tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post7223322405326805732..comments2024-03-06T04:35:38.806-06:00Comments on Disaffected and it Feels So Good: Volkswagen threatened by Republicans. Boeing screws its' Employees. Conservatives hate Unions and Freedom.Grung_e_Genehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01894879088472559055noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-85547712774353225232014-02-19T17:15:57.273-06:002014-02-19T17:15:57.273-06:00DS: ...our cost of living is higher and doesn'...<i>DS: ...our cost of living is higher and doesn't go do just because workers are being paid less...</i><br /><br />I meant to say "doesn't go <b>down</b>". Typo.<br /><br /><i>GEG: ...earning less... is exactly what Republicans and their Moneyed Masters wish, the Right-to-Work-for-Less.</i><br /><br />Indeed. A 2/19/2014 Salon <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/02/19/the_rights_union_busting_disgrace_how_it_won_tennessees_high_stakes_auto_fight/" rel="nofollow">article</a> says both management and the UAW were planning to try out a German-style "works council".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/12/21/germany-builds-twice-as-many-cars-as-the-u-s-while-paying-its-auto-workers-twice-as-much/" rel="nofollow">German auto workers</a> make twice as much as US auto workers and build twice as many cars. Obviously they are doing something right. Emulating the German model wouldn't have been a bad idea.<br /><br />The workers bought the RW spin (with TN Senator Corker leading the charge) and voted against their own interests.Dervish Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13671865801885224353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-8586984773033914322014-02-15T14:10:12.787-06:002014-02-15T14:10:12.787-06:00Workers get earning less which is exactly what Rep...Workers get earning less which is exactly what Republicans and their Moneyed Masters wish, the Right-to-Work-for-Less.Grung_e_Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01894879088472559055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-73364189590062641022014-02-15T11:05:17.483-06:002014-02-15T11:05:17.483-06:00The UAW lost big in Tennessee VW unionization vote...The UAW lost big in Tennessee VW unionization vote. The workers get to keep their earnings.Andrew Acistahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18033321821557878384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-11713862063332806712014-02-14T15:43:16.109-06:002014-02-14T15:43:16.109-06:00@ yellow fringe and S/L,
Thanks for the info on B...@ yellow fringe and S/L,<br /><br />Thanks for the info on Boeing re: batteries. I recall their kabuki dance with Kansas a few years ago,<br /><br />On January 4 2012, Boeing announced it was moving Air Force tanker work out of Kansas to other U.S. plants and closing its Wichita operation next year.<br /><br />In 2008, Boeing asked Kansas officials to help win a $35 billion contract for 18 Air Force tankers. Wichita's Mayor Carl Brewer says Kansas had a long history of coming through for Boeing. Boeing received 650 tax breaks over the last 30 years and $3.5 billion dollars in bonds from Kansas.<br /><br />As you write S/L, left Kansas with "NOTHING but wrecked state coffers".Grung_e_Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01894879088472559055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-24519045042806914102014-02-14T14:41:19.471-06:002014-02-14T14:41:19.471-06:00Actually, while government contracts saved Boeing&...Actually, while government contracts saved Boeing's bacon some years back, most of their money nowadays is really the civilian airline sales. They still compete for government contracts, but barely break even in the long run. This is because the government takes upon itself to keep changing the contract later, or backing out of parts of it. They ask a price, for instance, for 36 bombers/fighters/wtf-evers and are quoted one. They award the program (or as with the Joint Strike Fighter, do not)… then a few years in, they cut the number to say 24 or even 12 of said aircraft. This means the price is actually HIGHER because the same set up is required but with fewer 'pieces' to average costs out upon.<br /><br />That said, Boeing screwed the state of Washington ---its home, by getting guaranteed tax breaks to stay here to produce the same plane that Boeing screwed the union on. I have been telling my Boeing employed husband for the last 15 years that Boeing will abandon her home state and leave NOTHING but wrecked state coffers in her wake. He finally believes me and is retiring this year.<br /><br />They are getting ready to move some of the few remaining military ongoing contracts (mostly with our foreign allies) to Oklahoma. Yes, the working class is being ground to dust. Maybe those Boeing engineers can devise modern titanium bladed guillotines?<br /><br />And yes, the batteries catching fire on the Dreamliner were not made in house. Once Boeing married up in that disaster of a merger with McDonnel-Douglas, they stopped doing everything in-house (which was once their strength) and things began going to hell in an MD handbasket right about then and there.Syrbal/Labryshttp://www.herlanderwalking.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-34118908081417067862014-02-14T14:15:32.070-06:002014-02-14T14:15:32.070-06:00GeG, no on the batteries. Those come from a Japan...GeG, no on the batteries. Those come from a Japanese supplier, common name but I don't recall it. <br />A complicating issue on the battery, these batteries are not uncommon, but they ask for it to be made in an unusual shape to fit into a specific space. In aircraft this is normal to make things just the right shape and weight. Some reports say the custom design of the battery could be part of the battery heating issue. the yellow fringehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00003652058436636394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-25994130108132000642014-02-14T11:00:33.676-06:002014-02-14T11:00:33.676-06:00@ Dervish. Agreed on tariffs.
