A peek behind the scenes: The night GM CEO Mary Barra signed the UAW tentative agreem

A peek behind the scenes: The night GM CEO Mary Barra signed the UAW tentative agreement

https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...t/71455556007/

Whether General Motors CEO Mary Barra shakes hands with UAW President Shawn Fain if union workers ratify their tentative labor agreement remains a question, the Detroit Free Press learned Saturday.

Fain declined to shake hands with Barra and the other Detroit Three automaker CEOs at the start of talks in the summer, and now Barra has indicated perhaps it's best to close without a ceremonial handshake, according to one of about two dozen people in the room Oct. 30 when the tentative deal came together.

That was around 4 a.m. and everyone was exhausted, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly. GM had about eight top negotiators and others in the room, while the UAW had more than a dozen, the source said.

While the leaders were signing the agreement at Solidarity House on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Fain was reading through boilerplate language, the terms, all the key points, the source said. That final review took 20 minutes or so, and everyone in the room was ready to be done, the source told the Free Press.

Fain rattled on about protocol and next steps and the general membership ratification vote and the handshake ceremony after ratification. The room was silent and tense.

The agreement with GM came less than 48 hours after the union struck the automaker's critical Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.

As Fain referred to the upcoming handshaking ceremony, Barra cut in and said something to the effect of, "Maybe we don't do that," the source in the room told the Free Press.

Fain broke the silence, and burst out laughing while everyone else in the room watched uncomfortably, the source told the Free Press.

Fain responded, "Sounds like a plan to me."

The source in the room who spoke to the Free Press said the incident was so unusual that they wrote it down at the time.

A second source with knowledge of the exchange told the Free Press on Saturday that they, too, recalled that Fain suggested he and Barra "get together for the handshake" after ratification. And Barra said something along the lines of, “You didn’t do the traditional handshake at the start and I don’t think we need one at the end. ... It is a practice that we don’t need to continue."

Then Barra stood up, looked at all the UAW negotiating committee members one by one, and said, "We'll see you back at the plant."

The first source told the Free Press, "She was visibly not happy."

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Originally Posted by 313WX

"She was visibly not happy."

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Originally Posted by 313WX

The first source told the Free Press, "She was visibly not happy."

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Can you blame her? Fain may have been effective but lots of jerks are. He is okay to shake hands once he has what he wanted but not at the outset. It was a big show for the workers. Those paying your salary [[indirectly in this case) aren't your enemy. You can be civil with your adversary in any negotiation. Just look at the Middle East at the moment.
I still can't believe Ford is paying the workers back for the money they would have earned had THEY not got on strike. Haven't read if GM and Stellantis are doing the same.

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Originally Posted by 401don

...Fain may have been effective but lots of jerks are...

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Now granted, Shawn refusing to do the hand shake at the onset was certainly in poor taste. But Mary's looking real petty with her tit-for-tat right now [[instead of just being the bigger person).

At the end of the day, it's a business relationship and sometimes negotiations become contentious in business. Yes, GM may very well pay their wages, but GM needs the workers just as much if they expect to build cars & supply parts for customers to repair their vehicles. The CEO of a F100 company and someone who's been in the corporate world for over 30 years knows this good & well too.

Lord knows Mary wouldn't have given the UAW what they wanted had they played nicely.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

At the rnd of thr dsy it's a business transaction and sometimes negotiations become contentious in business. The CEO of a F100 company and someone who'sbeen in the corporsteworld for over 30 years knows this good & well too.

Lord knows Mary wouldn't have given the UAW what they wanted had they played nicely.

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Which means he should have broke tradition and refused to shake hands prior to negotiations but then expected her to afterward?

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Originally Posted by 401don

Which means he should have broke tradition and refused to shake hands prior to negotiations but then expected her to afterward?

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I edited my original comment while you responded to address exactly what you said.

"Now granted, Shawn refusing to do the hand shake at the onset was certainly in poor taste. But Mary's looking real petty with her tit-for-tat right now [[instead of just being the bigger person)."


and:

Yes, GM may very well pay their wages, but GM needs the workers just as much if they expect to build cars & supply parts for customers to repair their vehicles."

