DC lay off info/reply to Byron M

[ViperLSS]

This is what I've read and been told. The work force is going to be reduced by 20% starting the end of Feb. 2001 and continue for the next three years. Of those people a little over 19,000 will be hourly. DC is expected to offer some 28,000+ hourly employees early retirement bonuses. As of today the Viper is still going to be built until....when ever. One of the 2 plants in Detroit that is closing is Mound Road Engine. All the work done there is being moved to the New Mack I and II plants. Don't know about the other one though.

To Byron M
Who wrote in his post that "you should not feel sorry for the workers that get laid off because they will get 95% of their pay until late 2003." How rude and narrow minded of you. The workers of the UAW have fought hard to get us the benefits that we now have. Of the big 3 Chrysler employees are paid the least per hour. I for one like getting up in the morning to go build Vipers. That's like saying you can own a Viper but you're not allowed to drive it. True I would not suffer financially but, my family would not have any benefits.

Thomas

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Not every hourly union employee is like that, but all it takes are a few bad apples to make it look like it. I work at a GE Aircraft Engines plant and our non-union hourly employees are some of the whiniest people I have ever met. Most of them get paid 20+ per hour to hit the start button on a machine and sit on their behinds for the next 8 hours. Sometimes I get upset, but then GEAE makes about 18% profit every year - so what do I know?

That said, I feel bad for anyone who gets laid off that still wants to work.

 

[Robert Dyck]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nitrous Dave:
Not every hourly union employee is like that, but all it takes are a few bad apples to make it look like it. I work at a GE Aircraft Engines plant and our non-union hourly employees are some of the whiniest people I have ever met. Most of them get paid 20+ per hour to hit the start button on a machine and sit on their behinds for the next 8 hours. Sometimes I get upset, but then GEAE makes about 18% profit every year - so what do I know?

That said, I feel bad for anyone who gets laid off that still wants to work.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

So what do you know? Sounds like your Union is getting you and others a piece of the pie. Anything wrong with that?

 

[GTS Dean]

Just don't let them lay off the guys that 1) stretch the surface meshes in CATIA and 2) the guys who keep the stereolithography tanks full of resin. At least until the new, revised, Gen3 body panels get an 85% APPROVAL rating from this BBS (instead of the other way around......)

 

[Vypr GT2]

until the ...Gen3 body panels get an 85% APPROVAL rating on this bbs...instead of the other way around...

Hear! Hear!

Those straight edge side scoops have GOT to go! I could live with the new Viper's Camaro SS hood if need be, but the Corvette side is too much, IMHO...

 

[Rich Detert]

You know what amazes me?

People make comments like "You UAW guys make BIG bucks and get great benefits for putting on bumper bolts."

Have you ever worked an assembly line? I know it sounds easy, but some of the jobs are alot harder than just putting a bolt on.

Also keep in mind that the line doesn't stop if you can't keep up with it.
Depending on which plant you're in the line speeds vary from roughly 40 to 77 jobs per hour. Try putting on the same part everytime in 40 seconds or so (it's harder than you think).

I used to think that auto worker were over paid, until I became one. Until you've done it you don't realize the amout of wear and tear the repetition actually does to your body (joints and nerves).

Luckily I have enough seniority to get at least a decent job.

As far as whiners, every job in any workplace has those. Yes, there are whiners in auto assembly plants. I probably dislike them as much as you, but they're a fact of life. Some people are just whiners, Period.

What's a shame is that poor management put D.C. in the prediciment they're in now, it wasn't the "Non Skilled Hourly Workers" as we are called (hows that for a title to help you feel good about your job). The people that really caused the problem will still have jobs, the hourly workers will be on the streets.

As far as them walking out and immediately finding another job, it's possible. But there are 2 things working against them.

The first one is, in case you haven't noticed the country is in the start of what could be a recession which will make jobs harder to find (and the unemployment rate go up). The auto industry isn't the only one doing major layoffs right now.

The second is employers always think autoworker aren't going to stay with them because they may get called back to work by their former employer (you have the right to be recalled for the same number of years as your years of service). Add to this that some employers have "that" atitude that all autoworkers are lazy union workers and are used to having it easy.

I'm proud of the fact I work for Daimler Chrysler and what I do for a living. It pays a decent wage and lets me have an enjoyable life.

 

[RED 97 GTS]

Hey Rich I also work for diamler chrysler. I work at the New Castle plant here in Indiana. I use to work at the casting plant in Kokomo Indiana talk about hard work. I would go through a pair of glove and a sweat band every half hour. well over 100 degrees year round in there. I would be lifting any were from 30 to 80 pound transmission 600 a day. you earn your money thats for sure. Yeah the people get 95% of there pay but it wont be for 2years they get unemployment and sub pay but the sub pay won't last with that many people off it may last 6 months then all you get is unemployment. They are getting ready to layoff about 250 people at my plant and I heard 1500 at Kokomo. It wont get me this time and hope it won't

 

[Tom Friend]

I have mixed feelings about unions as well. On one hand, I think they have done very little for the cause of the workers in the last 5 decades. (how about pay equity for women?) OTOH, I know how helpless it feels to be at the mercy of your employer.

It sounds like DCX is offering a rather nice severance package. My advice is to take maximum advantage of it:
* Don't party or take extended vacations
* Save your money for the lean times ahead
* Change careers- choose something that pays better and offers more stability
* Go back to school (see above)
* If school is not your bag, then start your own business.

You have been given a great bit of cash flow for quite a length of time. Take advantage of it and make that big jump.

