The Autoworker Strike Is Over. Did GM Just Win?

1. RIP GM Union Workers….

   The higher ups deep in the hornets nest felt the poke of your stick. Now are the workers ready for the poke back?

   Because it's coming, hope your not allergic to the sting.

2. Everybody needs to note that the production of cars is generally being discontinued due to car sales going down for a long time. The market is saturated (peaked) with cars and used cars which is why they have discontinued most models of autos… This is a worldwide situation.

3. @The Real News Network : Mr Marc Steiner, you evidently do your homework to prepare for interviews. Must be a fast reader. And I think we can say that in general about TRNN. Good interview. I hope these workers WELL. I got seriously "screwed", but never wish that against anyone. It was amazing screwball stuff. I could've even sewed a couple of times but didn't have a clue about these laws, which include a statute of limitations, leaving a worker only 6 months to file, after which NO court would hear the case; and, I learned about this TOO LATE. It took me around two years to learn about that, so statute of limitations was (un)well expired. Working people need to be justly compensated.

4. This is another reason why votes that only require a simple majority are ridiculous. Any vote on any issue should require at least 65% to be minimally rational to me.

5. they got the bailout no questions asked – the gov. should have taken over a part of the company. At that time hardly any manufacturer would have invested into GM they simply did not have the money – and prospects were bleak. They could have handed the shares over to a cooperative of workers – with a vote, but the shares would not belong to an individual, people leaving the company would lose the vote. That shit would not fly – and then they might produce cars like smaller pickups that would sell better.

6. Hold your position!

7. When the Lockheed Machinists went on their 3 month long strike, I was a part of that struggle. It taught me how corruption has taken hold of union leaders. I saw how they kept members in the dark on what is going on. They even had a facbook group that the union monitored heavily and kept members from asking certain questions. All new hires(since that strike and another contract negotiated after that one) are starting at half of what those that came before them made. They will never reach the top amount the older workers make. They took away pensions for all new hires as well. What this will do is one day in the future, like when the new hires outnumber the older workers, it's quite possible that they will not strike for something they will never have. And Lockheed loves to play games with union members every chance they get. And union leaders will start rumors and make them spread among the members. It becomes hostile at times with newer workers. And the leadership, all the while, has a pension that these members pay for. A pretty large pension too. All they focus on is their pension while members across the country continue to lose theirs. And now Lockheed is using buy ins to boot retirees off of their pensions! From what I read, the number so far is 9000 retirees have lost their pensions. Union members probably dont even know this yet. They may n.v ever know until it's too late. So now days, members are still kept in the dark. And recently, the union was pushing members to vote yes on Lockheed being allowed to make scheduling changes on a contract already in place. Wth? No union should allow that to happen! That just opens the door for the company to make other changes as well. Yep! They have hit corruption in their leadership and at a time when we really need unions, they arent fighting for workers like they should. All their focus is on new members while current members are being neglected.

8. In the 1970s I was a well-payed airline mechanic with a union contract. Getting the job required an aircraft mechanic's license and, usually, some years of work experience. Union members covered by the same contract but working in classifications other than mechanic were hired without those qualifications, and could be replaced more easily in the event of a strike. During the period when aircraft mechanic's wages were going up with each new contract, the other workers were rewarded proportionally. Inevitably, after each raise I would hear more grumbling about the non-mechanic classes making too much money, or "holding back" mechanic's wages. Several times, individuals campaigned for the mechanics to leaving the union and join a newer one that accepted only mechanics into its membership. Regardless of our feelings about abandoning our fellow union members for the perceived opportunity of higher pay, most of us soon found ourselves without jobs, without secure pensions, benefits, rights, or prospects in the turmoil and wreckage of airlines following deregulation, leveraged buyouts, bankruptcies, union-busting, high fuel prices, and finally 9-11. I doubt that any of those so willing to stab their fellow union members in the back for money learned a damned thing in the transition. Until union members learn to value solidarity above quick gains, big business will continue to loot and pillage the worker's futures at will.

9. Ford workers are about to be herded into the same bs. The UAW needs to be gutted and restructured most definitely.

10. the tier system has been GOLD for companies, they don't give a shit about pay or benefits, they want to keep the tier system in tack, it's a waiting game, soon enough all legacy works will be retired and they can continue to pay the remaining workers less and less, it's a brilliant strategy and all union companies are adopting it.

11. I wish the real news would get these corrupt union leaders on and question them on why they agree and allow these two tier sell outs in the first place!. Get to the root cause it's these business union leaders that are the problem. And it's not just at GM us Teamsters got the shaft with these two tier workers and in my industry that fortune 500 company never crashed and has always made profits in the billions of dollars!. Its Hoffa , It's tge UAW leaders that need to be put on these videos and questioned and it's up to the rank 'n file to vote their asses out !.

12. GM made $10 billion in profit last year and $11 billion the previous year

13. Like a lot of organizations Union leadership basically sold out the rank-and-file.

14. Solidarity strikes out at this at bat

15. Did Mary B have some dirt on the International…? It seems like they caved right after their "secret: meeting…

16. You never hear about the American Indian needing anything from the government but to be left the fuck alone.

17. Win what the people still do not have employment,they have been dubbed into getting a pay check when they need to get of the city. Stop manufacturing for others and do it for self grow your own food.

18. Only something akin to an infrastructure-crippling national strike could bring cretins like GM to kneel.

19. The rich thrive while the masses suffer and die

20. GM won.

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