Comments on: Congress bails out those who shower before work, but not those who shower after work

By: The Back Forty » On Class Warfare and the Auto Industry

The Back Forty » On Class Warfare and the Auto Industry — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:49:37 +0000

[...] Gerard, president of the Steelworkers International union, nailed it on his blog, [...]

By: Dear Leo, Thanks. « The Pump Handle

Dear Leo, Thanks. « The Pump Handle — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:01:41 +0000

[...] 18, 2008 in Uncategorized | by Celeste Monforton I received an email today from Leo Gerard, the Int’l President of the United Steelworkers, the 850,000 person-strong union of men and [...]

By: BJ

BJ — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:36:56 +0000

Ameronedge,
Your research apparently failed to enlighten you to the fact that auto worker salary and benefits account for less than 10 percent of the total cost of a car. No matter how much the UAW conceded in benefits and wages, the cost of a car would not be significantly affected. In addition, don’t forget, this crisis was caused by Wall Street, not Detroit. The car companies can’t get the loans they need because of the reckless behavior of Wall Street bankers that took those institutions down. In addition, with so many layoffs across the country, people don’t have the money to buy new cars — not American or foreigh cars. Foreign car sales are down significantly too. So stop blaming everything on auto workers who already have taken significant concessions in both wages and benefits!

By: ameronedge

ameronedge — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:37:49 +0000

After much research, it has become my opinion that the fall of the big three was indeed due to the union environment. Worker representation’s unwillingness to make concessions will ultimately result in the loss of jobs for the very workers it was intended to protect. Due to large payrolls, the big three budgets for streamlining their vehicles is significatly lower than foreign competitors, which makes it difficult to compete in a rapidly changing customer market.

By: Leo Gerard on The Rachel Maddow Show. | Iowa Liberal

Leo Gerard on The Rachel Maddow Show. | Iowa Liberal — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:09:03 +0000

[...] done a terrible job at PR after taking a beating over The Big Three asking for hand-outs. Sadly, Leo Gerard of the USW is getting scant airtime compared to the overwhelming anti-union propaganda that’s [...]