UAW members "intentionally" sabotaging the 2013 Dodge Ram 1500

[Jean Ralphio]

Union debate in 3-2-1...

Chrysler's internal documents question Ram quality as workers protest

By Zach Bowman RSS feed

Posted Mar 1st 2013 10:57AM

Chrysler is reportedly having a hard time ramping up production of its 2013 Ram 1500.

According to The Detroit News, only 16 of the 58 trucks built at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant during the model's first hour passed final inspection. While quality eventually improved over the course of the day, just over half of the units built on Thursday were approved for shipment.

Even with workers ordered to stay late to fix their mistakes, some 1,078 units remained outside the facility with defects. The problem, according to workers at the plant, is morale.

According to the report, Chrysler recently changed the shift schedule at the plant and workers are unhappy with the new situation. The new plan has workers split into three shifts, each covering four 10-hour days.

With the shifts staggered, some workers now have to work nights and on Saturdays. Some employees are so upset that they've taken to protesting, though the move isn't sanctioned by the United Auto Workers.

Meanwhile, Chrysler admits there were internal issues with the launch, but that the company was able to contain them. A spokesperson has said "plant quality indicators are getting progressively better."

Chrysler's internal documents question Ram quality as workers protest

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[EmersonHart13]

Sounds like we need to sequester some workers.

 

[slowchevy]

what a bunch of little fucking cunts. unhappy with their job so they have to sabotage 20k+ dollar pieces of merchandise, in the end not only fucking their company but innocent people who buy the trunk to support their paycheck. fuck 'em!! Fire em and find new workers!!! I'm sure there's some people in the fuckin ghetto who would love to do work even at 15-20 an hour throwing bolts on all day!!

 

[Mook]

!!!

 

[Flyn]

Plenty of people who would be happy with those jobs.

There has to be a better way for a union to protest than sabotaging customer vehicles. That borders on criminal activity. What if one of these vehicles passes inspection and then fails with a mother and kids inside?

 

[Sprayin]

They should all be fired. Oh wait, union. Glad that's really effective.

 

[ktraver97ss]

This would be a bigger deal if they were sabotaging suspension or brakes. Im sure they were just leaving panels misaligned or shit like that.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Where are these being made?

 

[slowchevy]

!!!

i know!!!

i'm expressing my distaste in a newb manner. leave me alone

 

[b00sted]

I hate the union thug mentality. Their original purpose was to protect the average worker from tyrannical business owners...Now the business owners need protection from tyrannical unions.

The local union guys were just trying to strong-arm a local bar recently. The owner(a guy I know personally) was making some improvements...He was doing the work himself, and hired some friends and family members to help. The union guys showed up out front, inflated their rat, and started screaming that they were 'entitled' to that work. Then some idiots got on Facebook and started talking about the same shit...That's the unions' work and this guy that owns the bar STOLE that work and gave it to his friends/family.

 

[Mike K]

I agree with S00ls. There I said it.

Fire them. Set a metric for quality issues and if you don't meet that metric x number of times you're fired. This problem stems from unions convincing these people they're entitled to their job. They're not. They're entitled to do work and get paid for it. That's all.

 

[SRT41320]

ugh... well i guess i should try and make this sound better then it actually is... in all honesty, we do not like the 3 shift setup either but Detroit (who voted to do the 3 shifts) came up with the idea... and right now im on A shift so im happy...

as to sabotage - are they 100% sure thats what it is? the only reason i ask is when we launched the Dart i would guess that maybe 10% of what we made in a day was actually approved for sale.... there were a lot of issues and a lot of wrong parts / bad parts from our suppliers - im happy to say that were have been on a 90-95% success rate for quite a while now but stuff still goes wrong from time to time - especially when you build 1300 cars/trucks a day

As to the union argument - i will agree that a lot of unions do cross the line and some even exploit the companies... ours i do not think is all that bad - i think they protect some peoples jobs that in my opinion should not have a job buy thats about all i disagree with - and recently a local company became unionized and i feel it was a big step for them because i have dealt with them in the past with a previous employer and the working conditions are beyond less then safe and the union will go in there and make some safety standards

 

[SRT41320]

3 shifts are as follows...


A) M-F 6am - 430pm
B) W-S 6pm - 430am
C) M-T 6pm - 430am F-S 6am - 430pm

 

[SRT41320]

and i agree nobody is "entitiled" to a job

 

[Mike K]

as to sabotage - are they 100% sure thats what it is? the only reason i ask is when we launched the Dart i would guess that maybe 10% of what we made in a day was actually approved for sale.... there were a lot of issues and a lot of wrong parts / bad parts from our suppliers - im happy to say that were have been on a 90-95% success rate for quite a while now but stuff still goes wrong from time to time - especially when you build 1300 cars/trucks a day

I kind of wondered the same thing. That's why I didn't say to fire them all across the board. If it's a new product with new parts I would expect initial issues. That's pretty much par for the course, right?

That's why I think you set a metric and you stick with that. If they can prove certain people are intentionally sabotaging cars then bam, you're out the door.

I'm not completely anti-union but my main issue with them is that they make firing people REALLY difficult. My little brother does hiring for Marianos and he tells me about how difficult the union makes things. They end up dealing with mediocre employees because they pretty much have to. Fuck that. I don't know who to root for in the union battles. I can't stand the levels that companies like Target and Walmart go to to block them and I can't stand the difficulties and overall sense of entitlement that unions instill in people. Kind of makes you wish people just acted with common sense and were honest without the need for an external third party.

