Chapter 705 If you dare to strike, I will fire you!

Li Weidong flew to the United States, came to Ford again, and met Bill Ford, the CEO of Ford.

Bill Ford said helplessly: Mr. Li, regarding the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, we are in trouble. Those guys from the United Auto Workers Union want to sabotage our deal.

United Auto Workers? Is it the union organization of auto workers? Li Weidong asked.

Yes, they are the most shameless organization in the world! Bill Ford gritted his teeth.

Li Weidong then asked, Does the United Auto Workers own shares in Jaguar Land Rover?

Of course not. They are a trade union organization. Why do they have shares in the company! Bill Ford then added: The shares of Jaguar Land Rover are 100% owned by our Ford Group.

Li Weidong asked again: Then, has your Ford Group signed a contract with the United Auto Workers on asset transactions? For example, you need their consent, or you need to meet certain conditions before you can trade Jaguar Land Rover?

No, how could we sign that kind of thing! Jaguar Land Rover is our asset! Bill Ford said.

Since that's the case, what are you worried about? Li Weidong continued: We can continue to trade, what does it have to do with the United Auto Workers? Unless Ford still has reservations about the terms we negotiated before!

What Li Weidong said implicitly means, is your Ford company dissatisfied with the 1.5 billion amount and want to change your mind?

Bill Ford hurriedly said: Mr. Li, our Ford company is absolutely sincere in completing this transaction. What's more, there is a conflict between us and the United Auto Workers. We will not get involved with these greedy guys. !

Li Weidong nodded. Since Ford was not doing things behind the scenes, the pressure was greatly relieved.

Bill Ford went on to say: Mr. Li, you must not underestimate the United Auto Workers Union. Those guys are not easy opponents. Our American auto companies have fought against these people for nearly a hundred years, and almost never Take advantage of it.

One hundred years? The history of civil vehicles is also one hundred years! Li Weidong said with a smile.

If we count from 1908, when our Ford company launched the T sex car, it is indeed just a hundred years, and the United Auto Workers has also grown with the development of our American auto industry!

Bill Ford sighed softly.

Then he said: Ford, as the oldest auto company in the United States, is also the one that deals most often with the United Auto Workers. For example, when I entered the management of Ford, the first task was to negotiate with the United Auto Workers. .”

Li Weidong continued to ask: I still have the same question as before. The United Auto Workers has no shares in Jaguar Land Rover and has not signed any agreement with Ford. How can they suspend the transaction between us?

Li Weidong actually asked knowingly, and he wanted to extract more useful information from Bill Ford.

Bill Ford explained very well: Although the United Auto Workers has no equity and no agreement, we must pay attention to their opinions. This is the rule of business in the United States.

In fact, the UAW doesn't really want to stop this deal. They just want to get some benefits from it, such as higher wages, better medical insurance, more retirement subsidies, and so on.

Li Weidong deliberately pretended to be suddenly enlightened, and then said: I understand, since the boss is going to change, so I have to ask for more benefits from the new boss, right?

That's right. Bill Ford went on to say, In recent years, the UAW has made frequent moves. In fact, even without this deal, they would still find other excuses to demand various benefits from us auto companies!

Then if I don't intend to benefit them, what can they do with me? Li Weidong said with a look of disdain.

At that time, the United Auto Workers Union will encourage workers to demonstrate, protest, march, and even go on strike. Mr. Li, I know you have several factories in China. You should know that once the workers go on strike, the ultimate loss will be the enterprise. .”

Bill Ford went on to say: Every day's operation of a company requires costs. Only production can generate profits and offset costs. A day of strike means a day of loss. So when faced with a strike, all we can do is compromise.

When employees enter the job, they should all sign a contract, right? Strikes are absenteeism, and absenteeism without reason will be fired. Why don't those workers who make trouble be fired and recruit another batch? The automobile industry in the United States is developed. I have trained a lot of auto workers, so I'm afraid I won't be able to recruit them! Li Weidong continued.

The difficulty of dismissing employees in the United States is very low. Except for Montana, all employment rules in the United States are at will employment, that is, employers can terminate an employee's employment relationship at any time, no matter whether there is a reason or not, and there is no need to notify in advance , One sentence, you have been fired, you can pack up your things and leave.

