commit capital to any kind of business that has the potential to be unionized as is?
Instead, it’s probably a safe bet that states which coddle unions are generally less pro business than are states that don’t. Businesses that can be unionized increasingly don’t make sense (see the bankruptcies of airlines and car companies, plus their friends in Washington) absent political pull, so the existence or lack thereof of a right-to-work law wouldn’t matter much in today’s advanced economy. But businesses to varying degrees migrate to the environments most conducive to business, which likely explains the job disparity.
Back to Hostess, one can only hope it’s sold soon so that its numerous devotees can start enjoying its snacks again. As for Michigan, it should be applauded for embracing a law that is pro business; the problem again that unions lost economic relevance long ago. Because they did, the Hostess/union story is a non sequitur, while the Michigan one is mostly meaningless as it applies to the state’s economic health.
Op/ed editors are more privy than most to what’s on the minds of opinion writers. There’s no money to be made on this information, but editors know ahead of time what the commentariat considers news.
Over the past six weeks this editor of what is a consciously libertarian page has been inundated with all manner of downcast op/eds on the Hostess bankruptcy, followed by upbeat ones about Michigan instituting a right-to-work law. While the submissions were almost invariably good, it says here that they were a near total waste of time.
Consumers looking for quality home remodeling sources can work with a local professional that stands by it's work.
Considering Hostess, the fact that it’s a great brand with even better snack foods (my favorite are the chocolate chip muffins) means that soon enough someone will buy the company out bankruptcy. Thank goodness. Bankruptcy, though trumped up by bank and car bailout apologists as code for disappearance, really only means a positive change of ownership.
Legal professionals working in the specialty of child abuse defense are located throughout the state of michigan.
Still, amid Hostess’s hurtle toward bankruptcy copious amounts of ink were spilled on how the snackmaker’s decline signaled the horrors of labor unions stuck in the past. About this, labor unions are stuck in the past for presuming that the very investors who set wages will give in to their wage demands, but that’s really beside the point.
Quality refrigeration and walk-in coolers from SRC Refrigeration are available for restaurants and commercial businesses.
Not asked enough amid Hostess’s decline was why its management employed American workers to begin with. Forget about the fact that the workers were unionized and led by unions demanding absurd levels of compensation, the better question was why Hostess snacks were being baked in the U.S. at all.
Mass production of sugary U.S. goods is very much yesterday’s work, so for so many conservative and libertarian commentators to frame the Hostess story as one of profit-seeking management beset by gluttonous unions was for them to miss the real story. It wasn’t one about an iconic brand thrown into bankruptcy by greedy unions; rather the real, unreported story was that Hostess’s decision to bake its goods in the U.S. was a waste of limited labor, and as such, anti-profit.
If not by labor unions, the very presumption of Hostess’s management that it could profitably mass produce Hostess snacks in the U.S. ensured its future bankruptcy, or departure from the U.S. Of course when Hostess is inevitably purchased, it’s a fair bet that its new owners will quickly shift production to Mexico or some reasonable facsimile.
The above will constitute a good story about free trade and the always healthy division of labor, though it’s a near certainty that when this happens, conservatives and libertarians who should know better will frame the out-migration as evidence of the horrors of labor unions. Not defending unions for a second (though individuals should be allowed to sell their labor any way they wish, including from within unions), they’re really not the Hostess story.
Moving to last week, economically depressed and unionized Michigan adopted a right-to-work law that will give the individual the freedom to not pay dues and not join a union in a unionized workplace. Hysterics on the left talked up the cruelty of such an anti-worker law, but the real truth there is that those who feel their needs are better served by unions will still be free to join them.
On the right, those made downcast by Hostess’s bankruptcy were positively ecstatic about what had transpired in the Wolverine state. In a sense their excitement was warranted when we consider that the right to free association is one of our most fundamental ones. The shame is that states can restrict such a right as is.
After that, there’s really no story to the story that captivated so many who lean capitalist. Indeed, if it’s true that investors, not CEOs, ultimately set wages, and it is, good luck finding investors willing to fund such a labor intensive business in today’s United States. Labor intensive production has long been moving offshore, and that’s been a good thing for the economy as U.S. workers migrated to higher value service work.
About the above, those who should once again know better would cite unions as the cause of work being moved offshore, but this would be a false read. The better answer is that basic economics has pushed low value work out of the United States. As evidenced by low factory pay in China, investors have long understood that the work is worth the price of a Starbucks latte – and falling – on a daily basis, so factory jobs would have left no matter the status of labor unions in the United States.
Much as the economic nostalgists in our midst might wish otherwise, factory labor is yesterdays’ work, and the pay is all the evidence we need. If ever manufacturing jobs come roaring back to the U.S., we’ll know we’re in trouble. Investors loathe backwards moving economies, and manufacturing screams blast to the past. Enough said.
Of course union bashers will trot out statistics showing that job creation is greater in right-to-work states, but it seems here the economists who divine these statistics are mistaking cause and effect. Indeed, what investor would commit capital to any kind of business that has the potential to be unionized as is?
Instead, it’s probably a safe bet that states which coddle unions are generally less pro business than are states that don’t. Businesses that can be unionized increasingly don’t make sense (see the bankruptcies of airlines and car companies, plus their friends in Washington) absent political pull, so the existence or lack thereof of a right-to-work law wouldn’t matter much in today’s advanced economy. But businesses to varying degrees migrate to the environments most conducive to business, which likely explains the job disparity.
Back to Hostess, one can only hope it’s sold soon so that its numerous devotees can start enjoying its snacks again. As for Michigan, it should be applauded for embracing a law that is pro business; the problem again that unions lost economic relevance long ago. Because they did, the Hostess/union story is a non sequitur, while the Michigan one is mostly meaningless as it applies to the state’s economic health.
14 December 2012
Right to Work is signed into law in Michigan
originally appeared on CNBC:
A trained aerospace engineer applied his penchant for data analysis and systematic approach to his new job in early 2011: a Michigan state senator, recently elected and keen to create jobs in the faded industrial powerhouse.
