Enough is enough? UAW memebers at a local auto parts plant voted

[hedgehog]

to shut the place down rather than accept working conditions and wage cuts that would have erased 50 years of progress:



http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/new_process_gear_plans_exit_st.html

[firedupdem]

1. They were smart enough to look at the big picture....

It looks as if that plant is going to close down anyway. If they take those concessions and it closes down in June or July they would be screwing themselves. I've seen companies do this before. The employees take all sorts of cuts and 5 months later the company closes. Of course they knew they were going to close the entire time.

If the plant closes now, employees would receive unemployment compensation based on their current rate of $20.11 per hour, workers said. If they agreed to the new contract, and the company cut wages to the proposed $16 or $13 per hour and then closed the plant, their unemployment would have been based on the lower wages, they said.

"There's a good reason why people voted no on the contract," said Larry Kellam, 52, of Syracuse, who has worked at the plant for 13 years. "A lot of people said if we do this we're shooting ourselves in the foot."

That, and the operational changes proposed in the agreement, were too much, he said.

[amborin]

3. that's great!

[JVS]

2. UAW showing defiance to their bosses! Good job, and about time!

[firedupdem]

5. Hell yes it is....

I'm so sick of us getting screwed over by these greedy bastards. You can be sure the people at the top always know whats going on. My husbands (non union) company just made everybody take cuts. There are less and less orders coming in and they have layed off most of the staff.

I think they will be closing. They are just saving what they can off the employee's backs until they shut the doors. He's actively looking for another job now. All this after we pack up and move here from Michigan. sickening!

[ogneopasno]

4. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. I salute them.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. !

:thumbsup:

[guitar man]

6. yes

More than once I heard my father and grandfather, both union men say "you can get all the work you want if you'll just work cheap enough, if the job's not worth having, what good is it?"

kudos to the UAW! :applause:

[NJmaverick]

8. I wouldn't use the word good to describe this situation

There are no winners, just losers.

[SlipperySlope]

9. I see very little to celebrate here.

Go ahead and look for a silver lining if you like. All I see is 1,400 workers about to be laid off and a 2-million-square foot factory about to be shut down. Yeah, the union members sent a message to the union leadership and management, but the cost of that message is horrible to all involved.

[eilen]

11. They were going to close it up anyway

The writing was on the wall when Magna purchased the factory from Chrysler/GM. I live here, it was only a matter of time. They started laying people off from the get go -- way before this latest negotiation. We expected Magna to close the plant and open one in Mexico or China as soon as they could get away with it. Lucky for Magna, crisis capitalism played into their hands. The workers always knew.

[cabluedem]

10. Too bad the Teamsters Union workers didnt do the same as the UAW workers. nt