Punishing union members for exercising their right to vote...

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Lockport jobs in jeopardy due to contract rejection, president of Delphi says
Lockport rejection of pact threatens plant’s future
By Matt Glynn

The overwhelming rejection of a wage-cutting agreement by Delphi Corp. workers at the Lockport plant has put the 2,200 jobs at the plant in jeopardy, a top company executive said Thursday.

Ronald M. Pirtle, president of Delphi Thermal Systems, said the lopsided rejection by local workers of a four-year contract proposal — despite it being approved by 68 percent of Delphi workers nationwide — casts doubt on the plant’s future.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/113773.html?imw=Y

This seems so wrong to me. The company is, in effect, punishing union workers for exercising their right to vote. This is union busting if ever I saw it.

[Enough]

Lockport jobs in jeopardy due to contract rejection, president of Delphi says
Lockport rejection of pact threatens plant’s future
By Matt Glynn

The overwhelming rejection of a wage-cutting agreement by Delphi Corp. workers at the Lockport plant has put the 2,200 jobs at the plant in jeopardy, a top company executive said Thursday.

Ronald M. Pirtle, president of Delphi Thermal Systems, said the lopsided rejection by local workers of a four-year contract proposal — despite it being approved by 68 percent of Delphi workers nationwide — casts doubt on the plant’s future.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/113773.html?imw=Y

This seems so wrong to me. The company is, in effect, punishing union workers for exercising their right to vote. This is union busting if ever I saw it.

This isn't union-busting; it's a "fall-out" from NAFTA.

The union has a right to organize and the company has the right to go anywhere for the cheapest possible labor. If the union was so naive to think there would not be ramifications for their "no" vote they are crazy.

Did you honestly think the company was going to just sit by and let the union dictate terms to them???

[atotaltotalfan2001]

This isn't union-busting; it's a "fall-out" from NAFTA.

The union has a right to organize and the company has the right to go anywhere for the cheapest possible labor. If the union was so naive to think there would not be ramifications for their "no" vote they are crazy.

Did you honestly think the company was going to just sit by and let the union dictate terms to them???

The overall union membership voted for the company's terms. They'll take the pay and benefit cuts. But why punish the members who voted against the terms? They obviously will abide by them. And they had a right to vote as they did without ramification -- which is the point of unions.

[stefchu]

The overall union membership voted for the company's terms. They'll take the pay and benefit cuts. But why punish the members who voted against the terms? They obviously will abide by them. And they had a right to vote as they did without ramification -- which is the point of unions.

I like your point. I am not a union member nor have I ever been part of one, but this whole deal stinks for the workers at Delphi. Ronald M. Pirtle the Delphi president even if he took a 40% cut of his salary would probably continue to live pretty well. These workers voted for what was in the best interest of the most important company they work for...Their Families, What did Pirtle expect..These guys made a statement

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

The overall union membership voted for the company's terms. They'll take the pay and benefit cuts. But why punish the members who voted against the terms? They obviously will abide by them. And they had a right to vote as they did without ramification -- which is the point of unions.

First off nothing is obvious. This vote from Lockport is a big FU to Delphi. And nowhere does it say that you can vote without ramification. In fact, the purpose of voting is to create ramification.

I hope that Delphi removes the "Safe" tag from Lockport and closed the plant. I hope that everyone gets laid off. Soon those knuckleheads will realize that they are worth nowhere near the 60k to 80k pay they bring in with OT. They will be forced to move out of WNY and thus effect the voting block.

Hopefully enough stubborn unionites will be unemployed and relocate out of the area. This way some other votes can happen and have some ramifications on the backwards leadership that runs the area.

[Enough]

The overall union membership voted for the company's terms. They'll take the pay and benefit cuts. But why punish the members who voted against the terms? They obviously will abide by them. And they had a right to vote as they did without ramification -- which is the point of unions.

I thought the union in Lockport voted by 80% against the proposed contract

[Enough]

....These workers voted for what was in the best interest of the most important company they work for...Their Families, What did Pirtle expect..These guys made a statement

As I mentioned on a similar thread "If these members think they can go down the street and make the same money with the same pension and benefits...VOTE NO"!!!!!! You are only worth what you can go down the street and make. If you're worth $27/hr what's the worry?

Looks like management is making a statement right back!

[atotaltotalfan2001]

I thought the union in Lockport voted by 80% against the proposed contract

Yes, that's right. But the overall UAW membership voted for the contract. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I thought that meant Lockport would have to abide by it. I mean, it's one contract for the whole of the union, isn't it?

[Enough]

Yes, that's right. But the overall UAW membership voted for the contract. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I thought that meant Lockport would have to abide by it. I mean, it's one contract for the whole of the union, isn't it?

I don't know if each plant or local negotiates individually or if one contract covers everyone, that's why I was asking.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

First off nothing is obvious. This vote from Lockport is a big FU to Delphi. And nowhere does it say that you can vote without ramification. In fact, the purpose of voting is to create ramification.