This may sound like a convenience for the employer, but in fact the employee has the same power. Employees can also leave their posts at any time without notice, that is to say, if other companies poach the wall, employees can also say I will quit and leave directly. ,

Bill Ford explained: Mr. Li, although the American auto industry is very developed and there are many workers engaged in the auto manufacturing industry in the United States, recruiting workers is really not an easy task.

Workers always demand higher wages, better benefits, and shorter hours before they come to work. Moreover, many skilled auto workers have a trade union background. It will be even more troublesome to recruit such people! Maybe it will bring a new round of strikes.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to give the workers a little bit of sweetness so that they can work in peace and stability, at least to maintain normal order for a period of time. As a business, we still hope to make stable profits as our main goal.

Li Weidong pondered for a moment, and then said: In general labor movements, there will be leaders. You can fire all the leaders. This will serve as an example to others. Without leaders, other workers will not dare to make trouble again.

Don't do that! Bill Ford shook his head hastily, and then continued: In that case, that foundry worker will become a hero, he will gain more prestige, become a cadre of the union, and then fan more people. workers against you!

Li Weidong couldn't help thinking of the employee named Smalls who was fired by Amazon, because Amazon has never had a union, so this guy organized a labor movement, demanded the formation of a union, and finally held a small-scale strike, and then he was fired by Amazon .

As a result, this guy turned into a worker leader, first raised funds through the union website, and then used the raised funds to organize a barbecue party with hot dogs, pizza and beer, and treat the workers to dinner. Anyway, meat products are not expensive in the United States, and the cost of hosting this kind of barbecue party is not high.

Next, he posted photos of the event online, building momentum while continuing to raise funds. People who don't know the truth can see that your activities are held quite frequently here, and there are many people participating, so his reputation has gradually increased.

As the reputation grew, more and more people came to eat and drink, the activities became bigger and bigger, and funds were continuously raised. Finally, after holding a barbecue party for two years, Smalls finally Gathered enough signatures to launch a campaign to form an Amazon union.

In the end, Amazon’s labor union was successfully established. This employee who was fired by Amazon not only became the leader of Amazon’s labor union, but also became a well-known figure in the United States. Taking a sum of money from the company, the life is quite nourishing. If live broadcasting is also popular in the United States, this guy can become a billionaire.

I only heard Bill Ford continue to say: Mr. Li, based on my experience in dealing with the Automobile Federation for many years, I think that in this situation, it is best to negotiate with the United Auto Workers.

Of course, you don't have to say yes to all of their requests, and they don't expect you to. Negotiation is a process of mutual compromise. It is enough to give them some sweetness and let them explain to the workers.

Li Weidong listened to Bill Ford teach the essentials of negotiating with the union with a smile on his face, and he left after Bill Ford finished beeping.

When Li Weidong was gone, Bill Ford immediately dialed a phone number.

Mr. Jewell, the Chinese left me just now, and he should contact you soon. Don't worry, I have suggested to him to compromise with you as much as possible. When it comes to specific negotiations, you only need to lower the level a little bit. Ask, the Chinese should agree!

...

Li Weidong left Ford.

For what Bill Ford said, Ford and the United Auto Workers are incompatible, and Li Weidong only half believes it.

Ford and the trade union have been entangled for nearly a century, and the two sides have reached an agreement many times. Li Weidong would not believe that Ford's senior management has no friendship with the trade union leaders.

As for the United Auto Workers, Li Weidong is naturally famous for a long time. This is an organization that American auto companies can never get around.

The original intention of the establishment of trade unions was naturally to fight for the interests of workers. However, after more than a hundred years of development, American trade unions have become resistance to industrial production. It is no exaggeration to say that the American labor union is definitely the largest bureaucratic interest group in the United States.

After the end of the Civil War, American industry began to develop vigorously. At that time, American workers worked harder than 996. It was normal to work fourteen or five hours a day. There were no weekends, and the salary was still low.

So on May 1, 1886, Chicago workers held a big parade, which resulted in the suppression of the Chicago police. Then, for this year, May 1 was designated as International Labor Day every year.

It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine that such a festival originated in the largest capitalist country in the world, and the United States, which is the origin of May Day, itself is only May Day.

