The UAW'S Use of the Bailout

[chefdennis]

I seen this on TV a whie ago, but didn't see anything in print till now. I am certain this is an isolated innocent, this could NOT be wide spread. The Heads of the UAW would never stand for this! Wait, these guys are the heads of the UAW at their plant...............

UAW Union Bosses Abusing Positions for Pay

Posted by Warner Todd Huston (Profile)

Sunday, December 28th at 7:14AM EST

10 Comments
TV News 4 in Detroit did an excellent expose ( click this link for the video report that this article is based on, Video )on a few union bosses that routinely rip off the unions and the auto makers they work for with fake time cards and paid for but unworked overtime pay.

One of the bosses, Ron Seroka, a union job security officer, takes off half a day nearly everyday to go home to lounge around the house while he is on the clock. Seroka punches in at the plant at 6AM every single day and is home by 11:30 AM for some nice leisure time at home. Yet he gets a steady 10 hours pay every single day despite the fact that he is rarely at work.

Seroka’s union boss is even worse. Union chairman Jim Modzelewski buys beer on a daily basis while on the clock and clocks himself in for overtime pay hours before he even wakes up to go into the plant. TV 4 found that after he punches in, he typically leaves for a beer run mere hours later. Again, all this is on a daily basis. He is also paid overtime pay on a daily basis as he sits home drinking his daily beer. With over 2,500 hours of overtime, Modzelewski made a six-figure salary last year. TV 4 also discovered that Modzelewski even played in a bowling tournament while on the clock — as at overtime pay, too!


Together, just these two union chiefs clocked in over 3,500 hours of overtime pay for the year. Makes one wonder how many union bosses are abusing their positions this way, doesn’t it?

The TV news also briefly interviewed an auto business expert that says in the last ten years one in three American union auto workers would not show up to work on any given day while foreign auto plants would see 98 out of 100 of their workers dutifully show up for work. Makes it a bit hard to plan on a work force in the US with unions in control, doesn’t it?

This report is just one more example of how auto workers unions are one of the big reasons that American auto plants are ineffectual, inefficient, and cannot compete with foreign makers. Not only that, but it reveals that union bosses have no accountability and flaunt their criminal and immoral actions with impunity wasting millions of dollars as they do it.

Nice work TV 4.

UAW Union Bosses Abusing Positions for Pay - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

 

[Rabbit]

I know. Nothing like this _ever_ happens outside union plants. No one ever steals time, nobody is ever lazy, and there's no corruption of any kind. It's only in union plants that we find cases like this one.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I know. Nothing like this _ever_ happens outside union plants. No one ever steals time, nobody is ever lazy, and there's no corruption of any kind. It's only in union plants that we find cases like this one.

No one ever said this type of abuse doesn't happen outside of union plants...the ISSUE is though these types of stories are going to appear because now they involve MY MONEY....WE the taxpayers are now supporting this abuse.
I am quite sure the board of directors and some CEO's are still golfing every Wednesday afternoon on MY money aka company time.

 

[chefdennis]

Thank You OVM, you beat me to it! When the taxpayers are flipping the bill, it gets exposed, if ford whats to waste IT'Svown money allowing this to happen, so be, but don't come asking for a HANDOUT from the taxpayers to BAILOUT this crap!!

Oh and the big spending by the banksters before and AFTER they were given the Taxpayer money, that was exposed and it is BS also!!

 

[hondaking38]

we sure wernt worried about the bailout to the banking institutions...we want to no everything about the big three bailout prior to giving them there money...but no questions asked for a bailout that was at least 30 times the money we are giving the auto industry....and it appears they arnt accountable......who has who in whos pocket
.

 

[Rabbit]

My point is that in an institution this size this kind of thing is gonna happen, bailout or no. I can understand that the public wants to know. Just keep it in perspective, is all I ask. I'm sure worse will be exposed before it's all over.

 

[highway star]

You say there are worse examples of theft than these? And you still support the union culture? Wow...

