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State of the Union
For over 60 years, The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) has sold itself as the protector of America’s working class. According to their web site, “We’ve used our bargaining power to demand – and win – a...
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The UAW: Cut and Run?
I wouldn’t join any union that would have me as a member. And yet the United Autoworker’s Union (UAW) wants me. Yep, UAW Local 1981 represents freelance writers. The pen-pushing Local is part of a...
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UAW ’07 Contract Negotiations: No Surrender!
I may be the only American automotive journalist who thinks the United Auto Workers (UAW) won't make any significant concessions in their new contracts with The Big Two Point Five. Window dressing?...
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Toyota’s Troubles: Money, Metal and Memogate
For decades, Toyota has balanced superb management, impeccable quality, exemplary financial discipline and flawless product planning. As other manufacturers chased market trends and neglected core...
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The United Auto Workers: Conventional Wisdom
While the United Auto Workers (UAW) were busy plotting their future, The Detroit News ran a Cyber Survey. “Have UAW members given up enough or should auto makers expect more concessions?” As of the...
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Oh What a Feeling! The UAW Targets Toyota
Never mind all that “buy American” and “Asian cars are the enemy” rhetoric. The United Auto Workers (UAW) would love to get their hands on the transplants’ southern redoubts. With their numbers...
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The United Auto Workers, Ford, GM and Chryslerberus Ante Up
The poker game known as the United Auto Workers' (UAW) contract negotiations officially begins on July 23rd. To hear the main participants, the cards have already been dealt. Ford and GM claim they're...
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Delphic Dilemma: The United Auto Workers Opt for a Two-Tier Future
Late last week, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) and Delphi signed a tentative contract. Even though the two sides spent 21 months wrangling over the deal, Delphi's remaining UAW workers have only a...
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NUMMI RIP? Toyota Considers Dumping UAW Plant
According to the now-infamous Georgetown, Kentucky memo, ToMoCo’s brass are concerned that their workers’ wages are growing faster than the company's profits. To rectify this situation, Toyota’s newest...
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UAW – Big 2.8 Negotiations Set to Start: Veni, Vidi, VEBA
When it comes to the United Auto Workers (UAW) contract negotiations with The Big 2.8, employee and retiree health care is the 1000lbs. monkey on the automakers' backs. General Motors' health care...
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UAW Negotiations: The Blame Game
The contract negotiations between the Detroit automakers and The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) continue apace. The employers are adamant: they need union concessions to survive. BIG concessions....
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Chrysler Suicide Watch 20: Cerberus Bares Its Teeth
When Daimler gave sold Chrysler to Cerberus, it seemed as if things were looking up for the beleaguered automaker. With a return to American ownership, they no longer had internal factions gunning for...
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The UAW’s Mad, Mad World
Since the late 30's, the UAW and America's home-grown automakers have been locked in a balance of terror. The arrangement has kept the peace- at a price. Which was pretty much anything the UAW wanted....
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UAW: Do or Die at DENSO?
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Facing falling membership, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is rapidly expanding into non-automotive industries like education and health care. Meanwhile, the...
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The UAW Goes Back to Work: Even the Winner Loses
The strike is over. The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) has announced they've reached an agreement with General Motors which will lead to a new contract for their members. Everyone's gone back to work....
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Strike Two! Is The UAW About to Strike Out?
In this morning's Detroit Free Press, Tom Walsh declares that United Auto Workers (UAW) president Ron Gettelfinger had to "flex worker's muscles" by staging a six-hour strikelet against Chrysler....
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Detroit Deathwatch: Outrunning the Bear
In the battle for the American automotive market, Detroit’s fighting for its life, rather than supremacy. The truth is that the so-called domestic automakers are under siege; their non-union...
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Buzz Hargrove: Still Full of Piss and Vinegar (Part 1)
Buzz Hargrove describes himself as "full of piss and vinegar." Well exactly. The combative Canadian has been instrumental in his country's union movement since 1964, when he represented a couple of...
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Buzz Hargrove: Still Full of Piss and Vinegar (Part 2)
Buzz Hargrove doesn't mince his words. As demonstrated in Part 1 of this interview, the outgoing Canadian Auto Workers leader is fully aware of the Detroit domestics' dire financial peril. What's more,...
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Editorial: Bankruptcy Watch 189: Poll Position
In December of last year, a certain Peter Hart wrote an opinion column for Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). Hart decried the prevalence of polling in political coverage. Not only did he cast...
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Editorial: The Truth About The UAW’s Legacy Costs
One of the uncomfortable facts about the automobile industry: its pay rates have been exceptionally high almost from day one. That said, just how much of a factor worker wages (and the cost differences...
