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Report: Market, Not UAW, To Drive GM Future Product Commitments

“We certainly aren’t going to make a decision and make a commitment solely as a way of getting an agreement,” said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president of labor relations, reported by Reuters. “If the market doesn’t drive it, we can’t do that.”

As labor negotiations between General Motors and the UAW are quickly approaching (July 27), Clegg has set the mindset for how the company will perceive the wishes that will be set forth by the union, which hopes to convince GM to further continue hiring more workers.

“The vast majority of members want jobs and they want job security,” stated Joe Ashton, the UAW vice president in charge of GM relations. “They never want to go through what we had to go though in 2009, where they faced bankruptcy and plant closings.”

Clegg notes that GM will need a “pretty healthy market recovery” before the company thinks about increasing vehicle production output any further.

Source: Reuters

Former staff.

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Comments

  1. That makes sense to me. The UAW is too powerful. It’s all about money. Laws govern workplace safety and worker rights now. There’s nothing left for them to do but bully companies around to get more money.

    Reply
    1. You are correct. The unions at one time were needed as working conditions were very poor. But the government has changed that. Now it is time for the unions to get their head out of the sand and to get educated on how a business runs and what it takes to make a profit. Without sales of product there is no business, thus no need to produce the product, thus no need for employees. If they want job security they need to understand that a company needs to continue to produce products that people want to purchase. They need to understand that a company needs to make a profit and enough of a profit so it can have “a savings account” to keep in reserves for the down time. Until this happens I doubt that any company is going to grant job security to union members who’s attitude is “the company is making millions while they screw us”
      .

      Reply
    2. I have to disagree, I worked at OKC-OK, they put in 144 robots at $150K each in body shop, in paint they used them in the paint booths not a single person painted that vehicle, then 3 years later they closed they blame it on they couldn’t compete with the imports and most imports are made here now.

      Reply
  2. Actually KC, workers’ rights in the U.S. are growing weaker every day. The businesses hold almost all the cards. The NLRB is almost toothless, with a governing board full of former executives that tends to ignore legitimate union grievances. Not sure where you picked up the bad info.

    That being said, this is a smart attitude for GM. The company’s profitability has to be first and foremost.

    Reply
    1. Wrong Andrew the NLRB has to much power! The current administration’s attitude is “business is evil”. The current administration is so stupid when it comes to economics and business.

      Reply
  3. The current administration is ridiculously pro-business. Both parties are the exact same when it comes to the rich. Congratulations, you’ve been fooled by the big-business owned and controlled mass media.

    Reply
  4. Probably best for us to move on and focus on GM talk. This is not a place for highlevel political discussion. That would require facts, rather than the deceptions that Murdoch and the Koch brothers are broadcasting.

    Reply
  5. Unions are no longer needed to protect workers safety. This excuse for the existence of Unions has long been negated by the plethora workers rights and safety legislation put in place over the past 75 years. Speaking as a Director of Human Resources for a segment of one of the worlds largest companies I have yet to see one Union contract that specifies an workers safety provisions. These are clearly defined and enforced by OSHA and other organizations. If the Unions want to justify their existence the need to take lessons from the IBEW and similar representative groups. Those Unions have partnered with the Companies and became training centers of excellence to supply the workforce with properly trained and safe workers. This drives down training, turnover and exposure costs for the Companies and ultimately has mutual benefits for both parties. The days of the Union protecting the lower performing 1/3 of the workers, ignoring the performing 2/3 and bullying the Companies are on their way out.

    Reply

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