Outsourcing and the UAW Strike

[OhioChick]

Posted September 26, 2007 | 12:17 AM (EST)

Here's what you need to know about the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against General Motors. The strike is about two things: labor arbitrage and health care.

In 1990, GM's workforce was over 350,000 strong. Today it is 73,000. Much production has been off-shored or spun off. (Delphi, for example, was spun off to supply car parts.) The spun-off workers have taken it on the chin in terms of wages, with Delphi workers going from $27 an hour to a maximum of $18.50."

Meanwhile, the union says the strike is primarily about labor arbitrage, to whit:

The UAW wants assurance of future production at U.S. manufacturing plants.
But the Detroit Three -- GM, Ford and Chrysler -- have threatened to close plants and cut jobs to try to stay afloat....

...The union is holding out for job guarantees for the GM's 73,000-strong workforce -- which is now just a fifth as large at it was as recently as 1990.


In other words, GM workers don't want what jobs are left in the US to be outsourced, off-shored, or spun off.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-welsh/outsourcing-and-the-uaw-s_b_65877.html

[madmom]

1. Thank You for this, so many people were complaining about how

this strike "hurt" other people and that the UAW was greedy and cry babies because they wanted more money. They obviously didn't know what was going on. This strike was for ALL blue collar workers, we just let corporate America we're not gonna take it any more!!!!!:thumbsup: :applause: