UAW Goes on STRIKE...if Not Settled...then Chrysler/Ford will Go Out!

[KoKo]

yet...not a WORD on DU "GD FORUM" about this?

Is Controversy about Ahmadinejad visit now the new BRITTANY FUN FEST? What's more important? International or what goes on AT HOME IN AMERICA for Workers?

Are they BOTH IMPORTANT? If SO...then why is UAW not mentioned on GD FORUM? :shrug:

[MrCoffee]

1. i won't shed one damn tear for the UAW

where was the UAW on August 3, 1981, when Ronnie issued his ultimatum to the Air Traffic Controllers?

fuck the UAW.

[KoKo]

2. ummm...you are talking about 1981? I can understand your bitterness about demise of Unions

but these are dire times...that they are standing up when the US Auto Industry is on the ropes to Toyota... well...why would you not support them now?

[MrCoffee]

4. because they shot themselves in the collective foot in 1981

and yes, i'm still bitter as hell about the effect that strike had on my family. my dad was an ATC and was a proud PATCO member, and i remember him breaking down in tears when they got word that there'd be no support from other unions if they walked out. he expected Reagan to stand firm. he did not expect Labor to roll over on them.

the AFL-CIO, the UAW...they've got only themselves to blame for the demise of organized labor in this country. they showed Reagan who was boss. they bent right over and showed him good.

some unions are doing good work. there are groups that have never been represented in the workplace and unions like the SEIU are working hard to see that they are. some unions are so entrenched and mired in their own historic fuck-ups (which can be directly traced to the sorry state of organized labor today) that, personally, i couldn't care less about their pension plans.

[NNN0LHI]

5. The Air Traffic Controllers you speak of endorsed Reagan for president

Telling only half the story is kind of like lying isn't it?

Don

[MrCoffee]

6. so did the AFL-CIO

who made the bigger mistake?

[ConsAreLiars]

7. That is absolutely false.

Your opposition to labor may be based on "something," but making up crap like that makes me wonder about the real reasons.

[ConsAreLiars]

8. Do you sing "fuck the UAW" to the tune of "Solidaity Forever?"

Pretty bizarre way to make the case that labor solidarity is something you honestly support?

[sandnsea]

3. They're being trashed

On a thread I was on earlier. I don't know what in the hell is going on here lately. I was really proud that a union finally stood up the way I remember them doing decades ago. I was actually thinking John Edwards had a lot to do with it and maybe he deserves my support because of it. Then I log on and half of DU is trashing the UAW. Weird.

[durtee librul]

9. Let those who know nothing throw the first

stone at the UAW. I can honestly say if it weren't for the UAW and many other unions, most of the folks who post here would be making peon wages and have NO benefits at all other than what the great greedy god employer decided to bestow on their hairy ass ends.

Again, SC Johnson in Racine is a PERFECT example of this - for years American Motors lured their brightest and best away becuase of wages and benefit packages - so what did SC do - they met and bested the UAW package. Who benefitted? Workers and their communities in SE WI. Now, the UAW has lost some of its teeth thru poor (very poor I might add) leadership and what has SC done - reduced pay, benefits, vacations, etc.

So folks, go ahead and trash away at the unions....you just show how uneducated you really are about how this middle class of ours was founded.

Read up on the early years in the auto industry when you're on the throne and then tell me you can't see the parallels in today's economy or what the unions have done for many many people who have never had the priviledge of being a union member. Read how employers (and gee, I think even GM was one of them.....sarcasm) didn't give a crap about the employees and how most men got jobs by bringing illegal booze to the bosses among other things....yep, just like a lot of you boot lickers today...take the boss out for lunch in hopes it makes you look good.....

Go ahead and flame me, I don't care. I have been a union member for over 25 years and am now on the 'other' side of the fence (not by choice) and let me tell you, there isn't a day that goes by that I wouldn't love to be back in the ranks where if I had a grievance it would get fixed....even if it weren't to my liking....something would be done.

Nope, Unions have their faults and one of them is that they aren't in more places.

And to the gentleman who wrote about Patco - our local donated over $10,000 to your strike fund as did many other UAW locals....the main UAW leadership however didn't endorse it and that was wrong - no argument there. But then, the unions lately haven't been any better than the damn politicians we elect either so go figure. Don't fault us all because of a lack of leadership at the top....and feel free to read into that anyway you wish.