Those skills paid off handsomely for the first-term Republican this week as Governor Rick Snyder signed into law bills co-sponsored by the new state senator that ban mandatory union membership, making Michigan the nation's 24th right-to-work state.
From outside Michigan Republican circles, it appeared that the Republican drive to weaken unions came out of the blue - proposed, passed and signed in a mere six days.
But the transformation had been in the making since March 2011 when state senator Colbeck and a fellow freshman, state Representative Mike Shirkey, first seriously considered legislation to ban mandatory collection of union dues as a condition of employment in Michigan. Such was their zeal, they even went to union halls to make their pitch and were treated respectfully, Colbeck said.
The upstarts were flirting with the once unthinkable, limiting union rights in a state that is the home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry and the birthplace of the nation's richest union, the United Auto Workers. For many Americans, Michigan is the state that defines organized labor.
But in a convergence of methodical planning and patient alliance building - the systematic approach - the reformers were on a roll, one that establishment Michigan Republicans came to embrace and promised to bankroll.
Republicans executed a plan - the timing, the language of the bills, the media strategy, and perhaps most importantly, the behind-the-scenes lobbying of top Republicans including Snyder.
They knew they would likely face an acrimonious battle of the kind they had seen over the last two years in the neighboring state of Wisconsin between Republican Governor Scott Walker and unions. Operating in plain sight but often overlooked, they worked to put the necessary building blocks in place.
This was a risky move across-the-board and I wanted to make sure all of my (Republican) caucus members would come back to serve with me after the next election, said the state senator, who ran for office after whetting his political appetite as a Tea Party activist.
November elections turned out to be key to the December move. House Republicans lost five seats, making passage in January a more difficult proposition than pushing through legislation in the lame-duck session.
But the November elections had also served up a crushing referendum defeat for unions, which Republicans saw as a sign that public opinion would be behind them in their move to curb organized labor's power.
Bottom Up
For his maiden initiative, Colbeck found inspiration in the troubling 2010 census numbers. Michigan was the only state in the United States to see its population fall during the previous decade and he wanted to reverse that trend. People will not come back without jobs, his thinking went. That's when Colbeck concluded that right-to-work was required to bring in new investment.
They built from the grassroots, bottom up, rather than from Snyder and top leaders in the legislature. If anything, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville was viewed as an obstacle because he represents a labor-friendly area.
Together with a former Republican member of the Michigan House who supported right-to-work, and a small group of other activists, they founded the "Michigan Freedom to Work" coalition, which sought to capitalize on Republican control of the state legislature and the governorship.
They held press conferences in June 2011 and in September 2011 took their show to the Republican Leadership Conference on Michigan's Mackinac Island. In attendance were Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry as well as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
As a sign of growing support among conservatives for right-to-work, there were hundreds of activists in attendance wearing yellow "Freedom To Work" T-shirts.
A group linked to the conservative billionaire Koch Brothers, owners of an energy and trading conglomerate who are reviled by unions and Democrats, held three conferences in Michigan in early 2012 on right-to-work featuring renowned conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Three Republican presidential candidates including Romney and some 1,500 activists attended the last conference on Feb. 25 sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, four days before Breibart's death.
The right-to-work campaign gathered momentum when the activists linked up with Dick DeVos, the son of Richard DeVos, co-founder of Michigan-based Amway, and Ronald Weiser, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush.
Richard DeVos was listed as the 67th richest person in America by Forbes magazine in 2012 with a net worth estimated at $5.1 billion. Amway sells consumer goods such as skincare and home cleaning supplies through some 3 million people and its parent company had sales of $10.9 billion in 2011.
Dick DeVos and Ron Weiser travel in a certain rarefied atmosphere, Colbeck said, holding his hand above his head to indicate how far above him they are.
The wealthy businessman and the political guru both worked to persuade wavering Republican lawmakers by assuring them they would have financial support if they faced recall elections over right-to-work, as happened in Wisconsin, Colbeck, Hoogendyk and other Republicans said.
Asked if he had promised campaign financial support to nervous Republicans, DeVos, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, said in a telephone interview that he is pleased if he was able to help encourage legislators to truly vote their conscience without fear of political retribution from the other side, which is known for its heavy-handed tactics.
By the summer of 2012, Colbeck said supporters had gathered enough Republican votes to pass right-to-work in Michigan, but decided to wait until after the November election.
According to Colbeck, we wanted to be able to focus on the candidates during the election rather than have this distraction.
Battle Over Ballot Measure
Republicans said a key factor in passage of right-to-work was what they consider an overreach by unions in Michigan.
On March 6 of this year, a union group including United Auto Workers union president Bob King announced that they would seek a November ballot initiative to enshrine in the Michigan constitution the right to collective bargaining.
It was a power grab. In retrospect it was a huge mistake, according to the Michigan state director of Americans For Prosperity, a conservative non-profit partially funded by the Koch brothers.
At a public meeting of labor and corporate officers last summer, Snyder said he deliberately pleaded with union leaders not to go forward with the ballot initiative.
If you do this, you should anticipate you're going to create a divisive discussion on right-to-work also, Snyder told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, recalling his remarks.
Unions pressed forward and some Republicans say that this essentially blew up a gentlemen's agreement between the unions and Republicans that neither would rock the boat on labor legislation in Michigan.
UAW President Bob King told Reuters that labor leaders pursued Proposal 2 because they expected a Republican push on right-to-work regardless.
The battle over Proposal 2 was nasty. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, a group backed by DeVos, spent $22.7 million to oppose it, according to campaign finance disclosures filed with the state. DeVos family members alone provided $1.75 million of its funding, the records show.
Protect Working Families, a group backed by a union coalition that included the UAW, spent $22.9 million supporting Proposal 2, according to reports filed with the state. The UAW contributed about $5.6 million to that committee.
