Another Ford recall.

[wpod]

The manufactures source the lowest bid parts suppliers. The cost and benefits of the unionized workers and management are to blame. The CEOs pay is theft.

 

[Pew]

Powerless? Then Ford needs better management.

Unfortunately management can only do so much. A worker can come in not dressed up per company regulations, steal time, drunk, high, sexual harassment charges, assault, etc and they'll just run to their union steward when confronted by company management or the worker will get fired, only to get rehired back a day later.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Unfortunately management can only do so much. A worker can come in not dressed up per company regulations, steal time, drunk, high, sexual harassment charges, assault, etc and they'll just run to their union steward when confronted by company management or the worker will get fired, only to get rehired back a day later.

I understand unions have gone too far in many cases. But I find your comment hard to believe. Being impaired on the job, especially a job involving machinery, is simply dangerous.

 

[PimTac]

I understand unions have gone too far in many cases. But I find your comment hard to believe. Being impaired on the job, especially a job involving machinery, is simply dangerous.

It is but you have to remember, the employees work for the UAW. Ford just happens to be the place they work at.

This is not just the UAW either. Management is hamstrung by the contracts the company signed. Upper management can be blamed for signing those contracts but the alternative may have been worse.

 

[Pew]

I understand unions have gone too far in many cases. But I find your comment hard to believe. Being impaired on the job, especially a job involving machinery, is simply dangerous.

I know, I didn't want to believe it at first. It boggles my mind too on how so many blatant safety issues are disregarded, but that's a different topic and I don't want the admins to lock this one.

 

[JeffKeryk]

It is but you have to remember, the employees work for the UAW. Ford just happens to be the place they work at.

This is not just the UAW either. Management is hamstrung by the contracts the company signed. Upper management can be blamed for signing those contracts but the alternative may have been worse.

I believe we are both saying management is responsible for ongoing success of the company. Saying Ford has no control is saying they have 1 foot in the grave.
IMO, Ford is making some important changes, such as bringing chip programming in house, ala Tesla. Vertical integration of a critical components makes perfect sense.

I hear so many post the "wait till the big boys get in" stuff. In business, you grow or you go. Every product, every technology, every process has a lifecycle. Look at Apple; they have continued to innovate. No status quo for them. I see evidence of Ford changing, making forward looking decisions.

 

[nthach]

Unfortunately management can only do so much. A worker can come in not dressed up per company regulations, steal time, drunk, high, sexual harassment charges, assault, etc and they'll just run to their union steward when confronted by company management or the worker will get fired, only to get rehired back a day later.

It’s not just a union thing - that also happens all the time at Amazon warehouses. All a “fired” Amazon warehouse employee or driver needs to do is go to a temp agency.

 

[Pew]

It’s not just a union thing - that also happens all the time at Amazon warehouses. All a “fired” Amazon warehouse employee or driver needs to do is go to a temp agency.

True but then the temp agency/contractor, not amazon, writes them the check and is liable for any issues. In this case, the union employee would go right back into the union. Temps/contractors are unfortunately seen as sub-humans too although I'm not sure how far off that is from Amazon's normal employee treatment.

 

[nthach]

Temps/contractors are unfortunately seen as sub-humans too although I'm not sure how far off that is from Amazon's normal employee treatment.

I know someone who works at Whole Foods as a direct Amazon retail employee, their treatment is meh. They do treat their corporate people slanging code or as marketers/designers and in admin(finance/IT/legal) decently well from that I hear.

 

[Pew]

I know someone who works at Whole Foods as a direct Amazon retail employee, their treatment is meh. They do treat their corporate people slanging code or as marketers/designers and in admin(finance/IT/legal) decently well from that I hear.

Yea I hear the IT work is a great place to learn if you're willing to give up some personal life to fast-track yourself in the career.

Back on track, imagine if car dealerships had to post all the recalls up in a publicly visible area so potential customers can view it; much like the employee rights posters in high-traffic, visible areas. Maybe manufactures will clean up their act a little bit.

 

[nthach]

Back on track, imagine if car dealerships had to post all the recalls up in a publicly visible area so potential customers can view it; much like the employee rights posters in high-traffic, visible areas. Maybe manufactures will clean up their act a little bit.

NHTSA holds all that data - and some states like CA enforce a “stop sale” if a car in a dealer’s inventory has an open recall. CA also marks completion of a recall as mandatory to renew a cars registration IIRC.

Then again, the OEMs can do what Toyota does, instead of a recall, do a “customer satisfaction service” for 10 years/150K of a car’s life. Whichever comes first. Which means they don’t need to recall cars out of warranty unless it was a serious problem.

 

[PimTac]

The bad news just keeps coming. Ford needs to address this perception of a lack of quality of their assembly quick or they will suffer


https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/ford-recall-gear-rollaway-escape/2022/06/15/id/1074506/

 

[brianl703]

Then again, the OEMs can do what Toyota does, instead of a recall, do a “customer satisfaction service” for 10 years/150K of a car’s life. Whichever comes first. Which means they don’t need to recall cars out of warranty unless it was a serious problem.

Ford has done that before.

 

[Hermann]

Sometimes the 'UAW guys' are to blame....sometimes they aren't. I still remember the videos of guys drinking booze and smoking pot at lunch time at UAW plants. Would you want to buy a car screwed together by a guy who is stoned.

Better than being drunk.

 

[brianl703]

Would you want to buy a car screwed together by a guy who is stoned.

Based on the beercans in the walls of the last house I owned, I was living in a house screwed together by guys who were drunk. And none of them were union, just cheap parking lot labor.

 

[pbm]

Better than being drunk.

In those videos they were smoking weed and drinking beer....'stoned' and 'drunk'....and I'll bet none were fired because the 'union' went to bat for them...

 

[demarpaint]

Sad, I was once a big fan now I wouldn't touch one with a 10' pole.

 

[doitmyself]

I guess I am in denial. I've been to many vehicle assembly lines here in Michigan and just see regular people doing a thankless job, day after day. I wonder if the stereotype perceptions here are a bit over stated. I do agree that the U.S. work ethic is declining in general, as are lots of other morality issues.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

So whatever did happen to "Quality is Job 1?"

W E. Demming will tell you, "No Empty Slogans!"

 

[ARCOgraphite]

That's disappointing to hear.

They have been called the "Ford Exploder" for decades.

I have a South Asian built Ford SUV and it's bolted together very well and properly.

My U.S. built trucks have had horrendous and hazardous assembly issues.

Then on my Silverado from Indiana, they "forgot" to tighten the throttle body to the intake manifold, stripped the screws holding the tail light assembly's in - one fell out going over a bump. And this one was tough to corect - they left a large barcode label in the well of the clutch master cyl. which ended up messing up the clutch slave operation. What an embarrassment! - but the first two are manufacturing engineering issue - incorrect torque spec, cal or fastener.