Reflections From a Murky Pond

American corporations, faced with shifts in paradigm and intensifying competition in the global economy, have been forced to think outside the box and to adopt business practices long since deprecated in the US. New policies have begun to be enacted…

Our New “Work Break” Policy

The SEIU, AFL-CIO, and UAW have vowed to fight this policy shift in the courts and in the streets. They fought for decades to end this practice and protect their members from having to actually work and they’re not about to let Management put an end to that. 😆

Tags: AFL-CIO | America | Corporations | Humor | Labor | Labor Unions | SEIU | Society | UAW

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Humor, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Having car troubles – i.e. having your automobile malfunction – is a royal pain in the ass. Nobody likes it, except the mechanics of course. They get paid to find and fix those problems.

Mechanic – I found your problem

Of course, sometimes finding out what the problem is doesn’t mean that it’s fixable. This is often the case when one either uses substandard parts to start with or adds shoddy after-market modifications conceived of in the 3rd-World. 😉

Tags: Autos | Cartoons | Detroit | Humor | Labor Unions | Obama | Politics | Socialism | Soviets | UAW

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am and is filed under Humor, Politics. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

President-elect Barack Obama has “given his approval” for President Bush’s $17.4 billion bailout package for the “Big 3” automobile manufacturers in Detroit. It must be OK then for Bush to defy the will of Congress in this case; Obama says so, and so mote it be.

From Chicago (AP):

President-elect Barack Obama says the steps being taken to keep American automakers in business are necessary ones.

Obama says the nation can’t “squander” the chance to change bad management practices at the companies.

He says it’s “absolutely necessary” to restructure the companies to save the industry, while also working toward creating “fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow.”

Obama is responding to President George W. Bush’s decision to offer more than $17 billion in rescue loans to the auto industry.

He said in a statement earlier in the day that if the industry collapses, it would have “devastating consequences for our economy and our workers.”

So President-elect Obama has voices his endorsement of President Bush’s end run around Congress and Bush’s auto bailout package that includes the 2009 wage cuts that both the UAW labor union and the Senate Democrats were against.

This restructuring will require meaningful concessions from all involved in the auto industry — management, labor unions, creditors, bondholders, dealers, and suppliers.

Automakers must meet conditions that experts agree are necessary for long-term viability — including putting their retirement plans on a sustainable footing, persuading bondholders to convert their debt into capital the companies need to address immediate financial shortfalls, and making their compensation competitive with foreign automakers who have major operations in the United States.

— President George W. Bush
White House Press Release,
9:01 AM EST, December 19, 2008

Will Obama’s followers accept his agreement with President Bush’s actions and bailout plan, or will they cry foul? Can the Left stomach Barack Obama’s agreement with their archenemy, Bush and his praise of a plan that some described as “Union Busting?”

If the Left doesn’t have collective apoplexy over Obama’s praise of Bush auto bailout plan, how will they be able to continue complaining with any effectiveness about: the many times that President Bush previously defied Congress, the misuse of the Wall Street bailout monies – that’s where the $17.4 billion is coming from – and the Conservatives’ disapproval of the behavior of many large labor unions?

On the other hand, if the Liberals do protest this, what then? Obama has praised this bailout package and thereby made it OK in the minds of many. Will the Left go against the word of Obama?

Tags: Autos | Bush | Capitalism | Democrats | Detroit | Economy | Labor Unions | Leftists | Liberals | Obama | Politics | Republicans | Socialism | Soviets | UAW

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am and is filed under Politics. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

It appears that President Bush is set to once again defy Congress. Even though Republicans in the US Senate blocked the Auto Bailout by requiring immediate concessions from the UAW as well as from the automobile manufacturers,  President Bush is said to be planning give or loan funds to the Detroit “Big Three.”

From The New Republic:

As of Friday night, it still appeared the Bush Administration was prepared to do what Senate Republicans wouldn’t: Rescue the auto industry. The news had broken in the morning, first with a press release from the White House and then with an announcement from the Treasury Department: “Because Congress failed to act, we will stand ready to prevent an imminent failure until Congress reconvenes and acts to address the long-term viability of the industry.

— Jonathan Cohn

What will the Left say? They – the leftist Liberals – have roundly and soundly denounced President Bush’s every action in the past. They’ve always been especially loud and vituperous when Bush has previously went against the will or whim of Congress. Will the Left denounce this defiance as well, even though it achieves their aims? Or will they – this time – eschew hypocrisy and revile Bush’s actions that contravene the will of the Senate as they have in the past when the results were not what they wished for?

Tags: Capitalism | Democrats | Detroit | Economy | Labor Unions | Leftists | Liberals | Politics | Republicans | Socialism | Soviets | UAW

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Politics. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Soviet is the Russian word for a labor union or “workers’ local council” where the workers are in actual control of company as opposed to just using collective bargaining to protect their interests. On December 1th, 2008, the largest, most powerful, and most destructive to America soviet in the US was handed a bitter defeat.

The US Senate – or at least the Republicans still holding the line within it – defeated the soviets in a quiet but brilliant move. Led by U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, they successfully blocked the Auto Bailout by adding an amendment to the bill that called for more concessions from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union than had been previously asked for by the Democrats who originally crafted the bill.

The amended bill recieved bipartisan support in the US Senate and would have passed into law, but the UAW refused to abide by this new, fairer bill that included the “Corker Amendment” and removed themselves from the negotiation table. I find no surprises there.

The unamended, staunchly pro-Labor bill failed in the Senate 52-35.

Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) has claimed that he won’t bring this issue up again until the next Congress convenes. This means that there is little chance for an Auto Bailout before the “Big Three” – or “Big Two,” since Ford “Miraculously” came up with enough funds for 2009 – file for bankruptcy, which may allow them to renegotiate or repudiate their lopsided contracts with the UAW soviet.

Tags: Capitalism | Democrats | Detroit | Economy | Labor Unions | Politics | Republicans | Socialism | Soviets | UAW

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 8:56 am and is filed under Politics. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.