The proposition went down to defeat by 57 percent to 43 percent. Republicans interpreted this as suggesting that the public would support right-to-work, Colbeck said.
THE MOMENT IS NOW
After the November election, activists decided that the time was ripe to bring up right-to-work.
Snyder indicated as soon as the election ended, the dialogue on right-to-work just really ramped up.
Activists viewed Senate leader Richardville as the most hesitant of the Republican leadership. Rather than confront him, sponsors quietly tried to convince him and lobbied other members of the Republican caucus.
Richardville, who says he hails from a union family, admitted that he was hesitant about right-to-work and said he made his mind up slowly as he saw the support in his Republican caucus.
There wasn't a eureka moment in that I finally see the light or a moment to jump up and down, he told Reuters.
Snyder, a former computer executive who had campaigned as a moderate in the 2010 election, had said for nearly two years that right-to-work was too divisive for Michigan, but said he would sign a law if the legislature passed it. After the election he tried to get labor leaders and Republicans together to discuss a compromise but he said those talks failed.
Snyder and Richardville both told Reuters that they had made up their minds to go through with right-to-work legislation after a Dec. 5 meeting with longtime right-to-work advocate state House Speaker Jase Bolger. Snyder announced the decision a day later and the draft laws were given preliminary approval by the legislature within hours.
Sponsors inserted in the laws a provision allocating $1 million to implement the laws, a shrewd way to make it harder to overturn the laws by referendum because Michigan's constitution bars challenges of spending bills.
A media campaign was rolled out. Television advertising appeared across the state extolling the virtues of right-to-work produced by an agency linked to an associate of Dick DeVos.
Democrats and unions were outraged and said they were blindsided. More than 12,000 people demonstrated on the grounds of the state Capitol in Lansing. They floated giant gray balloons of rats named Snyder, Richardville, Bolger and DeVos.
It was too late. Republicans gave final approval to the bills while union members marched outside the building. Snyder signed them into law within hours.
Democrats have vowed retribution at the polls, suggesting possible recall elections of Michigan Republicans.
There's been two or three recall attempts on me already, Snyder said. When you're reinventing a state you're asking for large-scale change and when change comes, some people don't like it.
A trained aerospace engineer applied his penchant for data analysis and systematic approach to his new job in early 2011: a Michigan state senator, recently elected and keen to create jobs in the faded industrial powerhouse.
Those skills paid off handsomely for the first-term Republican this week as Governor Rick Snyder signed into law bills co-sponsored by the new state senator that ban mandatory union membership, making Michigan the nation's 24th right-to-work state.
From outside Michigan Republican circles, it appeared that the Republican drive to weaken unions came out of the blue - proposed, passed and signed in a mere six days.
But the transformation had been in the making since March 2011 when state senator Colbeck and a fellow freshman, state Representative Mike Shirkey, first seriously considered legislation to ban mandatory collection of union dues as a condition of employment in Michigan. Such was their zeal, they even went to union halls to make their pitch and were treated respectfully, Colbeck said.
The upstarts were flirting with the once unthinkable, limiting union rights in a state that is the home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry and the birthplace of the nation's richest union, the United Auto Workers. For many Americans, Michigan is the state that defines organized labor.
But in a convergence of methodical planning and patient alliance building - the systematic approach - the reformers were on a roll, one that establishment Michigan Republicans came to embrace and promised to bankroll.
Republicans executed a plan - the timing, the language of the bills, the media strategy, and perhaps most importantly, the behind-the-scenes lobbying of top Republicans including Snyder.
They knew they would likely face an acrimonious battle of the kind they had seen over the last two years in the neighboring state of Wisconsin between Republican Governor Scott Walker and unions. Operating in plain sight but often overlooked, they worked to put the necessary building blocks in place.
This was a risky move across-the-board and I wanted to make sure all of my (Republican) caucus members would come back to serve with me after the next election, said the state senator, who ran for office after whetting his political appetite as a Tea Party activist.
November elections turned out to be key to the December move. House Republicans lost five seats, making passage in January a more difficult proposition than pushing through legislation in the lame-duck session.
But the November elections had also served up a crushing referendum defeat for unions, which Republicans saw as a sign that public opinion would be behind them in their move to curb organized labor's power.
Bottom Up
For his maiden initiative, Colbeck found inspiration in the troubling 2010 census numbers. Michigan was the only state in the United States to see its population fall during the previous decade and he wanted to reverse that trend. People will not come back without jobs, his thinking went. That's when Colbeck concluded that right-to-work was required to bring in new investment.
They built from the grassroots, bottom up, rather than from Snyder and top leaders in the legislature. If anything, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville was viewed as an obstacle because he represents a labor-friendly area.
Together with a former Republican member of the Michigan House who supported right-to-work, and a small group of other activists, they founded the "Michigan Freedom to Work" coalition, which sought to capitalize on Republican control of the state legislature and the governorship.
They held press conferences in June 2011 and in September 2011 took their show to the Republican Leadership Conference on Michigan's Mackinac Island. In attendance were Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry as well as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
As a sign of growing support among conservatives for right-to-work, there were hundreds of activists in attendance wearing yellow "Freedom To Work" T-shirts.
A group linked to the conservative billionaire Koch Brothers, owners of an energy and trading conglomerate who are reviled by unions and Democrats, held three conferences in Michigan in early 2012 on right-to-work featuring renowned conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Three Republican presidential candidates including Romney and some 1,500 activists attended the last conference on Feb. 25 sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, four days before Breibart's death.
The right-to-work campaign gathered momentum when the activists linked up with Dick DeVos, the son of Richard DeVos, co-founder of Michigan-based Amway, and Ronald Weiser, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush.
Richard DeVos was listed as the 67th richest person in America by Forbes magazine in 2012 with a net worth estimated at $5.1 billion. Amway sells consumer goods such as skincare and home cleaning supplies through some 3 million people and its parent company had sales of $10.9 billion in 2011.
Dick DeVos and Ron Weiser travel in a certain rarefied atmosphere, Colbeck said, holding his hand above his head to indicate how far above him they are.
