#1 [url]

Jan 13 06 10:45 AM

I heard about the 10% wage cuts this morning and I was in stunned disbelief that the management of that company could be so stunningly stupid. There is no way to undo it! The Union is now a fact and its presence is only a matter of time because the next vote is now a far-gone conclusion.

Quote    Reply   

#4 [url]

Jan 14 06 10:52 PM

I state this as my opinion.

Examples in our past would be The Brown Shoe Company, General Radiator, The Stove Foundry, come to mind at the moment. All of these viable manufacturing facilities supported a lot of families and their payrolls rolled over into the entire community many times over. All of these fell victim to the competition.

When you go into Walmart, you can be very hard pressed to find things that are made in America. Yet us, the American consumer takes advantage of the competitive edge Walmart provides.

Let me ask, what do you think the status of Ford, GM and Chrysler will be in 5 years?

I have been at CTNA (GT) since the beginning. Within the walls of that facility there are some of the best, most intelligent people I have ever met. Both workers and management. Some of the finest folks, best employees you could ever expect. Yet, our livelyhood is being faced by the same grim reaper every other American factory faces....

It is a global economy. It's not the fault of Walmart.... we support Walmart so well you can't hardly get there or park there! If someone makes a shoe, radiator, stove, automobile of equal quality that is cheaper we will buy it, no mater were it comes from. It is a global economy.

The measures announced last week at CTNA are in response to what it costs to built a tire here. I associate these measures to taking chemo to rid a cancer. You literally hate the medicine, but without it you will die.

This has been a horrible task for CTNA.... for management and employees. Yet in this agony, I applaud the decision. I believe this decision is not only right, but the only decision. If there is a chance to maintain this facility here this is the only path to take.

Put yourself in the position of being a wooden box maker with 100 employees. Someone from China built, shipped and sold the same box a dollar cheaper over here and took your business. What would you do? Stick your head in the sand and hope it would go away??? Cut your quality and hope you could still sell a inferior product??? Or would you cut wages 5-10%, reduce some benifits and invest in improved more efficient machinery????

Which decision provides the longest most secure and viable outcome for it's future, it's employees and the community????

The meek shall inhert the gulag.

Quote    Reply   

#5 [url]

Jan 15 06 11:54 AM

An interesting thing about India.

They have bought up all the under sea cables. At the same time they are in a furry to Americanize the language (speech) of their telamarkers. We are presently being called by thousands of calls selling everything from soup to nuts. This is evolving into other areas. In the near future when you pull up to McDonalds for a burger you will place your order with someone in India who will then transmit the order to the cook to prepare.

The meek shall inhert the gulag.

Quote    Reply   

#6 [url]

Jan 16 06 8:23 AM

Well Patriot, you must have been listening to the news. A while back there was a report on a program within McDonald's that does just that. The customer orders at the speaker and the person taking the order is in a central location, a communications center. This order is then relayed to the restaurant via phone line. At the time of the news story the location of the communication center was in the same city as the restaurant but with the new lines of communicating who's to say that your example can't happen. On the subject of the drastic cuts at CTNA, this goes beyond the local economy and union-nonunion question. I firmly believe that CTNA, while not embracing a union, wouldn't have minded a pro vote. They would have, at least, had a "boogy man" to blame for the restructuring. With the recent cuts in benefits and wages, this almost assures a pro vote in the future. Although I have been a union backer for my entire life, and remain so, I don't think the Steel Workers can help the employees now. The time for help is past. Within the next few years the plant will move to Brazil and there's nothing that can be done about it. Again, we are in a global economy and the concerns of a plant in the midwest are at the bottom of the list in the scheme of things. At this time most of the autos in the world aren't manufactured in the US. There is Toyota, Hundai, Honda, Mercedes and other off shore plants and it is just as profitable, or more so, to ship car parts, including tires, from foreign countries as it is from America. Plus there is the added incentive of cheaper labor, less restrictive import-export laws, safety standards and other government regulations. The local union bashers such as The Chamber of Commerce laud the new plan as good, in the end, for the local economy. I, for one, feel that this is a tremendous hit to the working of the area and we will regret the actions of the past week. 60 to 70 million dollars in upgrading the local plant? I say show us the money. And even if this happens, all the new machinery can be moved, just as we saw with the installation of the machines from Mayfield, Kentucky.

When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that the original plan was to drain the swamp.

Quote    Reply   

#8 [url]

Jan 17 06 6:28 PM

Good points X. I have been there since the place opened up. Know most of the folks out there and in my opinion they are the greatest bunch of people in the world. It is a great work force. I do not look at this issue as one that is the fault of the workers or management. The world is a smaller place to live now. And every manufacturer in the US is starting to feel that economic squeeze.

The meek shall inhert the gulag.

Quote    Reply   

#9 [url]

Feb 5 06 2:38 PM

Anonymous wrote:
I have heard a rumor but I am not sure if it is true. I heard that GT transfered a suit to our plant to shut it down within the next 6 years. Rumor has it that this suit closed the plant in SC and KY and now is here to do the same thing. Anyone know of any truth behind this?


Kinda true...... GT (CTNA) didn't send the suit.... the Steelworkers did.

The meek shall inhert the gulag.

Quote    Reply   
Add Reply

Quick Reply

bbcode help