Employees wonder where next shoe will drop

I just scanned the article cause I'm not really into the controversy about Ford and your post is meant to be inflamitory. I DO like your tag line though. I personally think everyone at FOMOCO should take a pay reduction (upper management) or a benefit reduction (folks on the line), with appropriate cuts in the middle of course. I had to do both steadily over the years as a Ford Technician and I had no choice, it's about time the others gave up a bit too. The guys(and gals) on the assembly lines aren't getting rich with their takehome pay by todays standards, but they have Bennies that most folks in this country couldn't hope to have. This comes at a tremendous cost. The folks in Management have salary and benefits that the line workers could drool over, also at a tremendous cost. The Techs in the Dealerships wish they got what the line workers get. When the company falters, everybody should give a little. I'm not anti-union (worked in a few Union shops)or anti-management(been there too, didn't like it), but DAAAMMMMNNN folks..... I left the Dealerships in disgust in 2001 because, between about 1995 and

2000, I took a ~40% pay cut due to Ford cutting Warranty time on repairs (Unions are getting rare in Dealership shops, but they couldn't stop it anyways). Looks like the line workers are just the next step up the chain to get screwed. Ford can't cut their pay or benefits due to the UAW negotiated contracts, so they just close the whole plant. The Unions won't give an inch, as is their job, so....??? I really do feel bad for those who will find themselves unemployed, I've been there, but oh well, life sux sometimes. I don't have an answer, God Bless the person that does cause lots of folks won't like it no matter what the answer is.

How do you get the people still remaining at Ford to envision "The way forward" when they are going to be paranoid that the shoe could drop at any moment and they are out of a job?.

Yep, sometimes unions negotiate their members out of a job. Sad but true.

an old adage, 'Work or get fired.'

The biggest bene that I've heard of is the 'reserve' field, where they get paid to not work, because of the UAW contract that kept them from being laid off. Imagine what a burger would cost if the same kind of mentality went into running a fast food chain....