The wealthy businessman and the political guru both worked to persuade wavering Republican lawmakers by assuring them they would have financial support if they faced recall elections over right-to-work, as happened in Wisconsin, Colbeck, Hoogendyk and other Republicans said.
Asked if he had promised campaign financial support to nervous Republicans, DeVos, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, said in a telephone interview that he is pleased if he was able to help encourage legislators to truly vote their conscience without fear of political retribution from the other side, which is known for its heavy-handed tactics.
By the summer of 2012, Colbeck said supporters had gathered enough Republican votes to pass right-to-work in Michigan, but decided to wait until after the November election.
According to Colbeck, we wanted to be able to focus on the candidates during the election rather than have this distraction.
Battle Over Ballot Measure
Republicans said a key factor in passage of right-to-work was what they consider an overreach by unions in Michigan.
On March 6 of this year, a union group including United Auto Workers union president Bob King announced that they would seek a November ballot initiative to enshrine in the Michigan constitution the right to collective bargaining.
It was a power grab. In retrospect it was a huge mistake, according to the Michigan state director of Americans For Prosperity, a conservative non-profit partially funded by the Koch brothers.
At a public meeting of labor and corporate officers last summer, Snyder said he deliberately pleaded with union leaders not to go forward with the ballot initiative.
If you do this, you should anticipate you're going to create a divisive discussion on right-to-work also, Snyder told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, recalling his remarks.
Unions pressed forward and some Republicans say that this essentially blew up a gentlemen's agreement between the unions and Republicans that neither would rock the boat on labor legislation in Michigan.
UAW President Bob King told Reuters that labor leaders pursued Proposal 2 because they expected a Republican push on right-to-work regardless.
The battle over Proposal 2 was nasty. Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, a group backed by DeVos, spent $22.7 million to oppose it, according to campaign finance disclosures filed with the state. DeVos family members alone provided $1.75 million of its funding, the records show.
Protect Working Families, a group backed by a union coalition that included the UAW, spent $22.9 million supporting Proposal 2, according to reports filed with the state. The UAW contributed about $5.6 million to that committee.
The proposition went down to defeat by 57 percent to 43 percent. Republicans interpreted this as suggesting that the public would support right-to-work, Colbeck said.
THE MOMENT IS NOW
After the November election, activists decided that the time was ripe to bring up right-to-work.
Snyder indicated as soon as the election ended, the dialogue on right-to-work just really ramped up.
Activists viewed Senate leader Richardville as the most hesitant of the Republican leadership. Rather than confront him, sponsors quietly tried to convince him and lobbied other members of the Republican caucus.
Richardville, who says he hails from a union family, admitted that he was hesitant about right-to-work and said he made his mind up slowly as he saw the support in his Republican caucus.
There wasn't a eureka moment in that I finally see the light or a moment to jump up and down, he told Reuters.
Snyder, a former computer executive who had campaigned as a moderate in the 2010 election, had said for nearly two years that right-to-work was too divisive for Michigan, but said he would sign a law if the legislature passed it. After the election he tried to get labor leaders and Republicans together to discuss a compromise but he said those talks failed.
Snyder and Richardville both told Reuters that they had made up their minds to go through with right-to-work legislation after a Dec. 5 meeting with longtime right-to-work advocate state House Speaker Jase Bolger. Snyder announced the decision a day later and the draft laws were given preliminary approval by the legislature within hours.
Sponsors inserted in the laws a provision allocating $1 million to implement the laws, a shrewd way to make it harder to overturn the laws by referendum because Michigan's constitution bars challenges of spending bills.
A media campaign was rolled out. Television advertising appeared across the state extolling the virtues of right-to-work produced by an agency linked to an associate of Dick DeVos.
Democrats and unions were outraged and said they were blindsided. More than 12,000 people demonstrated on the grounds of the state Capitol in Lansing. They floated giant gray balloons of rats named Snyder, Richardville, Bolger and DeVos.
It was too late. Republicans gave final approval to the bills while union members marched outside the building. Snyder signed them into law within hours.
Democrats have vowed retribution at the polls, suggesting possible recall elections of Michigan Republicans.
There's been two or three recall attempts on me already, Snyder said. When you're reinventing a state you're asking for large-scale change and when change comes, some people don't like it.
30 March 2012
Detroit Negotiating with Unions
Story first appeared in The
Detroit News.
Detroit-- The latest plan to
keep Detroit from an emergency manager unveiled Thursday includes tough new
terms for city employee unions that labor leaders vowed to fight. This has piqued the interest of Dearborn Labor and Employment Lawyers
in the area.
The City Council on Thursday
got a first look at a proposed financial agreement crafted by state officials.
The plan calls for negotiating or imposing tough new union contracts by July
16, but includes no new money requested by the Mayor to help the city
restructure its finances.
Reaction was swift from union
leaders, who said the proposal is more about politics than saving money. The chief
negotiator for AFSCME Council 25, said their coalition of 30 unions have
brokered significant savings with the mayor. Those agreements have yet to be
approved by the City Council, and sources have said state officials don't think
the concessions go far enough. Without proper Union provisions,
a Dearborn Labor and Employment Lawyer may be called in to review the facts.
The goal would be to build
off a single template for all unions, including police and fire. The contracts
would call for:
Promotions based on merit,
not seniority, for some positions.
Restricted bumping rights and
permission to outsource.
Alter work rules to support
the city's financial restructuring.
Defined contribution
retirement health care benefit for new hires. This opens up the possibility for addition of Home Healthcare Supplies to the template.
Consolidated departments to
achieve cost savings.
An earlier version of the
proposal union officials obtained Thursday included a provision to ban unions
from suing or filing grievances over terms of the contract. That phrasing was
removed from later versions. Union leaders said that provision would have
devastated their representation of employees.
Local Dearborn Labor and Employment Lawyers are gearing up for proper defense and
representation of factory employees.