 

[SRT41320]

i agree 100% - its hard to argue either side of a the unions sometimes

 

[Blood on Blood]

3 shifts are as follows...


A) M-F 6am - 430pm
B) W-S 6pm - 430am
C) M-T 6pm - 430am F-S 6am - 430pm

Can you please provide insight into why the schedules are so odd?

Is Shift C written correctly, they are days and nights in the same week?

Was there Union representation on the team that put together the new schedules?

 

[Prevent]

sounds like something i'd expect st00ls to do

 

[79vette]

I dont know how the UAW works but I know in my union, it is really easy to get fired. I see it almost everytime I go to sea. someone does not pull there weight or they get drunk, they get sent packing. Now that I am a supervisor, I have to do it sometimes. company/contract has a list of instant firing offense, and two warning letters are needed before lack of performance firing. It happens alot in my industry.

 

[Aircal]

ugh...

as to sabotage - are they 100% sure thats what it is? the only reason i ask is when we launched the Dart i would guess that maybe 10% of what we made in a day was actually approved for sale.... there were a lot of issues and a lot of wrong parts / bad parts from our suppliers - im happy to say that were have been on a 90-95% success rate for quite a while now but stuff still goes wrong from time to time - especially when you build 1300 cars/trucks a day

As to the union argument - i will agree that a lot of unions do cross the line and some even exploit the companies... ours i do not think is all that bad - i think they protect some peoples jobs that in my opinion should not have a job buy thats about all i disagree with - and recently a local company became unionized and i feel it was a big step for them because i have dealt with them in the past with a previous employer and the working conditions are beyond less then safe and the union will go in there and make some safety standards

This is why I don't understand people rushing out to buy the first year of any new model. The second year always seems to be better quality, more options and priced less than the first year.

 

[Theautoguy]

Can you please provide insight into why the schedules are so odd?

Is Shift C written correctly, they are days and nights in the same week?

Was there Union representation on the team that put together the new schedules?

Shift "C" is wrote correctly and noone likes it! Management there in Belvidere actually have it worse; they work 12-14 hour days 13 days in a row. Of course they get paid six figures but literally have no time to enjoy it.

 

[Blood on Blood]

Shift "C" is wrote correctly and noone likes it! Management there in Belvidere actually have it worse; they work 12-14 hour days 13 days in a row. Of course they get paid six figures but literally have no time to enjoy it.

I can empathize as I worked at a Nuke plant. For management 60 hours a week is the norm, while 84hrs a week continuous (no days off) for month + does occur (no OT pay and there are some who don't make 6 figures). However, though the union members did work equally ridiculous hours, there were guidelines in contract that set boundaries and guaranteed OT was paid at time / half and double time.

I can also empathize with the twisted days / nights schedule swapping. You just never recover, and it plays hell on one's health and home life.

The referenced Shift "C" impacts moral / productivity, the health / safety of that crew and creates a new financial burden - employee turnover costs.

From my experience, this type of poor - short sighted scheduling and FORCES are typically financially driven at the top (those who are not impacted). Though, I am still curious if there is some other behind the scenes factor that is driving this scheduling. Also, was Union representation involved with the creation of the schedules?

 

[SBTerminator]

When Studying for my BA in Automotive Tech at SIUC, we did a road trip and stopped at several plants, including the Chrysler plant in discussion. At that time they had over 1,000 vehicles sitting in a lot just waiting to be "fixed" for approval before they could be shipped out! It was mind boggling that brand new vehicles fresh off the assembly line where not built correctly. And back then an insider said this is how it will continue to be thanks to the UAW protecting the people working half ass. Guess he was right.

I'm generally Against Unions and get into a lot of heated discussions with Friends and Family that belong to them. I used to belong to one and I thought it was a joke.

 

[Theautoguy]

... At that time they had over 1,000 vehicles sitting in a lot just waiting to be "fixed" for approval before they could be shipped out! It was mind boggling that brand new vehicles fresh off the assembly line where not built correctly...

99% of those cars were there becasue of faulty transmissions. They were all shipped off to Michigan to have them replaced.

 

[SRT41320]

Can you please provide insight into why the schedules are so odd?

Is Shift C written correctly, they are days and nights in the same week?

Was there Union representation on the team that put together the new schedules?

its correct - its a split/swing shift. the new schedules were proposed and voted on by Detroit UAW. It happened shortly before i started but they were given 3 options (i dont know the eact specifics of those options - but ive heard they were better then the one choosen)

I dont know how the UAW works but I know in my union, it is really easy to get fired. I see it almost everytime I go to sea. someone does not pull there weight or they get drunk, they get sent packing. Now that I am a supervisor, I have to do it sometimes. company/contract has a list of instant firing offense, and two warning letters are needed before lack of performance firing. It happens alot in my industry.

its hit or miss from what ive seen... they seem to be a lot more harsh to people hired under the new contract than the people that have been there for 10+ years... i dont agree with it at all - everyone should be treated equally. one of my biggest gripes there is people that abuse their FMLA and or medical "conditions"

When Studying for my BA in Automotive Tech at SIUC, we did a road trip and stopped at several plants, including the Chrysler plant in discussion. At that time they had over 1,000 vehicles sitting in a lot just waiting to be "fixed" for approval before they could be shipped out! It was mind boggling that brand new vehicles fresh off the assembly line where not built correctly.

its not that the vehicles were built incorectly - happens here all the time... we will get a shipment of 100 bad parts or 50 off color parts etc. etc. - mgmt will make a decision as to wheather or not that issues is worth stopping production all together - or just finish building the cars and set them asside to be repaired.