What I get a kick out on here is that all you so-called experts have never been in the CAW,worked in a Auto plant or probably even a carlot let you know more about it then someone who has. Rrocket you have created parts for the Big 3 and then you run them down for feeding you with statements like cheap parts. You must produce a lot of garbage where you work then is my view. The cars that are sold there are heavily taxed on import is the problem and why so few are sold as well. Itas obvious most of you folks only do selective reading as thats all your little pea brains seem to allow. Even our own inadequte Gov has questioned this practise from Japan and Korean. Read what you want but I hope its your job next and then maybe you will understand . Its a shame when it has to come to this but some of you really are clueless about the entire topic as you have only read one side of the story and fell for it. Rrocket can you feed us some more spoon fed crap about your Union knowledge as its terribly lacking of any substance at all. You have never 5 minutes experience but just spread more untruths everytime you talk about it. Thats a sad thing to do to your fellow workers but keep it up as your job will be going soon anyways as thats what you want to happen. What will be your excuses then? 
Ok...I'll try to answer these one at a time so you can understand.
1) We create the molds for the parts the way our customers tell us to create them. The standards for GM are different than Honda. And Honda is different from Ford. They each have their own internal standards. We often caution customers when they try to make shortcuts, whether with materials or a bad design. But it all comes down to doing what our customers want. And what they will pay for. If GM wants to make an inferior mold or use inferior material, it's not up to us to foot the cost to make it better. They only pay us to do what they ask. For example, I did a tool for Lexus. It was a wheel beauty cover thing that covered the spare tire in the trunk. No one would ever look at this piece (unless they had a flat tire). But Lexus insisted the part be hard nickle plated. Crazy expense...for no great gain apart from durability and longevity of the mold itself, which means less part flashing over time. But you get the idea. We do what our customers ask.
2) As far as vehicle taxing in Japan. The American Big 3 cars aren't taxed in Japan any harder than the imports from Germany and abroad. In Japan, the new Cadillac CTS is priced in the market nearly identical to what it is here...slotted between the 3 Series and the 5 Series. However GM does VERY well in China. One of the top sellers. Again...this is CAW garbage that has been spouted off to union members forever. I have asked my friend James if the union has ever provided him with any proof of this, and he says no. Have they provided you with this proof, Barrie? This is a tired old rant that the CAW has been complaining about for 15 years!!! 15 YEARS!!!!
3) Prove to me what I said about unions being untrue. That they are pricing themselves out of the market?? It's absolutely true. Everything I've said comes from the Union itself, from their very own web-page. If I have something "internal" I need answered (like some issue in the newspaper that I need clarified) I ask James (my best friend), who works at the minivan plant. Here's a tidbit for you I got from James. The CAW and Hargrove said they would never stand for "two tiered" wages. I mentioned this to James. He says the CAW has already done it. I say "WTF"? He says, with the unions blessing, Chrysler laid off many people. But as per the lay-off agreement, these people got hired at one of the new part contractors. At half their current wages. So I sometimes get "juicy" stuff from James. While he is grateful for his high paying wages, the union does many, many things he hates and disagrees with. Again I say...prove to me anything I've said about the union as being untrue.
4) I WILL be out of a job someday. Why? Because I am over-paid compared to what they pay sweat shops in China. But unlike the CAW, we don't get raises that make us less competitive year after year after year. We do things to increase our advantage as much as we can like more Lean Manufacturing, wage freezes (no raise for me in 5+ years), different ways of handling benefits and whatnot. What does the CAW do? Nothing...they blame the government, they blame the imports, they make excuses for this or that. They don't actually DO anything to make themselves more competitive, they just complain and blame everyone.
For example, our general shop rate for doing basic work is $75/hour or so. The basic shop rate of a plant in China we've dealt with? $12/hour. Very difficult to compete with that. But we do what we can to minimize lay-offs. We produce an exceedingly high quality product. Second, we produce a specialty product that not everyone can do. And like I said...we minimize needless expense. The CAW isn't competitive with the USA/UAW for crying out loud!! Yet they demand raises that make them less competitive. And not only are you behind the USA now (by at least $5/hour according to the CAW), you are nowhere near being competitive with Mexico and other 3rd world countries. But we have a bit of an "ace" up our sleeve. My job is
SKILLED, unlike a CAW line worker. The infrastructure for schooling and training in China isn't quite there yet, so they have some catching up to do before they have the necessary skilled workers to take all of the skilled trade jobs away from us. The CAW on the other hand has no such luxury. People with virtually no experience or education (as in Mexico and other developing countries) can assemble cars with little problem. Bad for the CAW.
I like you Barrie...we've met multiple times and have fun at the track. But you simply don't post up anything to back up your ramblings. You speak from experience of the CAW while you worked for them during the glory years of the CAW. Times have changed ALOT. But you haven't. You are set in your old, crusty ways about the CAW. And that's the problem. The guys running the CAW like Hargrove and Lewenza are "old school" guys like you. Dinosaurs. Their old school thinking (like yours) is what's going to absolutely kill union line jobs. The automotive industry landscape has changed enormously over the last several years alone....but thinking like yours and the current CAW leadership has not..and that's why the jobs will be gone in a few years.