A State Treasury Department
spokesman defended the proposals.
A report this week from the
state financial review team overseeing Detroit's finances indicated city officials
have overstated potential savings from the earlier negotiated union
concessions.
City officials said the
proposed adjustments would save $102 million for fiscal year 2012 and $258
million in fiscal year 2013, states the review team's report.
The Chief Negotiator said the
savings the mayor and the coalition of 30 unions negotiated are real and the
severe proposal put forth Thursday isn't necessary. He said the city spent $2.1
million to verify the savings with a third party, Ernst & Young.
The Michigan Governor to date
has shied away from battling with unions, despite pushes from Republicans
nationwide over cost-cutting measures some call anti-labor. Indiana in January
became the first manufacturing state to adopt so-called right-to-work laws,
joining 22 states that allow employees at unionized businesses to opt out of
paying dues. Indianapolis Labor and Employment Lawyers followed
the legislation process closely.
Ohio and Wisconsin have
passed legislation limiting collective bargaining. Arizona is considering
legislation to require annual approval by workers to deduct union dues from
paychecks. And Utah is considering a bill to limit collective bargaining for
wages and benefits.
Ballot fights are looming
over right-to-work initiatives in several states, including Michigan. Unions in
Michigan also are pushing several ballot initiatives for November, including
one that would put collective bargaining rights for home health providers in the
state constitution.
15 September 2011
Contract Deadline Extended By UAW
Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
The United Auto Workers union extended its contracts with General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC early Thursday after failing to meet a deadline to reach a new agreement.
GM broke off talks after midnight and said they would resume at 8 a.m. EDT Thursday. Chrysler didn't say when its talks would resume.
The decision has little impact on the 71,000 U.S. factory workers covered by the GM and Chrysler contracts. In the past, workers might have gone on strike if the UAW hadn't extended their contracts. But as part of their 2009 government bailouts, GM and Chrysler workers had to agree not to strike over wages.
A UAW local official at a GM factory in Lordstown, Ohio, wrote that they should continue to do the things they do until they receive official notification otherwise.
The UAW extended its contract with Ford Motor Co. last week, as talks have progressed more slowly with that automaker. The Ford contract covers around 40,000 workers.
Up until the deadline, the negotiations that began over the summer appeared to be proceeding without the acrimony that plagued them in the past. But just before the 11:59 p.m. EDT Wednesday deadline, the CEO of Chrysler fired off a letter to UAW President Bob King saying an agreement likely wouldn't be reached because King didn't come to the table Wednesday night to finish the deal.
Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said he knows they are the smallest of the three automakers in Detroit, but that does not make them less relevant.
Marchionne said he planned to travel out of the country for business and will return next week. He said he would agree to a weeklong extension of Chrysler workers' current contract. The UAW didn't set a new deadline to reach agreements.
The UAW extended its contract with Ford Motor Co. last week, as talks have progressed more slowly with that automaker.
Marchionne said he and King met a week ago and agreed to finish work on the new contract before the deadline. He said not meeting the deadline hurts Chrysler's workers.
Things appeared to be progressing more smoothly at GM. Joe Ashton, the UAW's vice president in charge of the GM negotiations, told local union officials Tuesday night in a note that bargainers have made "much progress" in talks with the company. GM has taken the lead on the negotiations and its agreement may be used to set the pattern for the other two companies.
The contract talks will determine wages and benefits for 111,000 union workers at the auto makers, and they also set the bar for wages at auto parts companies, U.S. factories run by foreign automakers and other manufacturers, which employ hundreds of thousands more. The contract talks are the first since GM and Chrysler needed government aid to make it through bankruptcy protection in 2009.
GM nearly ran out of cash and needed $49.5 billion from the government to survive, but it's been making billions in the last two years because its debt and costs were lowered in bankruptcy and its new products have been selling well.
Ashton wrote that difficult restrictions have been placed on the union and company as a result of the bailout. To get the government funding, the union had to agree not to strike over wages at GM and Chrysler. Also, unresolved issues can be taken to binding arbitration, and the union's new contracts must keep the companies' labor costs competitive with Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
The union has been seeking bigger profit-sharing checks instead of pay raises, higher pay for entry level workers who make $14 to $16 per hour, signing bonuses and guarantees of new jobs as auto sales recover. Ford and GM want to cut their labor costs to get them closer to Honda and Toyota, while Chrysler wants to hold its costs steady. Health care costs are also an issue.
Once the contract agreements are reached, workers will vote on them.
The United Auto Workers union extended its contracts with General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC early Thursday after failing to meet a deadline to reach a new agreement.
GM broke off talks after midnight and said they would resume at 8 a.m. EDT Thursday. Chrysler didn't say when its talks would resume.
The decision has little impact on the 71,000 U.S. factory workers covered by the GM and Chrysler contracts. In the past, workers might have gone on strike if the UAW hadn't extended their contracts. But as part of their 2009 government bailouts, GM and Chrysler workers had to agree not to strike over wages.
A UAW local official at a GM factory in Lordstown, Ohio, wrote that they should continue to do the things they do until they receive official notification otherwise.
The UAW extended its contract with Ford Motor Co. last week, as talks have progressed more slowly with that automaker. The Ford contract covers around 40,000 workers.
Up until the deadline, the negotiations that began over the summer appeared to be proceeding without the acrimony that plagued them in the past. But just before the 11:59 p.m. EDT Wednesday deadline, the CEO of Chrysler fired off a letter to UAW President Bob King saying an agreement likely wouldn't be reached because King didn't come to the table Wednesday night to finish the deal.
Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said he knows they are the smallest of the three automakers in Detroit, but that does not make them less relevant.
Marchionne said he planned to travel out of the country for business and will return next week. He said he would agree to a weeklong extension of Chrysler workers' current contract. The UAW didn't set a new deadline to reach agreements.
The UAW extended its contract with Ford Motor Co. last week, as talks have progressed more slowly with that automaker.
