Caught Between the Union Incompetence and Management Incompetence

by cactus

Caught Between the Union Incompetence and Management Incompetence

I was just talking to my Dad. He had an interesting take on the whole Big 3 bail-out, and I figured I’d try to pass along what he said as best I can:

When I was 18, I was elected a union representative. This was in Argentine, and at that time it was very unsafe to be a union representative. I think that’s why they made me representative – I was stupid enough to take the job.

Union representative didn’t mean I had any special privileges or added pay. I simply did my job, and had some added stuff to do on top of it all. Unions here in the US, for the last few decades, have been a racket. The UAW chief we see on TV – he doesn’t look like he can even remember the last time he sullied himself with work. Then there are the Teamsters – you had Jimmy Hoffa in bed with the mob, and now his son, a lawyer, is running the outfit. A union needs lawyers, but the head of the union should be like the other people in the union. Union bosses like this aren’t in it for average union member.

On the other side, you have the executives and Board of Directors of companies like GM. The executives make bad decision after bad decision and suffer no consequences, and the Board is composed in large part of people who don’t know anything about making cars.

Its no wonder Detroit is in trouble.

I agree with him on this. And unfortunately, I don’t see any solution to the problem that isn’t simply naive.
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by cactus