First off, I am sure that many of you Autopians have detailed a (or many) General Motors (GM) vehicle(s) in your detailing career/hobby or that you may be a current owner of such a vehicle, regardless of its age. This strike by the United Auto Worker (UAW) union is a watershed moment, not only for its immediate workers that it represents, but unions in general (no pun intended), General Motors Corporation management and its shareholders, and the American auto industry and the US economy. For every striking UAW worker there are 3 others non-union workers that are directly affected by their actions and 3 more that are indirectly affected. I have every reason to believe that this will be a protracted and drawn-out affair, and if this is so, we all will in some way be affected.
Less new vehicles could mean that the existing nation`s vehicles will need mechanical and detailing services, presenting service opportunities for some. On the other hand if the economy is even somewhat affected because of the shear number of workers directly and indirectly affected by a protracted strike, even a slightly recessional economy could have negative effect on detailing as this service is one of the first to be put off when personal discretionary spending is reduced and limited. Anyone detailer who witnessed and experienced the Great Recession 11 years ago knows what that means.
Am I concerned? Yes and no. Yes, indirectly with respect to the economy and somewhere within my managed 401K retirement are probably a few share of GM stock and no, because I do not own a GM vehicle nor do I have a job directly related to the automotive industry, although vehicle detailing is still a hobby for me.
I will say this in defense of the UAW that, while I am a staunch non-union supporter, I have personally benefited from their actions when working at a company that made machines for the paper industry that had represented machine shop and assembly workers. I road their wage and benefit coat tails that trickled down to engineering and office staff. I also experienced their worst when its workers went on strike and saw the union worker shenanigans when reporting to work and having to cross that picket line each morning entering work and each evening leaving work. It was never the same company or shop worker-engineering worker relationship after that as before the strike. I experienced much the same at a subsidiary company to this company that I worked at some years later when its shop workers chose to unionize and be represented by the UAW. The lines of communication now had to follow strict union protocol rules and I could no longer go out and take assembly floor machines apart myself to review the engineering-error assembly punch list or talk directly to machine shop personnel about concerns I had for making parts and how that may be best represented on the technical part drawings (blueprints) I produced.
As stated, I do not think than the union or GM stands to win from this. I do understand that GM is also poised to take a different direction in vehicle production with its emphasis on electric vehicles. While I am an old-school combustion engine vehicle supporter, I do realize that the day is coming when electric and autonomous vehicles will be the norm in the not too distant future. Just as Henry Ford and the assembly line of the Model T changed the auto industry forever and marked the end of the horse-and-buggy days , GM management wants to be at the forefront of this emerging technology and market and that requires some drastic changes within GM. Is this strike and its perception of the UAW and the workers it represents the beginning of this? Or is it the end of GM as we know it? Is GM too big to fail? Will the government intervene of behalf of the company, its workers, or the American economy as a whole?
What do you think?
Less new vehicles could mean that the existing nation`s vehicles will need mechanical and detailing services, presenting service opportunities for some. On the other hand if the economy is even somewhat affected because of the shear number of workers directly and indirectly affected by a protracted strike, even a slightly recessional economy could have negative effect on detailing as this service is one of the first to be put off when personal discretionary spending is reduced and limited. Anyone detailer who witnessed and experienced the Great Recession 11 years ago knows what that means.
Am I concerned? Yes and no. Yes, indirectly with respect to the economy and somewhere within my managed 401K retirement are probably a few share of GM stock and no, because I do not own a GM vehicle nor do I have a job directly related to the automotive industry, although vehicle detailing is still a hobby for me.
I will say this in defense of the UAW that, while I am a staunch non-union supporter, I have personally benefited from their actions when working at a company that made machines for the paper industry that had represented machine shop and assembly workers. I road their wage and benefit coat tails that trickled down to engineering and office staff. I also experienced their worst when its workers went on strike and saw the union worker shenanigans when reporting to work and having to cross that picket line each morning entering work and each evening leaving work. It was never the same company or shop worker-engineering worker relationship after that as before the strike. I experienced much the same at a subsidiary company to this company that I worked at some years later when its shop workers chose to unionize and be represented by the UAW. The lines of communication now had to follow strict union protocol rules and I could no longer go out and take assembly floor machines apart myself to review the engineering-error assembly punch list or talk directly to machine shop personnel about concerns I had for making parts and how that may be best represented on the technical part drawings (blueprints) I produced.
As stated, I do not think than the union or GM stands to win from this. I do understand that GM is also poised to take a different direction in vehicle production with its emphasis on electric vehicles. While I am an old-school combustion engine vehicle supporter, I do realize that the day is coming when electric and autonomous vehicles will be the norm in the not too distant future. Just as Henry Ford and the assembly line of the Model T changed the auto industry forever and marked the end of the horse-and-buggy days , GM management wants to be at the forefront of this emerging technology and market and that requires some drastic changes within GM. Is this strike and its perception of the UAW and the workers it represents the beginning of this? Or is it the end of GM as we know it? Is GM too big to fail? Will the government intervene of behalf of the company, its workers, or the American economy as a whole?
What do you think?
]... control and don`t worry about things you cannot..[and/or won`t]....