The new Detroit model... stimulus that doesn't need Republican votes.

[Auggie]

This article appeared on page A - 18 of the San Francisco Chronicle / 10-21-11

As the economy appears ready to slide off another cliff, the just concluded talks between the United Automobile Workers union and the Detroit automakers have received scant attention across the country. That's too bad because they promise what's been in short supply for millions of increasingly desperate Americans: jobs.

While many talk about the return of U.S. manufacturing might as hopeless nostalgia, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have committed to creating more than 20,000 new jobs in the United States, many now done offshore.

Bob King, the UAW president, points out that 180,000 jobs could result ranging from auto suppliers to schoolteachers, many in some of the economically hardest hit areas of the country. This number exceeds the total job creation nationwide in August and September and could pump much-needed purchasing power into an anemic economy. It amounts to a stimulus package that doesn't need Republican votes.

After a searing near-death experience, the Detroit automakers and the UAW were determined to chart a new course, no small task right now. The marathon negotiations were tough, at times contentious, but the result is possibly the most far-reaching shift in direction in auto bargaining since the 1950s.

READ MORE: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/21/ED0C1LISKF.DTL

At the risk of sounding trite, this is American know-how.

:thumbsup:

[Scuba]

1. Yeah, but if Union thugs are allowed a seat at the management table...

...we'll end up with Socialism and be like Germany and Sweden!







If we're lucky.

[dkf]

2. Good stuff.

I like that they are being more flexible to allow bonuses in good times without overloading obligations in bad times. This is good for everyone as they won't have to layoff people and can spread the downside more widely. So a cut for everyone but you get to keep everyone.

[FarCenter]

3. How many of these "new jobs" are simply insourcing from other US suppliers?

One way to increase the number of jobs at GM, Ford, and Chrysler is to make more parts in house, rather than getting them from the supply chain.

This wouldn't necessarily increase the number of manufacturing jobs in the US, although it may increase the number of UAW jobs, depending on whether the suppliers were UAW or not.

[Auggie]

5. Would it make a difference?

I don't care who makes the part as long as it's made in the U.S.

[William769]

4. K&R.

Detroit is such a unique & wonderful city.