Supplier cries. Workers do givebacks. CEO gets megabonus. Free trade. 500 jobs go to Mexico. Video

[Bozita]

I know. You've already seen it. Many times.

But you haven't.

Video at link:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090604/METRO08/906040415/1439/METRO08/American-dream-fades-at-Axle-plant-in-Hamtramck

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Travels With Charlie
American dream fades at Axle plant in Hamtramck
Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News

Hamtramck

As the world focused on the collapse of General Motors Corp. and the goings-on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and 1 Wall Street, a sad but not unrelated scene played out this week at 2140 Holbrook St.

At 5:57 a.m., Bill Alford, the president of UAW Local 235, shambled up the street to punch in for work at the American Axle & Manufacturing plant No. 8. He cut a pathetic figure Monday, one shoe untied and dressed in a hockey sweater with a large C embossed on the chest. C is for captain, but Alford is now the captain of almost nobody.

As GM declared bankruptcy, more than 500 UAW workers employed at the plant here quietly received a letter by FedEx informing them that they were indefinitely laid off. Normally presidents of local unions do not go to work at the plant, as management prefers not to have labor agitators on its factory floors. But when there are too few employees to do the work, Alford is required by contract to return to the plant.

And so Alford had the humiliating task of operating a forklift, loading crates of tools and machinery onto a truck bound for Texas, he said.

"They don't want a middle class," said Alford, 34, standing in the rain, the shoe still untied, referring not only to the managers of American Axle, but also the owners of industry in general. "I see that in the future people will have to move to Mexico for a job. This is a dark day for the American laborer."

General Motors may be entering a new chapter in its life, but the American worker still confronts the little problem of NAFTA and the cheap Mexican and subsidized Canadian labor he cannot compete with.

more...

[OhioChick]

1. K&R

:kick:

[Ikonoklast]

2. Operating a forklift is not "a humiliating task".

It is honest work done by under-appreciated men and women, without whom the wheels of industry and transportation would come to a screeching halt.

God, some people make me vomit with their careless characterization of the worth of manual labor.

Watching a good lift operator work freight with skill and speed is like watching a gifted athlete. No wasted motion, time, or effort.

[Bozita]

3. Couldn't figure what that added to the story.

BTW, I drove a forklift for a few months a long time ago. It really is a skill.

[The Straight Story]

5. I think because , maybe, his job was basically helping him to send the jobs elsewhere

:shrug:

[Ikonoklast]

7. Ah, I see it now.

Poor writing by the author created a disconnect between the task itself, and what was actually transpiring.

[Bozita]

9. I can picture the Fauxnews headline: Union Prez ships his members' mfg machines to Mexico

[LiberalFighter]

8. Sort of like when a worker trains their replacement after they have been told

they will be let go.

[JVS]

12. It's humiliating when you're told to use it to pack up your tools to be sent elsewhere

Teaching someone how to do your job isn't humiliating either, unless done within the context of being replaced rather than promoted.

[Mari333]

4. article not found at link...nt

[Bozita]

6. I just fixed it. Here's a good one. Many thanks.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090604/METRO08/906040415/1439/METRO08/American-dream-fades-at-Axle-plant-in-Hamtramck

[Mari333]

11. k n r

[Blackhatjack]

10. They are creating a devastated former middle class with little left to lose....

Once your job has been outsourced outside the country, and you lose your home, and the credit card sharks have raised all your interest rates to 30-40%, and there is nothing left to sell .... tell me what you have left to lose?

The 'former' middle class was trained to remain quiet and do their job, and never cause management a problem even as the top brass made out like bandits with raises and bonuses.

Won't be long before they hit the street .... likely saying "we're mad as H*ll and we're not taking it anymore!"

This situation is more dangerous than the media realizes...

[Fumesucker]

14. Yep, and some of these guys are veterans..

And some of those are combat vets..

[Blackhatjack]

15. IMHO the Veterans have every reason to be hacked off by their treatment ....

Bush/Cheney aligned themselves with Vets pretending they cared, while cutting their benefits and treating them and their families like dirt.

Yep, if this comes to pass, I am sure they will be among the ranks...

[Fumesucker]

18. I'm a vet as is my son in law..

I'm highly pissed on behalf of the Iraq and Afghanistan vets and don't have all that much left to lose.

Son in law has a great deal to lose and isn't paying enough attention to have much of a clue what is really happening.

But when he gets to the point of losing a lot I intend to educate him, he already knows I was right about Iraq when he thought I was a moron in 2003.

I hope for everyone's sake that it doesn't come to that.

[Blackhatjack]

19. It is woefully inadequate, but Thank You for your service....

North Carolina is home to many Vets and they have performed beyond expectations only to be mistreated by the Bush/Cheney Administration. They were used as PR backdrops, set pieces for political purposes.

We owe our Vets a heck of alot more than they have received. I would sure like to see them get it.

[Wednesdays]

13. K&R

:kick:

[Canuckistanian]

16. "subsidized Canadian labor"?

How is our labor subsidized? Do they consider our health care system a subsidization?

[Bozita]

17. Yes, healthcare is optional here in the States.

Disease, illness and aging aren't.

Your government shares with the people.

Ours shares with the corporations. Just google: Baucus healthcare donations.

[Canuckistanian]

22. C'mon, Bozita

I ain't no DU newbie! :hi:

I've been a champion for single payer here for years.

[Blue_Tires]

20. k+r

[Hannah Bell]

21. kick