I hope that Delphi removes the "Safe" tag from Lockport and closed the plant. I hope that everyone gets laid off. Soon those knuckleheads will realize that they are worth nowhere near the 60k to 80k pay they bring in with OT. They will be forced to move out of WNY and thus effect the voting block.

Looks like your wish will come true......

From Sunday's Buffalo News:

Delphi Corp. expects to have as few as about 2,300 United Auto Workers union members at its four remaining plants by 2012, the company said last week in a filing with bankruptcy court in Detroit.

The auto supplier currently has about 17,000 UAW members on its payroll — including 2,200 at its Lockport plant alone.

When Delphi filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2005, it employed more than 24,000 UAW members.

The Detroit News, which examined Delphi’s recent filing, reported Saturday that by the end of this year, the company expects to have just 4,703 UAW employees.

That number is expected to fall to between 3,101 and 3,604 by 2011, and total UAW employment could drop to as low as 2,306 in 2012, Delphi said in the filing.

UAW members last month approved a historic contract agreement that cuts wages for many longtime workers but secures thousands of jobs at plants that once were in jeopardy. The pact would leave Delphi operating four UAW plants, including Lockport’s.

However, UAW members at the Delphi Thermal Systems plant in Lockport overwhelmingly voted against the deal, and last week the division’s president, Ronald M. Pirtle, said the rejection put the plant’s future in doubt.

“I am no longer confident that there is a commitment by joint leadership or the employees to make Lockport competitive,“ Pirtle said in a June 29 letter to plant manager Scott A. Kitkowski.

However, with the latest bankruptcy filing detailing Delphi’s drastic job downsizing, it seems unlikely many Lockport jobs would have longevity anyway.

[Timmy]

With the latest American Axle closing (1000 jobs)....Delphi workers are being a little myopic.....manufacturing jobs have been leaving Buffalo for 85 years so this is not exactly a new trend that people are unprepared for.....

If Delphi leaves where exactly do these employees think they are going to get a manufacturing job! Buffalo .... nope! Rochester....nope!

Yea I know the younger union workers accepted it but the older workers refused. LOL, so the greatest generation turns out to be more selfish than the boomers ..... protecting their own interests and possibly costing the present and future generations as well as WNY yet another possibility of a decent paying factory job.

Good going.....dont forget to burn the furniture after you retire so no one will have a place to sit after you leave!

[WNYresident]

If Delphi leaves where exactly do these employees think they are going to get a manufacturing job! Buffalo .... nope! Rochester....nope!

Mexico! They are experienced and the cost of living is less expensive down there.

[concernedwnyer]

With the latest American Axle closing (1000 jobs)....Delphi workers are being a little myopic.....manufacturing jobs have been leaving Buffalo for 85 years so this is not exactly a new trend that people are unprepared for.....

If Delphi leaves where exactly do these employees think they are going to get a manufacturing job! Buffalo .... nope! Rochester....nope!

Yea I know the younger union workers accepted it but the older workers refused. LOL, so the greatest generation turns out to be more selfish than the boomers ..... protecting their own interests and possibly costing the present and future generations as well as WNY yet another possibility of a decent paying factory job.

Good going.....dont forget to burn the furniture after you retire so no one will have a place to sit after you leave!

As cold as I could be, not that I am the least bit cold in any situation, I do not feel sorry for those folks. Not in the least do I feel sorry for those folks. Life is good riding the on top of the whipped cream wave. Now that the heat is melting the wave down the piglets are screaming foul!! Foul, I dear you do that to us!!!! Not fair. Not fair I tell you. Well, you should have thought about the future consequences when you were being piggish with the wages you once raked in. $30 - $50 dollars an hour to assemble engine components that require the skill set of someone who could fix a bicycle…. Or less!! Nope, sorry.

http://www.buffalonews.com/businesst...ry/115071.html


Coming from the management side this news does not surprise me at all. Experience has taught me not to trust what management says. They always always tell you the least amount of information and they almost always have other more devastating plans for the future. It is like going to a place of work and passing a row of vending machines every morning. One day you go to work and see that that the vending machines are gone. You ask management what happened to the vending machines and the answer you get what vending machines. Were there vending machines there…… Or some excuse why they were taken out and not the true reason why they were taken out. I am not saying this example is the norm but it happens more times than not in the corporate world.

[steven]

so the greatest generation turns out to be more selfish than the boomers .....

The greatest generation is those that fought in WW2. They would have been in there 20's in 1940 which would make most of them 80 yrs old and up. I doubt there are many 80yr olds working at the plant.

[Crisco Kid]

First off nothing is obvious. This vote from Lockport is a big FU to Delphi. And nowhere does it say that you can vote without ramification. In fact, the purpose of voting is to create ramification.

I hope that Delphi removes the "Safe" tag from Lockport and closed the plant. I hope that everyone gets laid off. Soon those knuckleheads will realize that they are worth nowhere near the 60k to 80k pay they bring in with OT. They will be forced to move out of WNY and thus effect the voting block.

Hopefully enough stubborn unionites will be unemployed and relocate out of the area. This way some other votes can happen and have some ramifications on the backwards leadership that runs the area.

BSLWNY you are one vindictive, angry and hateful person. Brrr you are 'COLD!