United, They Fall
It’s official, I will never understand the union mentality. The United Auto Workers Local 23 has decided that no paycheck is better than a paycheck. The local union has decided not to take a pay cut so a potential buyer can acquire the local stamping plant.
Workers got notice back in 2007 the plant would close in 2011 unless someone purchased it. A Chicago-area business man offered to buy the plant if the workers would take a wage and benefit cut. The national union said it was wiling to work with the buyer, but the locals would have none of that.
They have apparently decided taking a 50-percent pay cut and keeping their jobs is not as preferable as taking a 100-percent pay cut and having no job. For some reason the union is under the impression that if the plant closes they will all be able to find other jobs. Apparently they haven’t looked at the job stats which show GM’s workforce have gone from 200,000 to 52,000 and the stamping plant’s workforce has dropped from 6,000 to 651. Good luck with that job transfer.
Instead of staying gainfully employed and keeping a steady paycheck coming in, these guys would rather be out of work and collect unemployment and welfare, because that is all this course of action is going to get them.
This is why I make it a point to look for the union label, so I can avoid buying the product of that mentality.
