I think I have made it pretty clear on who is responsible for running the Automotive Industry into the ground.
And now those same people feel they have done such a great job (Ford just reported a record loss of 12.7 BILLION for 2006) that they deserve bonuses.
The United Auto Workers is upset over the possibility that Ford Motor Co. may pay bonuses to some managers and top executives, and the issue is threatening to delay progress on competitive operating agreements at some Ford factories, according to sources familiar with the situation.Ford says it won't make a final decision on the bonuses until March. The payouts are designed to reward progress on the company's turnaround plan.
The executives haven't done a damn thing and yet they feel they deserve to get a bonus for the crappy work they have put out last year. Oh, you can bet the Union is fired up and pissed off about this, especially since they took a paycut in 2006.
Union leaders believe their members deserve just as much credit for whatever progress has been made. Moreover, they want to make sure Ford understands it cannot ask union members to make sacrifices at the bargaining table while it sends bonus checks to high-paid managers.The UAW will be negotiating new contracts this year with all three Detroit automakers in talks that are expected to be among the most difficult as Ford, General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group are battling to restore profits amid intense competition.
You can bet that giving bonuses for poor performance is not going to go over well at the bargaining table when the company asks the Unions to give up a lot. That is pure bullshit, why should the little guy give when the big guys get bonuses.
Neither Ford nor the UAW would comment on the dispute, but a union source told The Detroit News that published reports suggesting the UAW is ready to strike over the issue are overstating the situation. The source said the union and Ford remain committed to resolving this and other issues in a manner that addresses the needs of both Ford and its hourly workers.The automaker has met with Bob King, head of the UAW's Ford section, and told him the union is acting prematurely by suspending talks on plant-level operating agreements designed to make the automaker more competitive with foreign rivals, according to one source.
Ford told King there is nothing to be gained by agitating workers about an issue unrelated to the agreements and the union is putting jobs at risk by delaying progress on them.
Unrelated to agreements?!!!
You have got to be fucking kidding me. Ford is asking workers to take cuts, will be asking them to take ever bigger cuts in September while they ply Executives, who ran the company into the ground, with bonuses?!!! Who is fucking whom?
Ford has not yet taken action. "There has been no decision made as to whether or not these bonuses will be paid," spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Wednesday.
Which means they want to see what the Union is going to do before deciding to give out the bonuses.
Bonuses could have been paid out last year, but the board vetoed the rewards because it feared such a move would look bad against the backdrop of plant closures and layoffs.
So I guess a 12.7 BILLION loss isn't motivation enough to not give bonuses.
If Ford does go ahead with the bonuses they will see the results of their stupidity come September when the contracts are open.
Mr Weenie and I were talking about it last night and we both fear a long, drawn out strike. A strike that Ford can not afford to happen.
Posted by Quality Weenie at January 25, 2007 09:26 AM | TrackBack