4/30/2012

Under a deal struck by the UAW during GM's bankruptcy, laid-off non-union workers will not be hired back

From the WSJ:
Even General Motors Co.'s Lordstown, Ohio, complex, long known for its money-losing small cars and its bad labor climate, is running 24 hours a day, with more than 4,000 workers churning out hot-selling Chevy Cruze compacts. But here in Moraine, the GM assembly plant closed for good. Despite being one of GM's most productive and cooperative factories, Moraine was closed following the company's 2007 labor pact with the United Auto Workers union. Under a deal struck by the UAW during GM's bankruptcy two years later, Moraine's 2,500 laid-off workers were barred from transferring to other plants, locking them out of the industry's rebound. The trouble with Moraine: Its workers weren't in the UAW. "We did everything we could to keep that plant open and keep our jobs," said Mitchell Wood, a 44-year-old father of two who used to attach tailgates onto sport-utility vehicles at Moraine. "But in the end, we didn't have a chance, not being in the UAW." The plight of Moraine workers highlights the extraordinary role played by the UAW during the near-collapses and bankruptcy reorganizations of GM and Chrysler Group LLC. That role remains a political flash point today. Democrats have cast President Barack Obama and the UAW as saviors of America's auto industry. Republicans call the help a taxpayer-funded giveaway to the president's union allies. . . .

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1 Comments:

Blogger Sevesteen said...

I used to work at the Moraine plant as a non-union IT contractor. The plant was unionized as a Frigidaire appliance factory. It is nearly impossible to switch unions, so it remained with the IUE/CWA when it converted to building S10 pickup trucks. As I remember it, the deal was several years before the bankruptcy--GM and the UAW agreed that certain named plants would not be closed. Obviously the UAW didn't fight to keep non-UAW plants open...so despite being one of the nations most efficient plants Moraine was not given a new product when midsize SUV sales tanked.

4/30/2012 12:45 PM  

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