Marchionne said he and King met a week ago and agreed to finish work on the new contract before the deadline. He said not meeting the deadline hurts Chrysler's workers.
Things appeared to be progressing more smoothly at GM. Joe Ashton, the UAW's vice president in charge of the GM negotiations, told local union officials Tuesday night in a note that bargainers have made "much progress" in talks with the company. GM has taken the lead on the negotiations and its agreement may be used to set the pattern for the other two companies.
The contract talks will determine wages and benefits for 111,000 union workers at the auto makers, and they also set the bar for wages at auto parts companies, U.S. factories run by foreign automakers and other manufacturers, which employ hundreds of thousands more. The contract talks are the first since GM and Chrysler needed government aid to make it through bankruptcy protection in 2009.
GM nearly ran out of cash and needed $49.5 billion from the government to survive, but it's been making billions in the last two years because its debt and costs were lowered in bankruptcy and its new products have been selling well.
Ashton wrote that difficult restrictions have been placed on the union and company as a result of the bailout. To get the government funding, the union had to agree not to strike over wages at GM and Chrysler. Also, unresolved issues can be taken to binding arbitration, and the union's new contracts must keep the companies' labor costs competitive with Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
The union has been seeking bigger profit-sharing checks instead of pay raises, higher pay for entry level workers who make $14 to $16 per hour, signing bonuses and guarantees of new jobs as auto sales recover. Ford and GM want to cut their labor costs to get them closer to Honda and Toyota, while Chrysler wants to hold its costs steady. Health care costs are also an issue.
Once the contract agreements are reached, workers will vote on them.
25 September 2010
Jalopnik: Obsessed with the Cult of Cars
Workers from a Detroit Chrysler plant visited by President Obama two months ago were busted today for drinking and smoking pot on their lunch break. Although they're now suspended, a former employee tells us it won't change a thing.The Jefferson North Assembly Plant is Chrysler's flagship manufacturing facility. The plant, home to production of the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was visited by President Obama in July — just five days before an investigation by Fox 2 Detroit began that unveiled auto worker's engaging in the blue collar equivalent of the three martini lunch. When President Obama visited this plant that's supposed to represent the "new" Chrysler, he told America
"I believed that if each of us were willing to work and sacrifice in the short term — workers, management, creditors, shareholders, retirees, communities — it could mark a new beginning for a great American industry. And if we could summon that sense of teamwork and common purpose, we could once again see the best cars in the world designed, engineered, forged, and built right here in Detroit, right here in the Midwest, right here in the United States of America."
Unfortunately, a few of their employees look to still be stuck in old school stereotypes about organized labor.
The investigative report found a dozen employees were taking the 30-minute shift break they have at 11:00 am to drive to a public park and pound 40-oz beers, smoke weed, or do both at the same time. They then get in their cars, drive back to the plant presumably under the influence, and continue manufacturing cars.
Chrysler's Senior VP of Manufacturing, Scott Garberding, told Fox 2 saying they've suspended workers without pay pending the outcome of an investigation:
I want to make it clear that we at Chrysler take it very seriously. For us this behavior is totally unacceptable and will be dealt with swiftly. In fact, we've already identified a few of the people involved in this incident. Each of them has been suspended indefinitely, without pay, pending further investigation.
Unfortunately, this may not do much to change the culture of auto workers, says one longtime auto worker who spoke to us about the video.
"The problem is not really the drinking per se. The problem is when it happens the UAW turns a blind eye," says the Detroit resident who used to work in automobile manufacturing but wished to not be identified because of his close family ties to the United Auto Workers and friends still in the industry.
"My first week on the job I was teaching some classes at this plant, and the breaktime bell goes off to wake up the guys so they can take a break," he explains. "The trailer [I was in] was parked up right next to the plant window and I see this head go by, and it was this guy snorting coke back there. That was my first experience."
Like many Detroit residents, his two uncles and father were all UAW members and auto workers. But whereas his dad and older uncle were well respected, his younger uncle would constantly show up to work intoxicated or not show up at all. Because of the respect other workers had for his dad and uncle he was never seriously punished or even sent to drug rehab for his own protection.
"Once my uncle passed away, my youngest uncle said 'I better retire' because he knew his older brother wouldn't be there to stick up for him."
"I remember seeing people get fired and would be shocked, and be like 'Oh my God' and some of the people who have been there longer are like 'don't worry, they'll be back,'" He told us. "Usually it was a few day suspension to put on a dog and pony show. They just turn a blind eye after a while.What some of these guys need is alcohol treatment programs."
The UAW, to its credit, issued a statement disapproving of the activity. Unfortunately, it also didn't offer to do anything about it or seem in any way regretful for the worker behavior:
The UAW strongly opposes the use of controlled substances or alcohol use on the job. This type of behavior jeopardizes the health and safety of all employees. We also recognize that, unfortunately, these behaviors exist in our society.
The UAW and the Chrysler Corporation work together to keep our workplaces drug and alcohol free, and to encourage employees with substance abuse problems to get the treatment they need. The employees involved in this situation do not represent the vast majority of workers at Chrysler who do a great job making high quality vehicles in some of the most productive manufacturing facilities in the United States.
Sure, yeah, it does represent a danger to the other workers, but what about the people driving Jeeps built by drunk/high workers?
Like a lot of people in the industry, the former employee who spoke to us said he supports the UAW and the Big 3 but recognizes there's a major problem.
"I love the auto inudstry, i love everything about it... I grew up eating/sleeping breathing cars. I really just would like to see things change."
Just as the three-martini lunch is sadly no longer accepted in white collar America, so too, the pot-and-beer lunch is no longer accepted for blue collar America.
27 October 2009
Flat Rock Mustang Plant Rejects Concessions
from Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co.’s Mustang plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, became the fifth factory to reject contract concessions the automaker is seeking to match those the United Auto Workers granted its U.S. rivals.
The vote at UAW Local 3000 was 73 percent against the concessions, said Tom Spears, the local’s president. The factory has about 2,200 employees, is jointly owned with Mazda Motor Corp. and also builds the Mazda6.
