Those protesting Wall Street are in the wrong place this week. They need to be in Dearborn, MI protesting the UAW vote on the new contract with Ford.
It’s going to be a close vote and will get down to plants in Dearborn, Louisville, KY, and Claycomo, Mo.
Clearly, the UAW and the Ford workers are ever so grateful to have jobs today. If the management of Ford wasn’t better than that of Chrysler and GM, Ford would be in the same shape as those two companies. But, the number one complaint of the workers who are voting against the new contract is the money being paid management.
If the members vote down a contract that pays each worker a $6,000 signing bonus plus $1,500 in payments over the next four years to cover inflation, it won’t be well received across America.
Most of us remember that Obama stiffed everyone except the UAW when he saved GM and Chrysler. Bondholders got stiffed, shareholders got stiffed, non-union retirees got stiffed, taxpayers got stiffed but the UAW came out smelling like a rose. This is the reward Obama gets for helping his union pals. They now threaten to strike Ford and give it the same virus they gave GM and Chrysler.
This is no different than the union situation facing the NBA. Players making way too much money want more. They are indifferent to the fact that many owners are losing money. The owners are willing to split profits with them 50/50, but that’s not good enough, the players want a 54/46 split.
The same is true for the Ford UAW workers. Not content to have a job when so many manufacturing workers are not working, they want more. Not happy with bonus payments when there is no inflation, they want more. Not willing to see the political fallout of a strike, they may strike.
The big-contact NBA players, who are the biggest backers of the strike here, are looking at Europe for a place to work until the strike can be resolved. To you UAW workers, I say go to Europe and see what jobs you can find there and what they pay.