Respectfully,

 

[Trbulnc]

I am an engineer for a company that makes wheels for all the automotive industry, steel and aluminum. The guys on the steel line remove an average of 1000-1200 wheels off a line per shift. These wheels weigh anywhere from 25-56 pounds depending on dia. They earn their money every single day. As for the aluminum plant? Standing over a furnace while pouring molten aluminum into a mold to cast a wheel? The heat will take your breath away. They duct cold air over their heads to keep from overheating. I also have seen shops that the work force is laid back and they do not stress very much. Some union guys still earn every dollar the hard way.

stephen

 

[RED 97 GTS]

Byron, look like you have never been in a foundry go to the Kokomo casting plant in Kokomo,Indiana and you will find out what work is all about. This is no assembly line. Every machine has a furnace with metal at temps at 2000 degrees that is shot into a die that makes the transmission housing. So why don't you give us a break and quit talking about thing you now nothing about.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom Friend:
pay equity for women?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have heard this for 40 years and after 25 years in the work force I have yet to see legitimacy to any of it. Many times they are comparing a school teacher to a construction worker. Or Jessica Savich (remember her?) with 5 years experience to her male co-anchor with 25 years experience.

When I was a kid bagging groceries, I made less than the women cashiers. When I moved up to stock boy I MAY have earned a bit more but I wouldn't count on it.

During the 10 years I bartended I NEVER made any more than the women. And I don't know any women that got stabbed or punched throwing drunks out of bars.

In 5 years of printing I made the same as anyone else with equal experience and output. The same is true for my experience in the computer industry.

Please ladies, no flames. Just pointing out my own personal experience. I believe there are cases when a woman, BECAUSE she's a woman, didn't get paid as much as a man. I'm just saying that in my young life, I haven't been a witness to it. I doubt that it happens with the frequency the media reports.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Oh yeah, I also worked an assembly line for a little while. VERY hard work. It was terrible, I was terrible at it, the pay was terrible, and every woman was better at it than me and kept their job. I didn't.

 

[Steve Ferguson]

I made a post in another section regarding this topic, but it looks like this is the place it should be.

As a benefit provider to DC employees, I can safely say that the UAW has negotiated a Great package for their members. But there are a few things that must not have been too clear in the Tribune article.

UAW employees do have a great package, but that package is designed to really benefit those with ten or more years of service. All of our friends with less of a tenure could be in a very serious situation.

We all have to remember that one of the reasons people choose this line of work is for the future stability. Unfortunately, that stability only gets there after the time has been put in. I hope that we all share in some sympathy for any American having to get laid off because of bad management techniques. The management gets to "reorganize" while the laborer gets laid-off.

Personally, I think that *****.

 

[Mike Brunton]

In the grand scheme of things, pretty much any union worker has it pretty darn well. The UAW are some of the most well-taken-care-of workers out there. Yeah, some of the jobs are really hard, but they get paid for it. Most UAW's are not highly skilled labor - they learn a job and do it. It's (for the most part) manual labor. Compare UAW pay to other non-skilled labor pay, and it's a LOT higher. The fact that they are getting such a GREAT (and generous) package from DCX is a real benefit for them.

Now, I'd prefer that they didn't have to lay off so many people, and I REALLY think DCX has gone downhill since the "merger" and have lost some of their best people, but layoffs and reorgs are a way of life. I don't think anyone should feel sorry for people getting laid off with a 2 year severance package.. I feel a lot worse for the single mothers who work at McD's to make ends meet, or the folks who can't afford health benefits.

As for the people who talk about union works with high pay "just getting a piece of the pie", where does "the pie" come from? I pay a TON of money in taxes every year, and I pay high prices for a lot of things. All the money eventually comes from consumers... maybe GE makes a lot of money because air travel prices are still pretty high? People like you and I are paying these prices one way or another. I'd love the whole economy (especially labor) to be a free market system, but I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime.

 

[Roland L-Ocala FL]

I tried to post a reply here yesterday, but my computer said No!
Let's look at the Big Picture here (forget about the union, although I have some mixed feelings about them too). Just look at what has happend to Chrysler since they had their "merger of equals" with Daimler. They went from making the most profit per unit sold by a US auto manufacturer, to the lowest. Most all of the top Chrylser "car guys" are gone, either left on their own because of the crap they had to put up with, or were let go. Now look at what is happening, sales are going down the tubes. Let's face it, the "new" Chrysler isn't exactly making cars that everybody wants to drive anymore, with just a few notable exceptions, the Viper (which is expensive and made in very limited in production numbers), the Prowler (again limited production and expensive), and the PT Cruiser.
Minivan sales are dropping because of competition catching up, the Durango is a great SUV, but everybody is making one now, even Buick is getting in the act, so there is a plethora of them out there. There is a threat of a recession now, and a lot of middle class working stiffs are really beginning to watch their pennies again, me included. Loyalties are changing, I am not as committed to Dodge or Chrysler as I was before, it's not the same company it was three or so years ago (different owners, different philosophy). In today's economy, I am hearing from lots of younger car buyers (as well as those closer to retirement), that new cars cost too much, and you know what, they are right! What does an average car cost today, well upwards of $23,000! What do you get for that money? People are becoming more value oriented, and there are some foreign companies out there that make new cars that cost $9000 brand new, and they offer a 10 year 100,000 mile warrantee to boot! Now who hs a better value? Granted they are not plush inside, etc, but they still get you from point A to point B. And they do it on less gas to boot. This is what DC has to do now, is offer something really different than the other guys do, or give you more value for your dollar. If they don't do that, they may be looking for us to bail them out again!
The times they are a changin, to quote an old Bob Dylan song.