Word: labor
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...General Motors, where labor strife has lurked below the surface during much of the company's recent history, workers at five different plants who transferred back to GM from its former subsidiary are frustrated by the company's demands for more concessions. Protests by union members are blocking the contract changes deemed necessary by the company. "In regard to the Delphi plants, discussions between GM and the UAW are still ongoing, so no further details are available at this time," says a GM spokesman. (See the 50 worst cars of all time...
...workers say they have given up cost-of-living allowances, overtime after eight hours in place of wage increases, a holiday, some break time, the jobs bank and education benefits. Entry-level wages have been cut in half, which has translated to even lower production-labor costs. "We will not stand for further concessions negotiated by our representatives," proclaimed a resolution that was turned in for consideration at the UAW convention in June by workers from the Ford assembly plant in Chicago. "I've never seen people so frustrated," says a veteran UAW official in Detroit. "These are hard jobs...
...fight has spilled over into the labor relations at Ford. That company, the healthiest of the domestic carmakers, has traditionally had the best relations with the UAW. But last fall workers at Ford voted down contract changes aimed at erasing the gap in labor rates that had opened up with key competitors, who got additional concessions as they went through bankruptcy. GM's labor costs after bankruptcy have fallen from $72 per hour to about $50 per hour under pressure from the Treasury. Ford's hover around $55 per hour after recent adjustments, and the gap is a top issue...
...comment on the festering disputes. But critics of the union's leadership acknowledge that there isn't much the union can do to win back lost wages and benefits or even hold the line in the face of new demands for concessions, given the steady decline of organized labor across the automotive sector...
...Some labor experts have mentioned the “powerful expansions” that generally follow economic downturns of great magnitude—but there remain doubts that hiring will be able to absorb the millions of unemployed people, the Times reported...