Frankly, I would think there would be more important aspects of the story to report than the handshake kerfuffle.

Everything else about this strike is newsworthy.

The takeaway would be the auto manufacturers ramping up behind the scenes to automate their systems in order to compete.

Where else can you make a better then average wage while having no skills?

The no handshake sent a message of you are the enemy and evil one and I am the savior of the people,Ford as a corporation does not have to exist by building automobiles and it can also return a payback to the shareholders without the amount of labor it has.

It is newsworthy because it puts a time and date in history when the end started.

No GM does not need those workers anymore then any other company,the cities and states that those workers live in need GM and Ford and the other one a lot more,because they can simply move production to Mexico or any other number of states or countries.

What is the difference between “corporate greed” and “employee greed” ?

In the last 6 years Ford has shed 30,000 jobs,GM almost 50,000.

Michigan as a state since 2000 has lost 1/2 of its automotive manufacturing and related jobs,but it has not lost 1/2 the jobs available in the state,which says auto manufacturing in the state is in decline,rapidly.

Manufacturing is no longer Michigan number 1 source of revenue,thise jobs that are replacing the manufacturing jobs require a lot higher skill set with a degree.

Interesting how Fain is being referred to as the hero of the people when in the past nobody that worked with him could stand him,the refusal to shake hands is indicative of not being very trustworthy and more indicative of being able to get your punches in while you still can.

If the labor movement has no respect for the automotive manufacturers traditionally then why should the manufacturers have and respect to the city and state that they actually build and prospered alongside?

If it is strictly just business,which in that respect Fain is correct,the manufacturers should not be compelled to continue to invest in the state when it makes little sense financially,because after all it is just business.

As much as nobody wants to admit it,we are going into a dark place with the economy,that little moment of glory most likely will be remembered when all of this goes right back to the table when people will be looking at concessions in order to have a job in the first place.

Things have a habit of coming back around to bite you in the rear end,at that time it will not be shaking hands,it will be asking where to plant that kiss. Most likely on the southern end.

Showboating only goes so far.

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Originally Posted by Richard

...No GM does not need those workers anymore then any other company...

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If that were remotely true, GM would have let them keep striking forever and not agreed to a less than favorable contract.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

If that were remotely true, GM would have let them keep striking forever and not agreed to a less than favorable contract.

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They are striking in a moment in time,GM has been around 100 years,it’s entirely possible to win the battle but lose the war.

Look at how many billions it was costing not only GM,but the state and every taxpaying resident,GM can write the losses off,you cannot.

So who did it hurt more GM or the state?

The auto manufacturers of today are the buggy manufacturers of the past,sure it may be less then favorable today for GM but they think 10-20-30 years into the future whereas most employees think about just today.

Its 2023,another 5 years and auto manufacturing will no longer exist as it does today,so everybody employed today will no longer be.

GM lost nothing,a win for the “labor movement” would have been having the companies setting aside funds to train the current workers to fit into that future.

They demanded jobs in the battery factories,but the current employees do not have the skills to even work there so they cut their own balls off.

The youngsters that are getting schooled on AÍ,Robotics,component manufacturing and technology have futures with the manufacturers,albeit on a much smaller scale in numbers.

All of the current employees are pretty much obsolete,so it was a short term win dependent on the economy.

Another win would have been some kind of deal based on performance and goals.

Its easy to say,company made billions this year so they can afford to pay us more,then go right back to the table next year for concessions when the economy drops and the company has to shed jobs and reduce pay in order to survive.

The employees are asking for more but putting out crap quality when it comes to new vehicles because they figure they get paid either way.

They would have made more based on performance and production wise in the form of a bonus then a few dollars more in a salary that probably puts them into a tax bracket of higher taxes so they make less.

They negotiated a higher salary,which is a temporary economic win that will operate like a roller coaster,they did not negotiate for a long term stable environment which in turn actually accelerated their own demise.

Yay we won - Fain for president lol

If one is looking for moments of pleasure,hire a hooker,at least you know where you stand.