Friday, October 11, 2019

The UAW strike is still ongoing, (day 26) even if it's out of the news, and GM ain't faking indifference... they're trying to skip the union leaders, and get in the heads of the workers on strike.... that ain't gonna work.

the UAW on Friday said General Motors is "playing games," a day after the automaker complained that the union is going too slowly in talks to end its 26-day strike.

The strike has made things tough for both sides, and as the situation drags on, it only becomes more difficult. UAW members continue to live on strike pay that equals $250 per week. GM has shut down production at multiple Mexican plants as parts shortages force manufacturing to grind to a halt. The work stoppage in Mexico has affected transmission assembly and production of its ever-important pickup trucks. It's rumored the strike will also delay the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray's launch.


The automaker has decided to appeal directly to employees via a blog post that laid out the terms of its latest offer.

The statement read, “The strike has been hard on you, your families, our communities, the Company, our suppliers and dealers. We have advised the Union that it’s critical that we get back to producing quality vehicles for our customers. (…) Our offer builds on the winning formula we have all benefitted from over the past several years.”

Side affect of the stike? The US Govt is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a week in lost tax revenue... and if that sounds like an odd thing to bring up, the govt realized about 60 years ago to weigh the affect of actions vs tax revenue, when it drafted Elvis. If he'd been left out of the military, he'd have made a lot of money, and the govt would get it's share. In the military, he made no money, the govt took a hit in the wallet because of that. Similarly, Muhammad Ali was banned from boxing in the USA, and the govt lost money on that...

well, the longer the strike goes on, the less money the govt gets. https://www.freep.com/story/money/2019/10/11/gm-strike-status-national-costs/3946068002/


The report by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor said the UAW strike that would enter its fifth week Monday is costing GM some $450 million per week in lost revenue. That estimate is roughly in line with estimates from other other analysts.

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/gm-reaches-out-directly-to-uaw-workers
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gm-uaw-strike-negotiations/

the UAW issued a public response around noon. It said the members stand behind their negotiators and continue to hold out for a good contract. The statement also criticized GM's handling of negotiations.

"At every step of the way, GM has attempted to undermine the ongoing, good-faith efforts the UAW has made to end this strike," said Brian Rothenberg, UAW spokesman in a statement to the media.

"The company’s strategy from day one has been to play games at the expense of the workers," said Rothenberg. "It has released half-truths, ripped away health care in the middle of the night and it reverted to previously weak and unacceptable proposals in response to the UAW’s comprehensive solutions."

UAW members want to return to work, but, "GM is purposefully stalling the process to starve UAW-GM workers off the picket lines to protect millions of dollars of corporate bonuses. This strike has been and continues to be about securing the American workers’ future."

On the other hand

The UAW strike may force credit raters to move the company closer to junk status, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The strike has passed the two-week threshold that raters including Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings had said posed downside risk.

In an Oct. 9 report, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joel Levington wrote that the “fuse is burning” for ratings that, in Moody’s case, are just one notch above junk.

Last week, Moody’s said it was considering downgrading GM bonds to junk status. That rattled some because it means "GM would have to pay higher interest on borrowing, and that is a real cost to continuing this strike," Shaiken said in a previous Free Press interview.


https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2019/10/11/gm-strike-uaw-letter/3941512002/

7 comments:

  1. There are plenty of well-compensated employees producing great vehicles in the US without being slave to the UAW. GM pays a heavy price to the UAW and in return the UAW offers nothing to help compete with US plants operated by BMW, Mercedes, Honda Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Tesla, VW and Volvo.

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  2. You say: "The report by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor said the UAW strike that would enter its fifth week Monday is costing GM some $450 million per week in lost revenue. That estimate is roughly in line with estimates from other other analysts."

    "As of the end of September, the strike had cost GM half a billion dollars already" (from your quoted article from that financial juggernaut, uh... PowernationTV?) is not the same as your wild ass guess of $450M per week...

    If you look at any of the true financial pages, the average *estimate* is $80-$100M per day. At 26 days, you are around $2B to $2.6B...and only GM knows how much it's truly costing them, none of the "experts" does.

    https://lmgtfy.com/?q=cost+of+strike+to+gm

    And closing plants in Mexico is a direct result of supply lines being cut. The Teamsters (another Union with absolutely no history of financial wrongdoing, just like the UAW whose leaders are under indictment while negotiating with GM) have stopped shipment of parts in or out of the supply chain for GM, so it's actually the strike that has closed those plants. In addition, GM suppliers are having to close because after a month of not being able to move parts through the line for building or selling to repair cars, the warehouses are stacked with trailers full of parts that can't be moved in or out because the warehouse personnel are on strike too.

