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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MythMan who wrote (251633)	7/23/2003 9:58:01 AM
From: Bid Buster	Respond to of 436258

Seen what?..the market correction?..YES, this is it.. BUY some calls.

To: MythMan who wrote (251633)	7/23/2003 12:42:41 PM
From: ild	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

UAW to Battle Big Three On Buying Parts Overseas By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DETROIT – Detroit auto makers' efforts to buy more materials from China and other low-cost countries are looming as a point of contention in contract talks between the Big Three and the United Auto Workers union. The UAW, which last week kicked off contract talks with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG, abhors the auto makers' move to find costs savings in less-expensive parts from countries like China. For Detroit's auto producers, Chinese suppliers' lower production costs and rising quality levels make them an ideal parts source at a time when the car makers need to slash procurement costs. But union leaders consider the effort a threat to their members' job security and a factor contributing to an erosion of America's manufacturing base. It's a "major concern to us," UAW President Ron Gettlefinger said last week in a news conference in Dearborn, Mich., after initiating talks with Ford. The Big Three auto makers and the union will spend the next couple of months hammering out contracts for more than 300,000 workers, as well as pension payments and other benefits for some 475,000 retirees and spouses. The auto makers and the UAW face a number of tough issues, including skyrocketing health-care costs and planned plant closures. But the UAW can use contract talks to raise a wide variety of concerns. "We're probably going to talk about that [the Big Three's China sourcing]… in the upcoming negotiations," Gerald Bantom, UAW vice president and director of the union's national Ford department, said in a recent interview. "We're going to try to encourage the Big Three to invest more and spend more in the United States." Ford aims to buy $1 billion in made-in-China components for use in North America and elsewhere this year, and boost the amount to $10 billion, or 15% of the parts it buys around the world annually, by 2010. Along the way Ford hopes to lower its average parts costs by 30% to 40%. GM is encouraging its U.S. parts suppliers to move some production to China and buy more from Chinese suppliers. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group is finalizing plans to obtain parts from China in collaboration with partners Hyundai Motor Corp. of South Korea and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan. The UAW considers such moves a contributing factor to what Mr. Gettlefinger calls an "erosion of two million manufacturing jobs over the last couple of years." The labor union is not against international trade, Mr. Gettlefinger said. "We're really opposed to unfair trade practices and policies that are in place and that are allowing jobs to exit this country at a record pace," he said."Job security is always critically important to us."