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January 13, 2009

The Most Manipulative of CARtels

..."No one wants to see GM go down the tubes," said picketing Jim Brown. "But we have to keep our standard of living, and GM is going to have to cooperate."

Extortion: A lesson in how to continually bite the hands that feed you and STILL come out smelling like a rose...well...something we could all identify at first whiff.

...On Sept. 24, 2007, a year during which GM lost an average of $3.2 billion per month, the United Auto Workers launched a national strike against the company, ordering the shutdown of 80 GM plants in the United States.

...On Feb. 26, 2008, a UAW strike at five American Axle plants, a key GM supplier and the sole axle supplier for the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, stopped or slowed production at 30 of GM's North American factories and crippled GM's pickup truck and SUV production throughout the United States.

...April 17, a UAW-ordered work stoppage over a work rule dispute at GM's Lansing Delta plant in Michigan halted production of the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.

...May 5, 2008, workers walked off the job at GM's Kansas City plant over work rules and seniority disputes...."...at the automaker's Kansas City factory that builds the fast-selling Chevrolet Malibu, already in tight supply,"...

...General Motors, in short, had finally produced a car that the public really wanted and the guys walked out.

...On July 16, 2008, the UAW called a strike against a Johnson Controls plant in Tennessee that supplies GM with consoles and seats for the Chevrolet Traverse crossover vehicle.

"We want a flawless launch for this vehicle," UAW Local 1853 President Mike O'Rourke told Reuters, "but it's going to be with union seats and union consoles."
I got your "union seat" right here, pal...

Posted by tree hugging sister at January 13, 2009 05:31 PM

Comments

I wonder if they didn't do the company a favor. If they couldn't sell the cars they expected to make, then this saved a lot of money for them by not buying the parts and labor. Union workers aren't paid when they're on strike.

Posted by: Skyler at January 13, 2009 06:36 PM

Unions. Doing to the auto industry what they did too the steel industry.

Bunch of criminals.

Posted by: Gunslinger at January 14, 2009 06:50 AM