“There are concerns about our plant’s future because we have no product beyond 2011,” Spears, who backed the contract changes, said in an interview. “The membership did not have a warm reception to additional contract modifications. We did this in ‘05, ‘07 and in February and now they’re back at us again.”
Ford, the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, won support from UAW local leaders Oct. 13 on an agreement to grant concessions similar to those given to General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. The changes include a six-year ban on some strikes and a freeze on wages of new hires until 2015.
Labor costs at Ford aren’t uncompetitive with its U.S. rivals in the “near term,” Mark Fields, the company’s president of the Americas, said on Bloomberg Television. The automaker is concerned about the longer term, he said.
‘Open’ Relations
Ford’s relations with the UAW “are very open and transparent,” said Fields, who declined to comment on the ratification vote. “We share with them the challenges of the business and we focus the majority of our discussions on keeping Ford competitive.”
Since Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford’s 41,000 U.S. hourly workers began voting Oct. 22, five plants representing about 10,170 workers have turned down the givebacks. An axle factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, rejected it yesterday by 71 percent, said Brian Pannebecker, a production worker who voted for the revisions.
“People don’t understand the relationship between job security and competition in our labor costs,” Pannebecker said in an interview. “People are starting to want to buy a Ford product because we’re making it on our own without government help. Now we’re turning back the clock and making ourselves less competitive than GM and Chrysler.”
Workers at a Ford Escape factory near Kansas City, Missouri, voted 92 percent against the concessions on Oct. 25. A transmission plant in Livonia, Michigan, and a parts factory in Plymouth, Michigan, also rejected the contract revisions, union officials said. Factories in Cleveland and Wayne, Michigan, representing about 4,770 workers, have approved the changes, union officials said.
Voting concludes Oct. 31.
Bonus Offer
The automaker is offering workers a $1,000 bonus tied to quality and productivity targets and pledges of new production at some factories to help win approval of the deal. The Flat Rock plant was promised continued Mustang production only “through the current life cycle,” which ends in 2011, according to UAW highlights of the agreement.
UAW spokesman Roger Kerson didn’t immediately respond to a telephone call and e-mail seeking comment.
The concessions are the second round of givebacks sought by the automaker this year. In March, 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades employees approved concessions that included giving up annual bonuses and cost-of- living increases and some layoff benefits.
Ford fell 4 cents to $7.43 at 3:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have more than tripled this year.
The vote at UAW Local 3000 was 73 percent against the concessions, said Tom Spears, the local’s president. The factory has about 2,200 employees, is jointly owned with Mazda Motor Corp. and also builds the Mazda6.
“There are concerns about our plant’s future because we have no product beyond 2011,” Spears, who backed the contract changes, said in an interview. “The membership did not have a warm reception to additional contract modifications. We did this in ‘05, ‘07 and in February and now they’re back at us again.”
Ford, the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, won support from UAW local leaders Oct. 13 on an agreement to grant concessions similar to those given to General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. The changes include a six-year ban on some strikes and a freeze on wages of new hires until 2015.
Labor costs at Ford aren’t uncompetitive with its U.S. rivals in the “near term,” Mark Fields, the company’s president of the Americas, said on Bloomberg Television. The automaker is concerned about the longer term, he said.
‘Open’ Relations
Ford’s relations with the UAW “are very open and transparent,” said Fields, who declined to comment on the ratification vote. “We share with them the challenges of the business and we focus the majority of our discussions on keeping Ford competitive.”
Since Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford’s 41,000 U.S. hourly workers began voting Oct. 22, five plants representing about 10,170 workers have turned down the givebacks. An axle factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, rejected it yesterday by 71 percent, said Brian Pannebecker, a production worker who voted for the revisions.
“People don’t understand the relationship between job security and competition in our labor costs,” Pannebecker said in an interview. “People are starting to want to buy a Ford product because we’re making it on our own without government help. Now we’re turning back the clock and making ourselves less competitive than GM and Chrysler.”
Workers at a Ford Escape factory near Kansas City, Missouri, voted 92 percent against the concessions on Oct. 25. A transmission plant in Livonia, Michigan, and a parts factory in Plymouth, Michigan, also rejected the contract revisions, union officials said. Factories in Cleveland and Wayne, Michigan, representing about 4,770 workers, have approved the changes, union officials said.
Voting concludes Oct. 31.
Bonus Offer
The automaker is offering workers a $1,000 bonus tied to quality and productivity targets and pledges of new production at some factories to help win approval of the deal. The Flat Rock plant was promised continued Mustang production only “through the current life cycle,” which ends in 2011, according to UAW highlights of the agreement.
UAW spokesman Roger Kerson didn’t immediately respond to a telephone call and e-mail seeking comment.
The concessions are the second round of givebacks sought by the automaker this year. In March, 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades employees approved concessions that included giving up annual bonuses and cost-of- living increases and some layoff benefits.
Ford fell 4 cents to $7.43 at 3:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have more than tripled this year.
12 October 2009
Lawmakers Question Auto Makers Over Non-Unionized Replacement Workers
AP StoryMonths after the government bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, some lawmakers are questioning tough contract demands by the two auto companies that union officials argue could lead to the replacement of hundreds of union carhaulers with nonunion drivers.
Michigan lawmakers have raised the issue with GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in letters during the past week, concerned that the automakers could reduce business with auto transport companies whose drivers are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
"We demand an explanation of your position," wrote Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., in letters to Henderson and Marchionne. "We do not support your plans to abandon your long-term carrier partners."
Union officials said GM and Chrysler have sought cost savings of at least 25 percent from Allied Systems Holdings Inc. of Atlanta, and Cassens Transport Co. of Edwardsville, Ill., who deliver assembled vehicles to car dealers in the U.S. and Canada.
The Teamsters represent about 4,800 workers who deliver new cars and trucks to auto dealers. More than 2,000 employees work for Allied, Cassens and Jack Cooper Transport Co. in Kansas City, Mo.
