Working Life

I’ve been reading the various proposals about how to bailout the auto industry. Some of the ideas are good but one piece floating around in the punditry is foolish and dangerous. This has to be done right–and it has to be done in a way that does not attack the workers of the industry.   […]

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   Readers here know that I’ve been repeatedly saying things will get much worse, regardless of any one-day swings in the stock market. I’ve been saying for many, many weeks that we are going to see very big problems come the holiday season–the more important time for retailers and other businesses to bring in sales. […]

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   The momentum to merge General Motors and Chrysler is being given a strong push by the government (oh, no, socialism…industrial policy). I’m not saying I think the merger is a great idea but since both companies are leaking billions of dollars and may run out of cash in a year or less, it is […]

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    Here are a few ways clues that show very clearly the hit many workers are taking. The UAW has had to go on strike against American Axle after talks broke down late last night over a new contract. Check out what the company wants 3,600 workers to accept, according to The Wall Street Journal: […]

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    Here are a few ways clues that show very clearly the hit many workers are taking. The UAW has had to go on strike against American Axle after talks broke down late last night over a new contract. Check out what the company wants 3,600 workers to accept, according to The Wall Street Journal: […]

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    I don’t know how many of your media outlets carried the news that Doug Fraser, former UAW president, died Saturday night. From the Detroit Free Press: Douglas Fraser, a Detroit sit-down striker in the 1930s, UAW president in the 1970s and ’80s who played a key role in helping Chrysler survive, and a senior […]

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    I don’t know how many of your media outlets carried the news that Doug Fraser, former UAW president, died Saturday night. From the Detroit Free Press: Douglas Fraser, a Detroit sit-down striker in the 1930s, UAW president in the 1970s and ’80s who played a key role in helping Chrysler survive, and a senior […]

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    I don’t know that one should trust The Wall Street Journal’s take on the vibe inside any union. I’m not familiar with the reporter who wrote today’s story describing stronger dissent inside the UAW to the negotiated deal with Chrysler, as well as a relatively strong minority "no" vote on the GM deal. But, […]

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  Last week, I took part in a discussion on CNBC about the agreement reached between the UAW and Chrysler. The show’s producers wanted to focus on the question of whether the deal showed that the UAW’s power is in decline. The truth is that the Chrysler deal, and the previous pact reached between the […]

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Most of the MSM reporting on the opening yesterday of the negotiations between the UAW and General Motors and Ford was pretty standard fare. The New York Times article doesn’t reveal a lot but there are two things of note. First, from UAW prez Ron Gettelfinger:   Mr. Gettelfinger, too, sees the outcome of the […]

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