Thanks to the fact that Labor Day originated in the United States, Koreans dare not steal it.

After the Chicago strike, trade union organizations began to spring up everywhere in the United States. From the textile industry, to the mining industry, to the steel industry, in just a few decades, almost all industrial categories had specialized trade unions.

However, after World War II, the nature of American labor unions gradually changed. Many labor unions began to be corporatized, and labor union organizations were no longer mass organizations, but more and more like a company, with professional managers who mediate disputes. Consulting fees will be charged, and even workers' activities will be held from time to time, the purpose is to obtain offering from the enterprise.

For many low-level Americans, if they want to get rid of poverty and make a fortune, in addition to being an athlete, they can also become a union leader.

Because when it comes to elections, candidates need workers to vote, and union leaders will play a crucial role at this time.

The most typical example is Woodker. He used to be the chairman of the United Auto Workers. Because he helped Carter campaign, he became the director of Carter's liaison office in China. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, he became the ambassador to China. The unemployed youth succeeded Transformation with the establishment of civil servants.

Many of the US ambassadors abroad are not professional diplomats, and most of them are politically paid. Such people know almost nothing about diplomacy. The real diplomacy is still up to the Secretary of State.

Nowadays, trade unions in the United States obviously hinder the development of enterprises, so many companies also explicitly oppose trade unions.

In many traditional industries, trade unions have already emerged, and enterprises have no choice but to let it go. In emerging industries, trade unions have not had time to be established, so companies do everything possible to prevent the establishment of trade unions.

For example, Amazon, as mentioned above, fires anyone who dares to form a union. In order to prevent the establishment of a union, Amazon also spends money to file a lawsuit, suing that the process of establishing a union is illegal. After more than ten years of obstruction, Amazon did not form a union until April 2022.

Apple, another major technology giant in the United States, also opposes labor unions. Apple employees will not have Apple's first union in a retail store until June 2022.

Among the many labor unions in the United States, the most powerful is the United Auto Workers.

The reason for this is that the U.S. auto industry is strong enough, there are many auto workers, and there are many people and strength, which naturally has the strength to challenge the capital.

The second reason is that the auto industry is relatively profitable. Whenever auto workers go on strike, auto companies often adopt soft measures to increase wages and benefits for workers. Over the years, the salaries of American auto workers have been higher. It is also relatively sufficient.

If there are important people and money, the United Auto Workers will naturally grow and develop.

And the more established the auto company, the longer it has been dealing with the UAW, and the higher the wages of the workers.

The nation's highest-paid auto workers are at Chrysler's Alabama plant, followed by General Motors and Ford plants. The three major U.S. automakers also have the longest intersection with the United Auto Workers.

The wages of workers in Japan's three major car companies, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, are at the middle level. This is because Japanese car companies began to go to the United States to build factories in the 1970s and 1980s, and they only dealt with auto unions for 40 years.

BMW and Volkswagen in Germany and Hyundai in South Korea pay their workers the lowest wages. And they have the shortest time with the Automobile Federation.

Although Germany's automobile manufacturing industry is very strong, German car companies set up factories in the United States relatively late. For example, Volkswagen's first-generation divine car Passat did not start producing in the United States until the seventh generation. At that time, the Passat was fast yellow.

South Korea's Hyundai Kia also increased its investment in the United States after 2010. Since the THAAD incident, this brand has made it clear that it is going to give up the Chinese market.

As for Tesla, there is no need to mention it. Elon Musk can't wait to scold the union eight hundred times a day.

For the United Auto Workers Union, the major auto companies naturally hate it, but there is nothing they can do. In order to avoid greater losses, the capitalists can only continue to compromise with the union.

Now that Li Weidong has just raised funds to acquire Jaguar Land Rover, the United Auto Workers came out to make troubles, in fact, they took the opportunity to collect protection fees.

Before the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, it was probably the last glorious moment of the United Auto Workers.

This year, the United Auto Workers held a joint strike in 14 states, forcing Chrysler to pay $11 billion to improve workers' welfare, which directly led to Chrysler filing for bankruptcy.

