bascho

It is obvious that labor unions are losing power year after year in every industry. What can American car companies and airlines do to 'break the back' of labor unions and become profitable again? I really hate to see production being outsourced to other countries to avoid dealing with labor unions....but currently American car companies have their hands tied. Ford and GM could not open a non-union shop in this country per existing UAW contracts. 2007 is going to be a pivotal year for the auto industry in that 2007 is when the UAW contracts expire. What does everyone think the chances are of a showdown between the UAW and Big 3? I hope that the chances are good....but I fear that they are not.

expo1

The solution has been developed by Wal-Mart. Price your products barley above cost to get the consumers on your side and pay your labor low wages and benefits. You become large enough to boss around your vendors and local governments and soon your competition goes out of business. It just takes time for this to spread to other segments of the economy. Wait till the Chinese start selling cars in the USA. It took the Koreans about 10-15 years to get their act together; it will take the Chinese a lot less. When even basic cars cost over $20,000 it will be hard to convince the public that a $10,000 car with a 10-year warranty is bad for the USA. Unless the big three can figure out a way to dump their pension and medical obligations onto the government they are doomed. Labor Unions that have any power are few and far between these days. When they do have power (NYC Transit workers) the government passes laws to minimize their power. If the UAW was to strike I think the big three would look at it as a good thing, lowers inventory etc. They could also easily find people (scabs) that would work for half of what a UAW worker gets. So the UAW has to work with the automakers. Their only real option is to create two tiers of workers. The older ones get the better benefit packages and the newer ones are on different plan.

bascho

Scabs would not necessarily work for assembly plant jobs. 2 reasons why:

1) Union strike lines can become very aggressive, blocking driveways into the plant and harassing scabs. Police normally don't offer a lot of assistance since they are also unionized.

2) It's not only the plant employees that cause the plant to shut down. Assy plants use a JIT inventory system requiring constant and consistent deliveries from suppliers. Those trucks are driven by Teamsters....who've historically backed the UAW in labor disputes.

The only real way to kill the unions is to get the workers to cross the strike lines. This cannot be one-zees and two-zees.....it has to be a 'mass crossing' of a sizeable group of influential workers showing their disgust of union behavior. Eventually the workers need to take a hard-line with the union officials before there aren't any jobs left to protect. I think if a majority of the workers would choose to keep their jobs than side with the union in a losing battle. Just my $.02

SHOWOFF

Unions support mediocracy IMO. If people don't want to work hard or even show up for work the union backs them. If they don't like rules at a job the union backs them. If they want to build cars and trucks after drinking a 12 pack at lunch, you will have to pull teeth to fire them because the union backs them. These people "expect" a job rather than value the fact that they have one.

People in other countries where work is scarce deliver highger quality work because they are proud of what they do. They are thrilled that they have a job. They don't want to lose it either. They don't have backing from a group of crooks that will keep their jobs for them if they don't try to do the best they can.

Get rid of the unions. Then we will be able to build "American made" products again at a reasonable price that are of high quality.