    At the plant in Kansas City the average UAW makes $90,000 per year. Hard to have sympathy for them wanting all their health care costs paid and guaranteed raises on top of that.


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    1. " not the same as your wild ass guess".... chill the fuck out. I repost the info, and cite the source. If it chaps your ass that I get info from more than one source, then you're to blame for not understanding journalism, and if you can't roll with estimates then you better never ask to get anything repaired.
      I've been posting my opinions about the UAW for 13 years, so if you didn't go back and notice that I've been up front about it and consistent, that's on you.
      More power to any blue collar working stiff that can demand a payraise and benefits, I've been stuck at 18 an hour for 30 years.
      Also, as I've already said, this is likely the last time the union gets to swing for the homerun, as the auto industry is done with their shit, and any moment now will figure it out and spend the next 4 years solving the problem forever, and will then tell the UAW to fuck off and die like the parasite it is.
      I'm in support of the employee, not in support of the union, and firmly against the CEO and board members that take millions a year out of the profits, each, without adding value to the company
      As for "history of financial wrongdoing" that describes any person, group, company, organization, or institution worth more than 5 million. They all do shady, and likely illegal, shit to get rich and stay rich. Your effort to cast any of them as worse than any other is ridiculous

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  3. GM will never tell the UAW to F off, they had their chance during their bankruptcy to void all the union contracts and the fedgov gave half ownership of GM to the UAW.

    the fedgov should have just let GM go bankrupt and other companies buy the parts of the company they wanted.

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  4. "I repost the info, and cite the source. If it chaps your ass that I get info from more than one source, then you're to blame for not understanding journalism"
    Uh, no. You did not cite any source that states $450M per week. Therefore, perhaps i am not the one who doesn't understand accuracy in journalism.

    "I've been posting my opinions about the UAW for 13 years, so if you didn't go back and notice that I've been up front about it and consistent, that's on you"
    Uh, no. Just because you have been posting an opinion for 13 years or 13 minutes, doesn't make that opinion (and as you know, opinions are not *supposed to be journalism) accurate, correct, or reasonable. So I guess that's also on you.

    "More power to any blue collar working stiff that can demand a payraise and benefits, I've been stuck at 18 an hour for 30 years."
    If you can't find a way to educate yourself or find a better way than to have a pity party about your pay, that's...also not on me. I have always believed that labor, like any other product on the market, is affected by the law of supply and demand. If you want to get paid more for a product, find a way to have a better product than the competition. I've held one minimum wage job in my life, and right now $18/hr is less than I would be willing to accept...so I have created a product that is worth more than that.

    "this is likely the last time the union gets to swing for the homerun, as the auto industry is done with their shit, and any moment now will figure it out and spend the next 4 years solving the problem forever, and will then tell the UAW to fuck off and die like the parasite it is."
    So your inconsistency is somehow logical? Uh, no. Additionally, how do you know the Union will win this one? Take a look at the Air Traffic Controller's union and how that got handled. If there was ever a President with more balls and backbone than Reagan, I believed the Orange Haired wonder may be the one.

    As far as UAW corruption...
    https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2019/10/05/uaw-director-vance-pearson-gm-strike/3884544002/
    You don't see anyone from GM's leadership getting headlines like that during the negotiations.

    Bob in Kelzer has this figured. The UAW may take down one of America's biggest corporations (whether you like their executive pay plan or not) and totally F their members who will go from $90K per year to unemployed, and take the salaried folks who aren't in the UAW with them. When a Union (or any group of employees) is not in partnership with the business, invested in the business, and wants the business to succed, it will fail. The UAW shows absolutely no sign of wanting GM to be successful.

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    Replies
    1. https://www.freep.com/story/money/2019/10/11/gm-strike-status-national-costs/3946068002/

      Delete
    2. the link has been there since I posted it, the first link. That you either couldn't see it, or didn't read it, shows your problem exists independent of my website.
      "The report by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor said the UAW strike that would enter its fifth week Monday is costing GM some $450 million per week in lost revenue. That estimate is roughly in line with estimates from other other analysts."
      Take your problems, and your attitude, to a therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist.

      Delete