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Editorial: Is Hyundai The New GM?
2008 was supposed to be a banner year for Hyundai. The company predicted a huge sales jump and promised a new flagship. And then 2008 actually happened. Sales were, well, you can guess that one. From a...
View ArticleTrade War Watch 12: “Nationalist assault on a foreign corporation, an...
Recently, there have been voices that mentioned that the attacks on Toyota could be politically motivated. Let’s face it: Toyota has problems. So have other auto makers. There are marked differences in...
View ArticleUAW: What’s So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding?
Earlier this week, newly-elected UAW President Bob King gave a speech before the Center For Automotive Research Conference, touting the deep changes that have transformed the union. The first half of...
View ArticleBetween The Lines: The UAW’s Principles For Fair Union Elections
The UAW today released its complete “Principles For Fair Union Elections” [full PDF here], the document that it wants every transplant auto manufacturer in America to sign ahead of its organizing...
View ArticleGM Calculations: Plant Closures At Opel Will Take A Lot of Time And A Lot Of...
Looking for a way to stop the chronic bleeding of money at it notoriously loss-making Opel division, GM has been crunching numbers to see what it would cost to close one of its European plants. Bad...
View ArticleProtectionism Kills Jobs. As Demonstrated In Chattanooga
There is a shiny new car factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. People enjoy working at this Volkswagen factory. The factory is airy, there is a lot of space inside and outside the factory for expansion....
View ArticleAmerica’s Hot Export Article: “Import” Cars
Many people don’t realize that most of the “import” cars bought and sold in America no longer roll off a boat, but off an assembly line somewhere in the American heartland. Or at least in the North...
View ArticleGM, CAW Angling For Renewed Crossover Production In Canada
The cost of doing business in Canada may be high for auto makers, but that isn’t stopping GM from looking to re-negotiate their contract with the CAW nearly a year in advance as a means of keeping...
View ArticleNo New Product For Chattanooga Unless Works Council Implemented
As Volkswagen gears up for a decision on expanding their Chattanooga factory, a member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board told the Handlesblatt that any new product would be contingent on VW adopting a...
View ArticleWhat I Learned When I Published Two Opinion Pieces Regarding The UAW
. Don’t let anybody tell you the economy’s tough nowadays; when our beloved, game-changing Managing Editor, Derek Kreindler, posted in a Facebook auto-journo group offering cash money to anybody...
View ArticleFiat Serbia Workers Demand Higher Wages, Get Chicken Discount
The union representing workers at the Fiat 500L factory in Kragujevac, Serbia has a big job ahead of it. Workers are demanding raises, bonuses, and a steady work schedule. In its most recent...
View ArticleTTAC News Round-Up: China Brings Long-Dead German Automaker Back From the Grave
Although it would been cheaper to build elsewhere, the Chinese-resurrected Borgward has opted to return to its hometown of Bremen for its new factory. Not only is the Germany company back after a...
View ArticleTesla Could Have Trouble Meeting Its Looming Production Targets
After posting a profitable fall quarter, Tesla returned to spending more than it made. However, its fourth quarter losses, announced on Wednesday, were substantially less than originally assumed by...
View ArticleUnion Vaccine: Elon Musk Promises Free Frozen Yogurt and Roller Coasters to...
With his employees showing a growing interest in unionization, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shot off a lengthy email to staff urging them to forgo joining the United Auto Workers. While the UAW has romanced...
View ArticleUAW Corruption Probe Continues as Jewell Heads to Prison
Former union vice president Norwood Jewel has become the highest ranking UAW member to be convicted of corruption charges in a federal investigation that has lasted four years and delivered prison...
View ArticleGreen Dreams: Unifor Releases New Economic Strategy for Canada
Unifor hopes to sway the Canadian government toward an automotive strategy centered around the adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles and a totally revised economic system. On Wednesday, the...
View ArticleUAW Annoyed With GM’s Mexican EVs
General Motors has decided its fifth electric vehicle facility should be in Mexico and has set aside $1 billion for its complex in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Mexico. While a portion of the funds will go...
View ArticleChicago Mechanic Strike Continues
Technicians at over 50 dealerships in and around Chicago are now in their second week on strike. They’re fighting with the Chicago New Car Dealer Committee, which represents the 56 dealers involved, as...
View ArticleGM Canada Tells Unvaccinated Workers to Stay Home, Union Unhelpful
Unvaccinated workers from General Motors’ CAMI Assembly Plant have been removed from the facility and forced into unpaid leave. The automaker had a deadline set for December 12th to have all employees...
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