 

[chefdennis]

Honda wrote:

we sure wernt worried about the bailout to the banking institutions...

Ahhhhh, the people of this country called the senate and congressiona switchboards soo much they cosed them down when the bank bailout was annonced! The senate and congress got more e-mails and faxs for the most part then any issue other then the ilegal immigration amnesty vote a few yrs ago.

The 1st vote on the Bailout was voted down because the people screamed boody murder. Then as typica of politicians, they added "stuff" that benefited those that voted against it and got it passed and told the people to screw themselves

WE were worried and still are!!! Look where is has led, and this is just the being.......

 

[Rabbit]

You say there are worse examples of theft than these? And you still support the union culture? Wow...

Who says I support the "union culture"? I just want the facts straight, is all. Nothing in life is black/white simple. Everything's a lighter or darker shade of gray.

And, yes, I do expect worse is coming. Same as there'd be worse if the media took a similar interest in, say, IBM, McDonald's, or Wal-Mart workers. People everywhere lie, cheat and steal. It's hardly news. In any large organization, bad people getting away with doing bad things can be found, if one but looks hard enough.

 

[chefdennis]

Rabbit wrote:

IBM, McDonald's, or Wal-Mart workers. People everywhere lie, cheat and steal. It's hardly news. In any large organization, bad people getting away with doing bad things can be found, if one but looks hard enough.

I couldn't care any less what a PRIVATELY held company (as those you listed and I bolded are) does, UNTIL THEY ASK FOR GOVERNMENT / TAXPAYER FUNDS TO KEEP THEM IN BUSINESS!! That is Black and White Simple!!

 

[Turtle]

It's not even a case of taxpayer funds, really. This didn't just start happening. It's a case of astonishingly widespread and large scale greed and corruption from top to bottom in the UAW that affects what we spend on cars, parts and repairs, while all along trying to make us feel guilty and "Buy American" in effect providing welfare for the auto worker. Not only does this affect the price of cars, trucks, parts and repairs, it requires more wages to pay for them, which requires inflationary pricing on everything we buy and sell, not to mention everything that is trucked in, which is pretty much everything.

Yeah, there are punch card punchers at IBM, McDonald's and Wal Mart who try to sneak in a few minutes here and there, but they don't clock in at 6AM and leave by 11:30 and then get paid for 10 hours. At least not very often, if at all, and certainly not on the scale these things happen at UAW plants. The union culture, particular at the UAW, is to do as little work possible for the most amount of money, even if it means working hard at not working.

There's yer perspective, right there. It may not be all black and white, but there's an awful lot of dark gray and light gray with not much in between. Then, you toss in The Bailout, and the gray disappears. The industry as we have known it is on the edge of falling into the abyss, yet the Union is still fighting the very changes that must take place in order for them to survive. The arrogance, and stupidity, is astounding.

 

[highway star]

Who says I support the "union culture"? I just want the facts straight, is all. Nothing in life is black/white simple. Everything's a lighter or darker shade of gray.

O.K., well then I guess you support the union but not the culture?

I've worked in 2 UAW plants and had one driving job as a Teamster. In addition, I have 10 years in expedite where I frequently deal with union members and have several friends and aquaintainces working in auto plants. Because of all that, I have no doubt that the instances of time theft are many, and VERY costly.

Some years back, we had a big group that got together on a regular basis to snowmobile. One guy from Flint works for GM. He showed up one weekend with a new sled, and was very proud of the fact that he bought it on company time. He punched in at 0700, left at 0900 to go to the dealership. After concluding his business, he went to the bar. He returned to work at 1445 so he could punch out on time. When I suggested he should be fired for stealing from the company, he replied that everyone should do all they can to take advantage of the company, they treat the workers so bad, blah, blah, blah...

Yep, Turtle! That's your "culture" right there! The guy had twisted justifications to make himself feel like he did nothing wrong. Everyone should do it! If he'd been caught, do you suppose he'd have been immediately fired? Probably not... Isn't it great to have a union to protect people from losing their jobs?