Day: May 19, 2008

The Congress: HR 980

(HR 980): The Senate voted 69-29 to take up a bill granting limited union rights to police, firefighters and other public safety personnel in all states.

Is this a good thing?  well, it the organizations are allowed, hate that term, to negotiate then the members will benefit, as long as it is a true negotiation and that the shams that are being passed off as such these days.

If this extends to all public service employees then yes it could be a very good thing, but I doubt that it will pass as it is today…too many conservs that truly hate unions and the reps.

American Axel Tenative Deal

The tentative deal

Wages: In Detroit, ranging from $14.35 to $18.50. Wages for skilled-trades workers would be $26.

Buyouts: $85,000 or $140,000, depending on seniority.

Buy-downs: Up to $105,000 over 3 years.

Closures: Plants in Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., will close.

Wages

• In Detroit, production and support wages would range from $14.35 to $18.50 an hour, depending on the job. Skilled-trades workers would make $26 an hour.

• In Three Rivers, hourly wages would range from $10 to $18. Skilled-trades workers would be paid $25 an hour.

• In Cheektowaga, N.Y., hourly wages would range from $14.35 to $16.50. Skilled-trades workers would be paid $26 an hour.

New hires

Workers would start at $11.50 in production jobs and receive 51-cent raises every 26 weeks until they reach a maximum for their job category. Newly hired skilled-trades workers would start at $22 an hour and see raises of 50 cents every 26 weeks till they reach $26 an hour.

• Ratification bonus: $5,000.

• Buy-downs: As much as $105,000 for those who stay, distributed annually over 3 years.

• Exit package: Buyouts of $85,000 for workers with fewer than 10 years of seniority and $140,000 for those with more.

• Early retirement bonus: $55,000

Closures

Plants in Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., would close. The Detroit plant is on Holbrook, near the Detroit-Hamtramck border

Health care

Workers would pay premiums for the first time. A single employee with four years at American Axle would contribute $10.93 per week, while an employee with a spouse and children would contribute $27.32. These payments would increase 3% in 2010, and 3% every year after that.

Pensions

Frozen for workers with fewer than 20 years of service.

Layoff pay

Ranges from 26 to 42 weeks, depending on seniority.

New work

American Axle would invest $170 million to $200 million in its plants.

• Detroit: The deal adds a full-size van program through the 4-year agreement, brings outsourced midsize truck and SUV programs in house and replaces axle work for heavy-duty pickup.

• Cheektowaga, N.Y.: The deal includes an expansion of the plant, adds two new and three replacement programs.

This the deal that thew workers will be voting on……does it look like a good deal for them?

American Axel UpDate #6

Union workers at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., who were on strike for more than 11 weeks, reacted with anger and reluctant acceptance Sunday after hearing the details of the tentative deal the two sides reached late Friday.

This week, about 3,650 UAW members have either a few hours or a few days to decide whether or not they will accept a contract that would slash their wages by as much as $10 an hour.

For many, it’s a choice of accepting a salary that could put them in painful financial difficulties, or continue to fight a company that has a manufacturing plant in Mexico and has said it can move the work to other countries.

“I feel like I’m done, but I have no choice,” said Tod Rippe, 43, of Dearborn. He said he plans to accept a buyout and may move out of Michigan. “It’s a nightmare. It really is.”

A ratification vote that was tentatively scheduled for today was moved to Thursday after workers vented their frustrations about voting Monday during an informational meeting Sunday at King High School in Detroit.

Local and international union officials, including UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, were at that meeting to answer questions.

At one point, toward the end of the meeting, workers began to chant, “Vote no! Vote no!”

I sincerely hope that the members, if they feel the deal sucks, will do the right thing and vote against it.

Clinton-Obama Bitterness Lingers

A Democratic race that a couple of months ago was celebrated as a march toward history — the chance to nominate the nation’s first woman or African American as a major-party candidate — threatens to leave lingering bitterness, especially among Clinton supporters, whose candidate is running out of ways to win.

Some women complain that Clinton has been disrespected and mistreated by the media and the political establishment. Many see Obama as equally condescending, dismissing Clinton’s foreign policy role as first lady, pulling out her chair for her at debates and suggesting offhand during one debate that she was “likable enough.”

With equal ire, many African Americans complain about Clinton’s negativity and have accused her camp of using Obama’s race against him. Her comment that his “support among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again” was just the latest in a series of over-the-line comments, some said.

And many among the legions of young voters who have flocked to Obama say their enthusiasm is more about him than about the Democratic Party and it would not necessarily transfer to Clinton if she won the nomination. In Indiana, about six in 10 Obama voters under age 30 said they will be dissatisfied if Clinton is the nominee and about half said the same in North Carolina, according to exit polls.

Nationally, about a quarter of Clinton supporters in a Washington Post–ABC News poll said that if she loses they will ditch the Democratic Party and Obama for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). A similar number of Obama backers said they will pick the Republican this fall if Clinton becomes the nominee. In both Indiana and North Carolina, majorities of African American voters said they will be unhappy if Clinton is at the top of the ticket.

Acutely aware of these dynamics, the campaigns have sought to balance tactics against tact, so that the rift between the two Democrats — and their backers — doesn’t grow so wide that the winner can’t pull the party back together. Since the May 6 contests in Indiana and North Carolina, Obama has tried to ease much of the animosity by turning his attention to McCain, highlighting differences with Clinton only in response to voters or the news media. Clinton has also shifted some of her strategy, running positive ads in West Virginia rather than the negative ones she aired in previous states.

Once a nominee has been chosen and the ticket is settled, that is when all the question will be answered.  But personally, I feel that regardless which candidate gets the nob, the supporters of the losing one will either switch to McCain or will just stay home in November.

Professor’s Classroom

Monday, Monday…so good to me……Mamas and Papas……Quiz time……so set yourself get out pen and paper and let the fun begin……

In 1826, a new Republic was set up on the soil of America, what was the Republic called and where was it located?

You may scratch your butt and begin……may the angels of tests smile on you…..