UAW files lawsuit against GM over decision to idle car factories

[FeedBot]

The United Auto Workers union served General Motors a fresh lawsuit on Tuesday over its decision to idle four assembly plants in the U.S. The UAW claimed in its lawsuit that GM breached its 2015 contract with the union by announcing that two car plants in Michigan and Ohio and a pair of transmission plants in Maryland and Michigan will be...

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[Frosty]

As much as I wish to preserve union jobs, this is a losing battle for the UAW. This is like the old jobs bank idea. Pay people their full wages not to produce anything, especially when you aren't selling cars. This makes no sense. These plants are closing because of a lack of demand for the products they produce. These are market forces GM can not control. 

Now the UAW wants GM to put product into these plants that obviously must "sell well". Good luck with that. GM and the other domestics are conceding the vast majority of the American automobile market to the Asian manufacturers. Consumer public opinion and the automotive press have all against the domestics for decades so the only lucrative markets left are SUVs, trucks and performance cars.

Even if the UAW wins their court battle, that will only last until this fall's contract negotiations.

[Wrongway]

The contract says "conditions may arise that are beyond the control of the company" that may make the commitment "impossible."  The public not buying cars from GM would be "beyond the control of the company." If GM could control the purchasing public then everybody would be buying and driving GM product's. One thing that most of us have learned over the years is to pick our battles, I think the UAW may have picked the wrong one this time.