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Location: Pantego, Texas, United States

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The problem with Detroit automakers is the UAW. But, it is not the high pay the workers get, but rather the work rules the UAW has negotiated. Politicians are unwilling to discuss the real problem with the UAW. The workers have rules that enable them to not actually do any work much of the time. These rules not only affect productivity, but also have a negative effect on quality. I didn't work in the auto industry, but the aerospace company I worked for had a union shop and had similar issues with unions back when I was young. I once had a union grievance filed against me because, as I was trying to explain to a worker and a quality inspector how to assemble a part that they kept messing up, I picked up a screwdriver and used it as a pointer. The grievance was filed because an engineer touched a tool. Nothing happened to me, but the resolution was that some worker got eight hours pay under the rationale that I had stolen his work, or something like that. I recall seeing a TV program about problems in a GM plant where morale was low. One fork-lift operator interviewed said he would occasionally deliberately drop a car for fun, smashing it. Most of the union workers that I worked with good, but every now and then there was a jerk, and there was nothing we could do about the jerks. I recall one guy who would deliberately drop his screwdriver to spear space radiator panels. He said, "I did it, and there is nothing you can do about it." We could ban him from the project, but he was just transferred to another job. Here is an article by another ex-aerospace engineer, Rand Simberg, on this subject.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/detroits-downturn-its-the-productivity-stupid/

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