Chrysler Group LLC's contracts with Allied and Cassens expired Sept. 30 and the company has shifted some work to nonunion contractors, affecting 129 union drivers, including 50 in Detroit, said Fred Zuckerman, director of the Teamsters' automobile transport division.
According to a one-page summary titled "Chrysler Vehicle Distribution Changes," the company said some of the changes occurred because a new facility built in Toledo, Ohio, allowed the automaker to mix vehicles in one location for distribution.
Chrysler said in the document that Allied and Cassens failed to address uncompetitive cost structures and beginning Oct. 1 the auto company would re-source 28 percent of its haulaway carrier business "to improve transit time and reduce costs by $31 million over three years." Chrysler said in the document that Allied and Cassens would reduce 77 Teamster jobs in Michigan.
Zuckerman called it an attempt by Chrysler to undermine union drivers. "We don't believe for a minute that it had anything to do with cost," he said.
In addition to the 50 jobs in Detroit, Zuckerman said the Chrysler moves led to union job losses in Winston-Salem, N.C., Warren, Mich., Richfield, N.J., Buffalo, N.Y., Miami, Jessup, Md., and Shelbyville, Ky.
Teamster officials are also watching upcoming talks between General Motors Co. and Allied, whose contract with the automaker expires Feb. 1, 2010. About 400 union drivers deliver GM vehicles for the transport company.
Allied filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and imposed a 17.5 percent wage cut on its workers in 2007 and 2008, Zuckerman said. He said GM has sought cost reductions of 26 percent, cuts he said would be unsustainable.
A GM spokeswoman did not immediately comment. Messages left with Allied and Cassens officials weren't immediately returned.
The union job losses have caught the attention of several Michigan lawmakers, who sought government loans for GM and Chrysler and pushed for a $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program to revitalize auto sales.
"I urge you to not discriminate against the unionized labor work force," wrote Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich. "Although cutting costs is a necessary measure, I expect that you will not base your decision exclusively on which operators pay their employees the lowest wage rate."
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., wrote the "intent of the government's support for GM and Chrysler and the 'cash for clunkers' program was to keep the automobile industry viable and not to force companies in the supply chain like the car haul industry into bankruptcy."
In response to lawmakers, Mike Keegan, Chrysler's senior vice president of supply chain management, said the company explained to Allied and Cassens its inability to continue subsidizing their uncompetitive business models, particularly in light of the automaker's recent bankruptcy action and the concessions made by the UAW, CAW and dealers.
In a letter to Congressman Peters, Keegan said Chrysler's business relationship with Allied and Cassens will continue in segments and regions where they are more competitive. Of the 77 Teamster jobs that will be lost in Michigan, he said 20 of these positions will be filled by Teamsters in Toledo, Ohio.
29 September 2009
Detroit Unions Ramp Up Protests
Associated Press StoryCity workers and the mayor's office are approaching a weekend deadline on possible cuts to hundreds of jobs if unions don't agree to wage cuts and other concessions aimed at saving cash-starved Detroit from further fiscal misery.
The 7,700-member Detroit Federation of Teachers also is negotiating a new contract with the city's troubled public school district, which is looking for ways to save money.
Their respective battles come as Mayor Dave Bing tries to wipe out a $300 million deficit and schools' emergency financial manager Robert Bobb restructures the district while working to fill a $259 million budget hole.
About 85 city and school district employees gathered outside City Hall on Wednesday afternoon, many with signs bearing messages such as, "Lay off Dave Bing," "We demand a decent contract" and "Save Detroit."
Larry Carson, 53, a 15-year veteran of the city's water department, held a sign that read, "Keep City Jobs!" Carson said he's most concerned about jobs being privatized and workers not being replaced after they leave or retire.
"Go to any plant in the water department. We are understaffed," Carson said. "If you keep this up, somebody's going to get hurt."
"The budget situation is unusually bad right now, and not losing ground may be hard," Albion College professor and University of Michigan labor researcher Greg Saltzman said.
"Unions are going to fight much harder to keep things they already have than to get new things they never had before."
Bing was elected in a May 5 runoff and already has laid off about 300 workers. He has said another 1,000 could lose their jobs Saturday unless bargaining units agree to 10 percent wage cuts in unpaid furlough days and other contract concessions.
Detroit has about 13,000 employees.
Ten labor unions have endorsed his opponent, Tom Barrow, in the upcoming Nov. 3 general election. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 90,000 workers throughout Michigan, shifted its support from Bing to Barrow. AFSCME Local 207 in Detroit has been a prime mover behind the anti-Bing demonstrations.
"We confronted them in negotiations that if the unions take the concessions will the layoffs go away, and they said 'no,'" said John Riehl, president of the 1,000-member local.
"We want to let the public know about the cutbacks and damage to the city, and how angry and upset we are with this mayor."
Several smaller groups among the city's 50 bargaining units already have agreed to concessions, mayoral spokesman Ed Cardenas said.
"We can always pull back the number of layoffs going into effect," he said.
Just over 1,000 Detroit teachers and staff have been laid off since Bobb was appointed in March by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to clean up the district's finances.
About 590 have been called back to work. Another 400 have retired.
Contract negotiations are moving along, but "folks are definitely pushing back," teachers' union President Keith Johnson said.
"They're also being asked to work longer days and a longer school year, yet be paid less. That's not going to happen," he said. "People still have to provide for their families. Those who make the least are asked to give the most."
09 March 2009
UAW, Ford Reach Agreement
Original Story From Associated Press
As Posted at Forbes
The United Auto Workers Union says its members working for Ford Motor Co. have approved contract changes that include freezing wages and cutting other benefits in a move to aimed at helping the automaker remain competitive.
The approved agreement also ends the jobs bank program and lets Ford make payments in stock to a union-run trust for retiree health care.
The union says 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades workers voted for the agreement.
Ford is not seeking government funding and is the first U.S. automaker to come to an agreement with the union.
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