Comments on: GM and UAW Reach Tentative Agreement On New National Labor Contract http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2007/09/gm-and-uaw-reach-tentative-agreement-on-new-national-labor-contract.html Saab 9-1, 9-3, 9-4x, 9-5, 9-7x News Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:26:44 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: 1985 Gripen http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2007/09/gm-and-uaw-reach-tentative-agreement-on-new-national-labor-contract.html#comment-21997 1985 Gripen Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:57:01 +0000 http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2007/09/gm-and-uaw-reach-tentative-agreement-on-new-national-labor-contract.html#comment-21997 I heard on NPR this morning some numbers: the trust fund is $50B and GM will throw-in $15B immediately, earning interest on that money to fund the rest of it or something like that. It's a heck of a lot of money. I'm not sure what concessions the union had to make, if any. IMHO, they're just putting themselves out of work. Why wouldn't GM make their next car in Mexico or somewhere else where they don't have to pay into these crazy benefits that nobody else gets? I heard on NPR this morning some numbers: the trust fund is $50B and GM will throw-in $15B immediately, earning interest on that money to fund the rest of it or something like that. It’s a heck of a lot of money. I’m not sure what concessions the union had to make, if any.

IMHO, they’re just putting themselves out of work. Why wouldn’t GM make their next car in Mexico or somewhere else where they don’t have to pay into these crazy benefits that nobody else gets?

]]> By: sam http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2007/09/gm-and-uaw-reach-tentative-agreement-on-new-national-labor-contract.html#comment-21976 sam Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:48:05 +0000 http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2007/09/gm-and-uaw-reach-tentative-agreement-on-new-national-labor-contract.html#comment-21976 "I get the feeling that the widespread perception will be that GM have caved to an extent." Apparently the writer at Businessweek http://www.businessweek.com/ disagrees as their article is entitled "UAW Concedes to GM". Jerry Flint of Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/09/24/gm-uaw-strike-oped-cz_jf_0924backseat.html thinks the health care trust idea is a sham, and won't save GM anything in the long run. There are wage reductions, of a sort. GM gets to pay newly hired non-production employees (like janitors or the cooks in the factory cafeteria) less than they do the production line workers. My take on the settlement is that it helps GM limp along for a few more years, not getting worse, but not getting much better either. “I get the feeling that the widespread perception will be that GM have caved to an extent.” Apparently the writer at Businessweek http://www.businessweek.com/ disagrees as their article is entitled “UAW Concedes to GM”.

Jerry Flint of Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/09/24/gm-uaw-strike-oped-cz_jf_0924backseat.html
thinks the health care trust idea is a sham, and won’t save GM anything in the long run.

There are wage reductions, of a sort. GM gets to pay newly hired non-production employees (like janitors or the cooks in the factory cafeteria) less than they do the production line workers.

My take on the settlement is that it helps GM limp along for a few more years, not getting worse, but not getting much better either.

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