Word: unioneers
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...expected France to suffer 300,000 job cuts in 2009 - a figure independent analysts says massively underestimates the figure they predict, which is closer to 900,000. Speculation is also rising that several central European countries - Hungary foremost among them - may soon need bailing out by fellow European Union members to avoid economic collapse...
...particularly galling to the United Auto Workers (UAW) that, in addition to numerous rounds of layoffs and givebacks dating back two decades, the union is being cast as the enemy in the U.S. auto industry's fight to survive. "Our contracts with Chrysler, Ford and GM represent only 10% of the cost of assembling of a vehicle. But most days, it seems like we get 110% of the attention," said UAW president Ron Gettelfinger in a recent speech. In the wake of GM's most recent quarter, in which the company lost $9.6 billion - $30.9 billion on the year...
...what behavioral economists call the endowment effect, says Lipsky: the UAW values what it fought for - even maligned work rules - much more so than workers who never had the benefits. So they are not going to give up anything without a fight. In mid-February, the union actually stormed out of negotiations with GM over reducing the company's retiree health-care costs, as GM seeks to restructure costs with bondholders, suppliers and, of course, labor...
...union has already made big concessions. The 2007 labor contract with GM transferred health-care costs from the company to a union-run plan and set up a lower wage structure for new hires. The company is asking for more because it has no other choice given the devastating drop in sales...
...issuing stock to fund up to 50% of the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, or VEBA. It means that the health of UAW members is tied directly to the health of Ford. "Our bargaining team stepped up to confront numerous challenges," said UAW vice president Bob King, who heads the union's National Ford Department, in a statement. "They're to be commended for their hard work under difficult circumstances." Circumstances that only seem to get more difficult...