In this trade union movement, about 42,000 workers benefited, equivalent to an average profit of 260,000 U.S. dollars per worker. But in the end, the workers obviously didn't get so much, and in the end they almost lost their jobs because Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. As for where the money went, who the hell knows!

After Kresk was killed, the United Auto Workers was not reconciled, and targeted General Motors again. It was also a strike, and General Motors also filed for bankruptcy.

After killing the two major auto companies one after another, the United Auto Workers also fell into decline, and many auto workers quit the organization.

Workers just want better pay and benefits, not job losses. You bankrupted the boss, and I lost my job, and there is a big bonus!

The funding of the United Auto Workers, in addition to the contributions from the auto companies, mainly comes from the membership dues of the auto workers. After the auto workers join the union, they need to pay 5% of their salary as the dues, and the union will help the workers fight for their rights.

After all, it is the United States, everything depends on money, if you don’t give money, who will help you! Those public intellectuals who brag about American labor unions can stop for a while.

The workers have all withdrawn, and the dues received by the United Auto Workers will be greatly reduced. It will be difficult to operate, and the momentum will not be as good as before.

That, of course, was the future UAW, which in 2007 was the most powerful and most feared organization in America.

...

The next day, Li Weidong met with negotiators sent by the United Auto Workers.

The person who came was Norwood Jewell, who would become the vice chairman of the United Auto Workers in the future, and was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for accepting millions of dollars in bribes from car companies.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the car company deliberately set the trap and sent this guy to prison.

It is also a common phenomenon in American trade unions to eat benefits at both ends. After eating workers and enterprises, they can earn a lot of money. If you are lucky, you can help a certain politician to campaign and earn a wave of political capital.

Today's Norwood Jewell is wearing a blue T-shirt and khaki slacks, looking like an ordinary worker.

This is the standard attire for American trade union cadres. Although they make a lot of money, they will definitely not wear a suit and tie like Wall Street elites.

T-shirts and slacks make them look more like ordinary workers, and the blue T-shirts are closer to the color of work clothes, which also shows that they represent the majority of blue-collar workers. When workers see this outfit, they will trust them more.

After all, it is a trade union organization that has developed for a hundred years, so there are still many such detailed routines.

After introducing each other, Norwood Jewell said directly: Chairman Li, on behalf of the United Auto Workers and all the workers in Bemhull, I oppose your acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover!

Why do you object? Li Weidong asked with a smile.

Your acquisition will damage the rights and interests of our workers! Norwood Jewell said with a righteous face.

Then what rights and interests of your workers will be harmed? Li Weidong asked the bottom line with an expression of breaking the casserole.

Norwood Jewell was taken aback for a moment, thinking that this was just a rhetoric, just the beginning of our negotiation of conditions, why did you take it seriously?

However, Norwood Jewell's face is thick enough, he was not embarrassed at all, but said: Our workers have many rights and interests that will be damaged, I will not list them here!

But our request is clear, you must give up the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover. Of course, if you agree to our conditions, we can relax this requirement.

As Norwood Jewell said, he directly took out a document, handed it to Li Weidong, and said at the same time: Our request is not complicated, mainly including increasing salary, increasing paid leave, increasing medical insurance and dental quota , increasing pension benefits, and providing funding for union activities.

Li Weidong took the document, didn't read it, but threw it on the table, and said at the same time: I can't agree to any of what you said!

Li Weidong's attitude made Norwood Jewell very unhappy. He thought that Bill Ford had given Li Weidong enough hints, and Li Weidong would agree to some conditions to meet the requirements of the Automobile Federation, but he did not. I think Li Weidong directly vetoed these conditions without even looking at them.

Mr. Li, according to what you mean, you don't intend to negotiate with us? Norwood Jewell showed a ferocious face, and then threatened: In that case, I will inform you that the Jaguar Land Rover Bemhull factory Workers, strike from now on!

Norwood-Jewel also became tough. He thought that this would definitely scare Li Weidong, but Li Weidong shrugged his shoulders with an expression of indifference, and said at the same time: Then you all go on strike! But I want to remind You, if you dare to strike, I dare to fire you Yuyu!

Norwood Jewell was taken aback for a moment. He had worked in the trade union for many years and participated in many negotiations. This was the first time he had seen such a tough employer.