Free trade is a wa...@ Dervish. Agreed on tariffs. <br /><br />Free trade is a way to make the American rich richer by giving American jobs to people in China. <br /><br />Tariffs and outright bans on relevant imports protect the American market for American workers. <br /><br />The usual argument that free trade makes our workers richer is baloney. <br /><br />Prices don't fall enough, fast enough, to cancel the damage to wages caused by the export of higher paying jobs.Philo Vaihingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17150326435392881297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-86443196721957594692014-02-13T16:16:16.110-06:002014-02-13T16:16:16.110-06:00yellow fringe,
Is the Cali plant related to the ...yellow fringe, <br /><br />Is the Cali plant related to the grounding of the entire 787 fleet for defective batteries and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25737515" rel="nofollow">which continue to be grounded</a> with other problems this year?Grung_e_Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01894879088472559055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-22303051039165370702014-02-13T15:36:19.878-06:002014-02-13T15:36:19.878-06:00That Boeing plant in Carolina, it's shipping u...That Boeing plant in Carolina, it's shipping unfinished and defective 787 sections to Seattle, bogging down the line, causing planes that appear to be finished to be set aside for thousands of hours of rework. Their low wage boys are delaying deliveries. One recent fuselage section arrived with over a thousand incomplete or "red tagged" items in it. the yellow fringehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00003652058436636394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-28557131603818541952014-02-13T14:39:02.118-06:002014-02-13T14:39:02.118-06:00"We are in a battle with Mexico on where this...<i>"We are in a battle with Mexico on where this new product goes... it stands to reason that the union will add costs. We need to keep costs down to fight for that new product".</i><br /><br />Or we could impose tariffs on imported goods. Other countries have lower standards of living and lower living expenses, and the ONLY way to preserve what we have here is via tariffs. Those who oppose tariffs are by default in favor of lowering our standard of living, which surely is grinding the working class into dust (as our cost of living is higher and doesn't go do just because workers are being paid less). Free trader advocates are so stupid in this respect.Dervish Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13671865801885224353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-41939326074849161492014-02-13T11:55:10.652-06:002014-02-13T11:55:10.652-06:00Btw, bear in mind what the struggle over "Big...Btw, bear in mind what the struggle over "Big Government" is about.<br /><br />Government is said by conservatives to be "big" when it uses its massive, coercive power to protect the interests of consumers, workers, and other ordinary people in the marketplace by, for example, setting minimal rates of pay, requiring overtime for hours after 40, insisting on workplace safety, enforcing laws concerning product safety, etc.<br /><br />It is said to be "small" when it uses its massive, coercive power to guarantee <i>employers</i> the power to control the economy, for example, setting minimal rates of pay, paying straight time for all hours worked, ignoring workplace and product safety, etc., entirely in their own interests.<br /><br />I know which is best for the vast majority of Americans.<br /><br />Shame so many Americans don't get it.Philo Vaihingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17150326435392881297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-1052403405702811522014-02-13T11:46:40.880-06:002014-02-13T11:46:40.880-06:00Ever since Ronnie Raygun, the Right-Wing Hero of a...<i>Ever since Ronnie Raygun, the Right-Wing Hero of a Thousand Myths, obliterated PATCO he signaled to Businesses across the Nation that it was Open Season on Unions and they can rely on the Awesome Power of the Government to back them up as they grind the Working Class into dust.</i><br /><br />I remember that day.<br /><br />I found the news even more depressing than the news, years later, that <i>Democratic </i>President Clinton had announced to the world that the era of Big Government was over.<br /><br />And I say that even though the news of Clinton concerned his profound betrayal of the mission of the Democratic Party and its commitment to progressivism.<br /><br />The news of what Reagan had done, of the shocking applause of so much of the public, and of the complete inability of anyone to defend the air traffic controllers was a shot across the bow, letting all of us know the conservative revolution in the GOP was a done deal and the conservatives would take every possible step to destroy everything built by progressives since the tail end of the 19th Century.<br /><br />And that is what the Republican Party has been about, from that day to this.Philo Vaihingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17150326435392881297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-44043622590601264302014-02-13T11:17:57.688-06:002014-02-13T11:17:57.688-06:00I'm no where near being in the 1% and I've...I'm no where near being in the 1% and I've got no use for unions. Lamp lighters and elevator operators served a useful purpose but are no longer needed; the same is true for unions.<br /><br />I don't need to join an organization to negotiate work hours or my salary and benefits. I'm fine with taking care of that myself.ChickenHammerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10228053200668293249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293433952655399056.post-30678392536938416722014-02-13T10:50:32.276-06:002014-02-13T10:50:32.276-06:00We have seen the demise of unions over the last 50...We have seen the demise of unions over the last 50 or so years. Are the majority of us better off because of it? No, well, maybe 1% of us are, but 1% should not be making the rulesJerry Critterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379858419292168210noreply@blogger.com