UPDATE: UAW/GM REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT. This came out after I wrote my post, but I’ll leave it up anyway.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
With the UAW on strike, I’m reminded of Goodyear being on strike last fall which I covered as a reporter.
Our local economy, despite what people might say, took a hit. And, it was divisive in regards to people’s personal philosophies. That issue came down to health care for retirees in Goodyear’s situation as much as anything.
Here’s what the New York Times is saying about the UAW strike:
The stalemate apparently arose over the union’s demand for job protection for its work force at G.M., which is one-fifth its size in 1990. G.M., in return, had pushed for the creation of a trust that would assume responsibility for its $55 billion liability for health care benefits for workers, retirees and their families.
So, we have another strike and the impact, if this should go on, could impact thousands of businesses.
This strike is of great significance. Strikes usually are. People get into mindsets and forget certain things. For whatever reason, unions tend to be a black or white issue. There is no gray in some people’s opinions on this.
Let’s not forget strikes impact families. Not just one person, but entire families. The lack of regular income impacts businesses. Last year, the financial blast to the head in Union City impacted small business first and restaurants took a beating. In some respects, they are still in recovery mode on this one.
From the Detroit Free Press:
Large suppliers including Delphi Corp., Lear Corp. and Tenneco Inc. temporarily laid off workers. The strike was expected to further strain companies, moving down the supply chain, in an industry where a quarter of auto suppliers already are in financial distress.
The trickle-down effect in less than two days. And Canadian industry might be laying off roughly 100,00 workers by week’s end.
Now, I know some of you are going to say UNIONS aren’t needed anymore. I disagree.
Don Jones is a Martin man who worked for Goodyear for two decades. He was interviewed by Newsweek last week. He also has a blog. That’s where the reporters from Newsweek found him and decided to interview him.
From Newsweek:
When Don Jones went to work on the tire line at Goodyear in 1970, he says the company promised him free health-care coverage for life. Those generous medical benefits came in handy when Jones suffered a series of heart attacks that led to a transplant after he retired in 1993. But as health-care costs soared, the company began charging him for coverage. He now pays about $215 a month in premiums and prescription co-pays, more than half his monthly pension of $385. Last year, though, Jones’s union, the United Steelworkers, agreed to take over running the retiree medical plan from Goodyear. “I actually believe my benefits will get better” when the deal is completed in the next few months, says Jones, 68. Goodyear should be optimistic, too. By funding a special health-care trust run by the union, it gets out from under an estimated $1.2 billion in future retiree medical obligations.
Read the rest of the story. Workers in large manufacturing environments are in transition. Don talks about what’s it’s like to be a retiree on his blog. Newsweek found Don through his blog.
But here’s the rub, the Goodyear workers I’ve spoken too are very worried, as usual, that Goodyear will be relocated off-shore. Goodyear reps deny this will happen but then again, it’s always a possibility. Of course everyone says they won’t, but then again, they might because anything is possible.
One of my friends said this last night: “There are no blue collar workers anymore. The middle-class is diminishing. No one seems to notice and no one seems to care.”
Goodyear has gone to 24/7 operations.
Now, The UAW and GM have been in marathon negotiations to end this quickly. And I hope they do. I hope they come to a managable and reasonable compromise.
Because, I’ve seen what a strike that lasts three months can do to a small community.
And, campers, it’s not good.
You Said What!