Why should I actively give money to a UAW ally, and patronize a company staffed by the UAW and funding the UAW, an organization opposed to every thing I value?

You’re reaching for some sort of fairness, but propose no means of distinguishing UAW from Ford at this point in terms of who I give my money to.

I’m a non-union engineer that works in distribution for a corporation with a unionized shop. Would you be happy if I go to hell, as well? How about my son who is provided with shelter and food through my employment? Perhaps you would like to damn him to hell, too? My point being that you don’t mind the collateral damage from the fallout. Sorry, but in this economy I’ll take whatever job I can to support my family.

Right to work laws would be a far better solution than the death of the company.

…that make union-busting extremely difficult.

Many of these companies didn’t choose unionization, it was all-but forced upon them by “neutral” (yeah right) government agencies. Sometimes they went to binding arbitration, while other times they chose to keep the company operating and the cash coming in by getting the best contract they could with intransigent union leadership.

General Motors wasn’t one of those companies. It made very poor decisions and its managers didn’t care about what happened in 5 years because they’d have moved on by then.

Ford forced the UAW to make concessions and got itself out of its financial straits. It’s now the strongest, most robust full-line US automaker, without a government bailout.

Why punish Ford’s current managers and non-union engineers? Why punish its shareholders?

Again, all things being equal, if choosing non-UAW cars is more important, do so. If choosing a non-UAW car is more important than any economic consideration, that’s fine, too. But for some of us, that’s simply not an option.

And, it was largely due to the negative publicity generated by the Battle at the Overpass.

http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/fmc/battle.asp

1. Ford, GM, and Chrysler are all UAW made.
2. German cars have powerful unions to, but they are more reliant on advanced technology at their plants than exclusively union workers. An improvement.
3. Japanese automakers were at one point beneficiaries of Japanese government subsidies, but not any more. Now they are mostly made in the US under non union labor. So, these are pretty “free market”
4. I think that Hyundai is the absolute freest market manufacturer(if that was your benchmark). And they are also the fastest rising manufacturer as well. The new Equus is like $50k and can complete with a $100k luxury Mercedes. Hyundai is going to have a completely new image in not even 5 years.

in a Ford family. THat was back when Fords were just awful. We still owned them. Mom has been big time R all her life, but still has sympathies for unions. I wonder how that will change with the next generation (I have to believe it will change).

My parents were upset when my first car was a Honda. I told my Mom it was built in Marysville, Ohio, and that the Ford Probe I had been driving was basically a Mazda. What was the difference.

Just took the camry in for routine maintenance. Love it! We have a Highlander too. Of course I had to point out to my liberal firend who kept calling our HIghlander a truck (in a disparaging way) that the Highlander is built on a Camry frame.

Buying automobiles, like most of life, is a series of trade offs based on some facts and lots of opinion.

Here’s how I deal with car buying, so you have a baseline. And Fred, let me be clear, I’m not arguing with you on this …

• I do not buy new cars.
• I do not lease cars.
• We drive relatively few miles per year – in the range 15-20K.
• I have a mechanic who immigrated – legally – from Germany. Learned his trade at BMW.
• I prefer to purchase a high end, high quality car with moderate miles (5 or 7 BMW would be 80-100K) over a low mileage GM, etal.
• I have never owned a “US car” that I didn’t have serious problems with.
• I have never owned a Nissan or BMW that I had problems with.
• Jergan does a full inspection before I buy a car. He says it’s OK, it OK. He’s the only “car person” I trust.
• I find BMWs, Toyotas, Nissans to be the best value for $$ in terms of quality and style. I hate Mercedes.
• I like Honda a whole lot, never owned one, Mrs908 doesn’t like ‘em. Don’t know why, don’t care.

Oh, and when I talk about the Japanese manufacturers I’m talking full line. Honda = Accura, etc.

Obviously, car buying isn’t an engineering decision.

you have to or need to boycott, it is a personal decision. And as always money and budget play a role in a decision on what to do.

I can tend to be more picky in my vehicle choices, although not by 10 million, lol. But it is a personal choice. Sort of like when I joined the boycott years ago against a company who made shampoo with aborted human parts. It has to be a personal choice and you should not feel pushed to join in.

Side note though, if you buy cars in the lower range of cost new, the Asian cars tend to be more reliable and just as durable. Sometimes they even tend to look better although that would be a personal preference.

Regardless though, if you feel strongly about unions, but are unable to boycott, there are other ways to fight the good fight. Raising voter awareness concerning the union is the absolute best way to get involved. Because when all the rhetoric and words stop, it is up to the voter to end the union control.

I think the Mexicans are represented by the drug cartels.