What a joke.
As one person said, freedom of choice is American.
Quote:
United Auto Workers President Bob King this month reiterated the union's longstanding policy to ban nonunion vehicles on UAW property, but did so in a more hands-on and publicly forceful fashion that separates him from his predecessors.
"Buying a U.S./UAW vehicle makes a difference," King wrote in a two-page rebuttal to a blog post written in July by a Kansas City Business Journal reporter who was recently ousted from the parking lot of UAW Local 249 for driving a Toyota Camry.
A UAW spokeswoman said the international union didn't have any further comment than what King said in the letter.
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The reporter, James Dornbrook, wrote he was forced to move his car by a UAW local member who refused to identify himself. The local represents members of Ford Motor Co.'s Kansas City assembly plant.
Dornbrook also noted his Camry was assembled at Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., factory and had more American-made parts in it than the Ford F-150 built at the Kansas City plant, "which recently got knocked off the Cars.com American-made Index's top 10 list" by the Camry.
King decided to use the incident as a "teaching moment" and wrote the long impassioned letter, addressed directly to the reporter.
Many UAW locals, as well as the Solidarity House headquarters in Detroit, post signs that say they don't allow nonunion vehicles in their parking lots.
Five years ago, the policy resulted in a firestorm of public criticism when the UAW kicked out Marine Corps reservists with foreign cars or who displayed pro-President George W. Bush bumper stickers from the Solidarity House parking lot. The 1st Battalion, 24th Marines have an office near the UAW headquarters.
Within two days, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger dropped the union's policy for the Marines.
"I made the wrong call on the parking issue, and I have notified the Marine Corps that all reservists are welcome to park at Solidarity House as they have for the past 10 years," Gettelfinger said in a mid-March 2005 statement.
King, elected as UAW president in mid-June, has made it clear that he intends to keep the nonunion vehicle ban policy, including in the Kansas City area.
In the letter, he again charged that foreign automakers deny their U.S. workers the right to organize -- an accusation the automakers deny.
"Foreign automakers accept U.S taxpayer's dollars in incentives to build assembly plants in the United States, jeopardizing the future of middle-class workers in the domestic auto industry," King wrote.
The UAW's message may fare better this time around, said David Reynolds, a labor professor at Wayne State University.
"In these harsh economic times, it is important to note the real difference of UAW-made Big Three vehicles," Reynolds said. "There seems to be a better understanding of buying products and supporting companies that benefit local communities."
King wrote that U.S.-based automakers directly employ nearly 300,000 workers -- about two-thirds of all U.S. autoworkers. He also noted the vehicles made by the Detroit Big Three overall use a higher percentage of parts made by domestic workers.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100819/AUTO01/8190362/1148/rss25#ixzz0xPZkIdQM
http://detnews.com/article/20100819/AUTO01/8190362/1148/rss25
As one person said, freedom of choice is American.
Quote:
United Auto Workers President Bob King this month reiterated the union's longstanding policy to ban nonunion vehicles on UAW property, but did so in a more hands-on and publicly forceful fashion that separates him from his predecessors.
"Buying a U.S./UAW vehicle makes a difference," King wrote in a two-page rebuttal to a blog post written in July by a Kansas City Business Journal reporter who was recently ousted from the parking lot of UAW Local 249 for driving a Toyota Camry.
A UAW spokeswoman said the international union didn't have any further comment than what King said in the letter.
Advertisement
The reporter, James Dornbrook, wrote he was forced to move his car by a UAW local member who refused to identify himself. The local represents members of Ford Motor Co.'s Kansas City assembly plant.
Dornbrook also noted his Camry was assembled at Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., factory and had more American-made parts in it than the Ford F-150 built at the Kansas City plant, "which recently got knocked off the Cars.com American-made Index's top 10 list" by the Camry.
King decided to use the incident as a "teaching moment" and wrote the long impassioned letter, addressed directly to the reporter.
Many UAW locals, as well as the Solidarity House headquarters in Detroit, post signs that say they don't allow nonunion vehicles in their parking lots.
Five years ago, the policy resulted in a firestorm of public criticism when the UAW kicked out Marine Corps reservists with foreign cars or who displayed pro-President George W. Bush bumper stickers from the Solidarity House parking lot. The 1st Battalion, 24th Marines have an office near the UAW headquarters.
Within two days, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger dropped the union's policy for the Marines.
"I made the wrong call on the parking issue, and I have notified the Marine Corps that all reservists are welcome to park at Solidarity House as they have for the past 10 years," Gettelfinger said in a mid-March 2005 statement.
King, elected as UAW president in mid-June, has made it clear that he intends to keep the nonunion vehicle ban policy, including in the Kansas City area.
In the letter, he again charged that foreign automakers deny their U.S. workers the right to organize -- an accusation the automakers deny.
"Foreign automakers accept U.S taxpayer's dollars in incentives to build assembly plants in the United States, jeopardizing the future of middle-class workers in the domestic auto industry," King wrote.
The UAW's message may fare better this time around, said David Reynolds, a labor professor at Wayne State University.
"In these harsh economic times, it is important to note the real difference of UAW-made Big Three vehicles," Reynolds said. "There seems to be a better understanding of buying products and supporting companies that benefit local communities."
King wrote that U.S.-based automakers directly employ nearly 300,000 workers -- about two-thirds of all U.S. autoworkers. He also noted the vehicles made by the Detroit Big Three overall use a higher percentage of parts made by domestic workers.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100819/AUTO01/8190362/1148/rss25#ixzz0xPZkIdQM
http://detnews.com/article/20100819/AUTO01/8190362/1148/rss25
