Working Life

    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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    One of the things that has clearly outraged Americans everywhere is the disgusting spectacle of CEOs legally looting their companies with pay and pensions that are absolutely outrageous. For a long time, a collective Marie Antoinette cry from the CEO suites spilled out that, while a few CEOs pocket massive amounts of money, workers […]

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    One of the things that has clearly outraged Americans everywhere is the disgusting spectacle of CEOs legally looting their companies with pay and pensions that are absolutely outrageous. For a long time, a collective Marie Antoinette cry from the CEO suites spilled out that, while a few CEOs pocket massive amounts of money, workers […]

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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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    A long-time reader alerted me to this yesterday (and asked: "why haven’t I written about this?" To which I said to him–and say to all–open up your own blog here and get cracking…I can’t do everything, you know, and there are a lot of smart and connected people out there who have something to […]

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    Some random things. A number of people kept asking me, "so, what is a VEBA beyond the basic name?" Here’s an excerpt from today’s Wall Street Journal–interesting note that VEBAs are not that rare at large companies: A. VEBAs are similar to pension funds. They have assets intended to pay for retiree health care, […]

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    I’m not surprised that the strike against GM was a relatively short one. We’ll see what the details are as they emerge over the next few days. Obviously, the key was the establishment of the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, or VEBA. Here’s what The Wall Street Journal has to say this morning: Mr. Gettelfinger […]

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    It’s happening. From The New York Times: Members of the United Automobile Workers union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country after union leaders and company officials failed to reach an agreement in contentious talks on a new contract. It is the first national strike by the union against […]

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