[Rhodes22-list] UAW

[Robert Skinner]

Ben - you raise good points.

First, yes, I mean to say that the labor contracts
need to be reconsidered, possibly in a major way.

Second, I could not agree more about managerial
failures -- Chrysler inherited the former Home Depot
top man, who almost single-handedly destroyed the
esprit de corps of the organization.

I have generally lost confidence in the leadership
of large organizations.  Your indictment of the
short-sighted gun-slinger mentality is completely
justified.  Few of the gang of you-scratch-my-back-
I'll-scratch-yours CEOs seem to be able to put
together a plan for anything beyond their own exit
strategy.

/Robert O'Maine
--------------------------------------------------
Ben Cittadino wrote:
> Robert;
> 
> If by "shake the unions" you mean void their contracts with the unions the
> aswer is yes. This is the reason many people think bankruptcy is the answer.
> The Trustee in bankruptcy can, with the approval of the Court void any
> contract the company would otherwise be required to honor; unions,
> suppliers, dealers, etc.
> 
> If you think the unions are the problem (labor casts are about 10% of the
> cost of a car) then bankruptcy is your answer. I tend to think incompetent
> management is the problem, emphasizing short term quarterly profit reports
> for big bonus' over long term infrastructure planing and modernization of
> plants with imaginative designs instead of more gas guzzling SUV's. The
> unions didn't plan that garbage.
> 
> Ben C.
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Skinner wrote:
>> Two questions:
>>
>> If they went into chapter 11, would the auto companies be able to "shake
>> the 
>> unions"?
>>
>> Can the auto companies function without the unions -- or have the managers 
>> forgotten how to make a vehicle?
>>
>> /Robert O'Maine
>>
>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>> David,
>>>
>>> It isn't fun watching the personal side of these events.  My oldest
>>> son's roommate in Little Rock works at the family Jeep dealership
>>> (Chrysler) that's been in the family for three generations. I doubt
>>> they'll make it. On the other side of the equation, people in San
>>> Antonio, Tupelo, Montgomery, Jackson, etc. are ready to hustle at $40
>>> an hour. If we didn't allow for failure we'd still be driving Hudsons
>>> and Packards.
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:47 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> And too many dealerships holding too much finished inventory.  Now
>>>> that the shock has worn off from the meltdown I'm remembering how
>>>> perfectly awful the prospect of not being a leader in the steel
>>>> industry seemed in the 70s.  Let 'em declare chapter 11 - no loan wi
>>>> thout stiff terms.
>>>>
>>>> Bill Ford was being interviewed yesterday and still pandering to the
>>>> UAW.  If Chrysler could shake the union and close a third of their
>>>> dealerships they'd be well along the way.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 4:34 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> David,
>>>>>
>>>>> Saw that earlier.  I flew the San Antonio trip all of October and
>>>>> talked to the locals about the new Toyota Tundra truck factory there.
>>>>> They've been doing mostly training and waiting for better times.  The
>>>>> new Toyota factory in Tupelo, MS is slowing down opening.  Chrysler
>>>>> usually shuts down for two weeks at Christmas for maintenance anyway
>>>>> so this is only two more weeks of shutdown, but, the UAW workers draw
>>>>> 95% pay during the shutdown. GM has some divisions that would do very
>>>>> well on their own. The Corvette would be fine in its niche.  Shanghai
>>>>> Buick is doing well.  Their trucks sell well.  I don't see how loaning
>>>>> them money will do anything but prolong the inevitable. They have the
>>>>> same problem as the passenger airlines - too many seats chasing too
>>>>> few asses.
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:18 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> And so it begins.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Time for Toyota and Ford to steal market share...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Time for GM to fold up the rest and become Chevrolet Corporation...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> NEWS ALERT
>>>>>> from The Wall Street Journal
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dec. 17, 2008
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Chrysler said it will idle all manufacturing operations at the end of
>>>>>> the day Friday for at least a month in an effort to align production
>>>>>> and inventory with U.S. market demand.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For more information, see:
>>>>>> http://wsj.com?mod=djemalertNEWS
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For complete coverage of Detroit in Crisis, see:
>>>>>> http://online.wsj.com/public/page/auto-industry.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> David Bradley
>>>> +1.206.234.3977
>>>> dwbrad at gmail.com
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