Ironworking is a tough trade and when I say they are a breed of their own that’s no lie. They get up early, travel many miles, they’re tough and dedicated. They look death in the eye every single day with beams dangling over their head or releasing their harness to make that impossible connection. It’s a brotherhood like no other, they have each others backs and when jobs are scarce they do what they can to help their fellow brother.

To all the Ironworkers and their family our hearts are with you. I know the feeling of watching your husband leave every morning wondering if the job will be safe. Will he come home in one piece or come home at all? That’s the life of a Ironworkers wife.

Dedicated to Every Hard Working Ironworker out there…

Early dawn starts the day
Miles to go he’s on his way
Callused hands connecting beams
Spudding holes, fulfilling dreams
Welding, bolting, sweating blood
He belongs to a brotherhood
Only the best
Will pass the test
Walking where others will not go
Fear is one thing he will never show
Like an eagle perched high on a tree
He climbs the column and dreams to be free
Free of the worries and stress of his life
Waiting to retire with his wife
He loves his trade
And softly I prayed…

Lord,
Keep him safe on the beam up high
God Bless the Ironworkers in the sky.

I miss you honey…Please be safe!

“We have the flexibility to source all of our business to other locations around the world, and we have the right to do so.”

How can a company called “American” Axle threaten to take all of their business outside America? That is just wrong! Mr. Dauch whines about not being able to compete in a market where companies like Delphi have been able to cut wages in half. For one, Delphi was in bankruptcy trying to hang onto their company, and for two Delphi has had to hire back some of their “old” workforce at the “old” wage because they are having issues with their new lower wage “unskilled” workforce.

American Axle had a gross profit of $278 Million in 2007 according to the annual report for investors on their website. Ok, $278 Million sounds a far cry from bankruptcy and if Mr. Dauch is so concerned why not give up some of his $1.47 Million salary or his $7.7 Million in stock options? On top of all that American Axle has illegally terminated disability payments and health care for injured workers, as well as compensation, including health care for laid off workers.

The UAW workers face much criticism when it comes to their salaries for manufacturing jobs. For a better understanding, in an excellent article on Dollars & Sense Sue Helper, who is an economist and was an expert witness in the Dana and Delphi bankruptcy proceedings this summer, has this to say:

“People who don’t work in manufacturing may think of manufacturing work as pushing a button every 20 seconds on some machine. You push the same button every 20 seconds for 20 years and it never changes, so there is not much discretion or skill required. A number of things follow from that picture of manufacturing work. One, maybe people who do it should not get paid very much. And two, why should we try to keep these jobs—who cares if China does them instead?
I think that picture does not have to be true, and in fact is not true in much of U.S. manufacturing today, especially in the auto industry. And there are a number of policies that could incorporate workers’ knowledge and skill into the production process further. All of the automakers have adopted in some form or another the Toyota “just-in-time” production system: assembly plants keep little or no inventory of parts on hand, and the lead time to make parts is very small. That means that if a line gets shut down, say, at a supplier, then that’s going to shut down the line at an assembly plant, and can cost that assembly plant up to thousands of dollars in lost profits for every minute the line is not working. That’s a lot of pressure on a worker. On top of that, the quality requirements are quite high. In part because of this problem with the line possibly being shut down, just-in-time increases the stress and the skill requirements for workers.”

Sue sums it up perfectly and we definatley agree with her. Ask your self this….Would you want an unskilled worker making the parts for your car? Would you take more pride in your work if you made $28 or $14 an hour?

The latest blow from American Axle was over the weekend when they placed employment ads to replace the striking workers. The ad said

“Employment offered to applicants responding to this advertisement will be to fill anticipated attrition replacement openings after negotiations or in place of employees involved in this strike.”

I’d have to say this company is pretty cocky to think that someone in Michigan would cross a picket line and take a striking workers job. IT WON’T HAPPEN!

The UAW Local 235 retaliated on Monday morning when regular laid off workers were to report back to work. They walked 60 of those workers to the entrance of the plant, the workers checked in for work and then…declared that they were on strike! GOOD FOR THEM, United We Stand!

Those 60 workers traded a $360 unemployment check for a $200 strike pay check. Would you do that for your fellow co-workers?

A Texas woman faced extreme humiliation when trying to board a plane. As she went through the metal detectors the alarm sounded due to her nipple piercing and she was asked to step aside for further review with a wand. Mandi Hamlin explained that she was wearing nipple rings that were making the alarm sound. The TSA officers informed her that she would have to remove the piercing, which can be very painful, in order to board the plane. She says that she could hear the snickering from the male agents as she was removing the piercing one of which she need to use pliers for.

I just don’t understand why The TSA would disgrace this woman like that. A simple solution would have been for her to expose the rings to a female officer, use the wand, pat her down and allow her to board the plane. What is wrong with these people, did they think she was going to hurt someone with a nipple ring?

Urinal Bags Don’t Sit Well With Union

Communications Workers of America Union Officials in Colorado say that the telecommunications company Qwest, tried to get their male technicians to use disposable urinal bags to cut down on bathroom time. A manager at Quest actually handed out 25 bags to some male technician and they were told not to spend time looking for a bathroom when in the field. The union has stepped in, but has not filed a grievance yet.

A local union administrative director said that while the union deals with a

“a lot of silliness in corporate America, this one takes the cake.”

Completely inhumane and ridiculous!

We will be hearing that every two weeks from now until ……WHO KNOWS! For the last two years Chad has been able to avoid that dreaded phone call to Marvin on Wednesday mornings to collect his unemployment check, but this year he was not able to weather the storm. This time of year is always the hardest for the Construction Trades in Michigan. The layoffs start coming and you just hope that the company you work for has enough to keep you going until the summer boom hits.

It is almost embarrassing to live in a state where day after day hordes of people are losing their jobs. Our Governor has no words of relief for her Michigan residents. In fact by moving up the primary election, she pretty much screwed us all. The only extra attention that Michigan is receiving is whether or not “our” votes will be counted…..Well at this point WHO CARES!!!! Michigan residents need some serious help here, help with our economy for our struggling families. The people of Michigan would vote for Joe Blow right now if he would help us get back on our feet.

Chad & I are the lucky ones, because he has been able to avoid Marvin up until now. We know that Chad will be back to work even if it takes a couple months, he still has a job. (Thanks to IronWorkers Local 25!) Other families around our state are not as lucky, their jobs are actually gone for good. People that have made it their life to work hard in our factories, are being set aside like last years garbage, forced into “other” areas of employment. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and Detroit holding the highest number of foreclosures, things look bleaker for Michigan residents everyday.

Meanwhile we will try to survive on a MARVIN check for now which is only a ¼ of Chad’s regular pay. The short term future reads: eat a lot of Ramen Noodles, and pray the kids don’t have any unexpected expenses….like getting sick.

Beautiful Morning – From High in the Sky

These Pictures were taken on Monday of the job we are working on at Central Michigan University

My boiling point is how you could work for the union, born in America, for America, to protect American workers and not pay your people for holidays. This is a time of year you should enjoy and not be stressed out about a lost day at work, that you did not have a choice over. When you are in the construction field you are already worrying about the “rain” days let alone a four day weekend with no pay. Although the union has been good to us in the past, it gets worse every year. Like “Big Business” they are always looking out for themselves and not the workers. It is not like the old days where you felt secure with your union. These days you make $840.00 for your pension and they take $800.00 you get $40.00. Who can retire on that especially with no paid Holidays?