Goodbye Mercury Marine

Looks like the union in Fond du lac voted to lose their jobs to Still Water OK. instead of giving in a little bit to keep Mercury here. I know they claim times are tough and they can't give in or they won't be able to support their families, but it's a whole lot harder to support a family on an unemployment check.

I know unions still have some merit, but more and more they hurt themselves more than they help it seems.

Just don't get it.

Donovan from Wisconsin

sounds like the union bet kings in a attempt to keep workers in their jobs at current pay levels, and due to economic times mercury was holding aces, and the workers lost the round and their money beats me why people wont give up a little to keep what they already have, im trying to make that choise now, due to medical and health issues, just not sure if i can grab a lower paying job or not

I was a union member who gave up wages to keep the company going. All they did with the saved money was to build plants in Mexico to move to. I WOULD NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

Kent

It is a sad deal. I'd hate to see Merc leave WI. Hopefuly they will work something out.

From a consumer's perspective, I sure hate to see any company fall under the Brunswick umbrella. Look how much better Harley has done since they left. Then the damage to the Lund and Crestliner brands since Brunswick took them over a couple years ago...

I'm a union member who has voted in the past to save our jobs, take pay cuts, etc. We got shafted anyway, with company owners taking off with our pension fund, and sending us into receivership. We got bought (literally) by someone else who restarted the company, slashed wages some more, clawed back benefits, vacation time, all of it, and sent us back more than 50 years in time, contract wise.
I know, I still have a job, but looking back, we'd have been better off finding work elsewhere when they were done with us, and now I'm too old to start again. At least I'd have a pension with almost 20 years paid into it, instead of nothing, which is what what we have now. Governments that legalize thefts of pensions should be made to reimburse the workers in cases where workers have done nothing wrong except work in closed shops.
I never voted to have my retirement stolen away from me, but it was anyway.

Rod.. how did the owners steal the pension fund and not get caught?/ OR was it under funded??

Pension funds are federally protected so your money should still be there.. not much money but it should have been protected by law if it was a ligitement pension fund. Pension funds do not have to be fully funded by law as they can rely on growth and investments of the markets over time.Only problem is that they let the company invest in its own stocks so that if the company goes belly up, the stock is worthless and then the pension fund is about zeroed out.

Just curious as to what happened in your case.

Did you guys just lose a bunch of jobs up there a few weeks ago?

Rod

Rod is in Canada. Don't know about the rules there.

MM has been downsizing for years, my dad worked for them in Florida. Even before things got tough, Honda and Yamaha have been eating their lunch. Workers probably figured they were gonna lose anyway.

It is sad to see it. I live in So WI and we have lost so many jobs the last couple of years it is impossible to find work. They will find that unemployment is not going to last long, and that a steady paycheck, even if it is a little less, is still better than no paycheck. If they were in my position they would understand. I am almost out of "stuff" to sell so I can live.

As a conservative (and a member of the "non-union" working class),... I've always had a very difficult time sympathizing with ANYONE who has a bloated opinion of their own "self-worth".

Is this that massive building along the highway that looks like a ship going across the water? What a shame. I"ve been driving past that place for 15 years on my way to Appleton.

don"t you guys believe Bernanke and the stuff he"s saying about the economy?

We just had a group of 30 laid off. Should be temporary, hopefully. I'm safe enough, with almost 32 years in here. They'd have to close the place down to get me out, LOL.

It seems like unions exist anymore to drive up wages to an unholdable level, and companies exist to squeeze the lifeblood out of it's workers.

Guess who loses? (The working man)

We have 22 mercs here at work. The old 2 stroke 9.9's are great the 25 four strokes are pretty good, a little hard to start cold, the 15's and 20's (4 st.) are a bear to get started when cold. All of the remotes work hard and are grindy even when brand new. They are not as user friendly as Yamaha or Honda. They do however last a long time.
I think the company doesn't do enough to fix the small design issues. That isn't the fault of the line workers.

I thought that's where you were at.
As long as we fly Sea Kings, your job should be safe...

Rod

Actually, I'm mostly involved in the P3/CP140 contracts.
We don't get much work on Sea King up here.
Just started a bunch of Chinook work too.

I spent many months in that building over the course of getting a Merc certification many years ago (like 20 to be exact). Big place. Then I furthered my edumakation by going to Fox Valley Tech in Appleton. Now I return to Fond-du-Lac to take a bus to the Oshkosh airshow every year. We fly up following 41 and turn for final over the merc property.

If they give up a little they will no longer have what they've already got. After all the lies and dishonesty from the big corporations why should the union members believe any thing these crooks say. I don't understand why people think its ok for a company to make gross profits but if the folks who actually do the work ask for few bucks more its some kind of a crime against society.

Geeze Guys isn't Still Water, OK in the US. So move out of the cold and enjoy your new house. I shut down everyplace I ever worked at and I enjoyed every move that I made without losing a penny.
Walt

You know? I didn't know that Mercury Marine was owned by the Brunswick Corp until I did a phone repair there today. So I'm in the lobby at Brunswick waiting for someone to come get me and the security guy mentions that own Mercury to me, and mentions an outboard on display over in the corner. I walk over and take a look...holy cow. Now there was an outboard that would tear the transome off of most outboards I'd ever seen, and if it didn't, it'd surely stand the boat straight up and send it to Davy Jones Locker just by sheer size and weight alone. That was an outboard like I've never seen before.

Sorry to hear it. These days I'm a fortunate person that don't complain much. Is life perfect? No. Could I use more money? Always. But there are also folks waiting in line to get jobs flipping burgers at McDonalds too. I'm fortunate, and these days find that sucking at least some of it up works best for me. What works best for others is their business, but for me, I'm rolling with some punches for my family.

Mark

Honestly, the real Merc is long gone, they're owned by Brunswick who owns a ton of those great old names in the American marine world. Now I'm not saying they make bad stuff, I own a Brunswick made outboard but what I am saying is Mercury isn't Fon Du Lac based anymore, it just another location in a much larger corporation.

My only big beef with Brunswick is how hard they've made it to buy one of they're hulls with anything but a Merc on it. I like choices, but that's just me.

Sorry to hear Fon Du Lac is loosing the jobs though.

K

i keep telling mrs 730 hang on to your shorts susie we ain't seen nothing yet!

i picked up some parts for my 730 diesel sat man i got the parts from said it's bad enough we don't know if from one day to the next we don't know if we will have a job or not.
the union will take 3% per year for every year you retire before 65. he will have enough time at age 55
to retire but if he does union will dock him 30% of his pension.

(quoted from post at 17:45:47 08/24/09) If they give up a little they will no longer have what they've already got. After all the lies and dishonesty from the big corporations why should the union members believe any thing these crooks say. I don't understand why people think its ok for a company to make gross profits but if the folks who actually do the work ask for few bucks more its some kind of a crime against society.

Click to expand...

Sooooo,... you're saying that "if" companies are making (gross) profits, then union workers are entitled to demand (more) gross wages? LOL

Who (in the various unions) decides when a company's "profits" meets the definition of "gross profits"?

Do union workers think their wages should (in reality) be based upon a company's profits,... and are their "union demands" based upon a percentage of a company's profits?

Every union worker I've ever talked to, always whined like a little kid and seemed to hate the company he works for.
I always ask them,... "if you hate who you're working for so much, why don't you just up and quit, and get a different/better job somewhere else?" (the usual response is a blank stare)

I've never heard of a company holding a gun to the heads of their employees, and forceing them to work for them if the employees would rather be working somewhere else.

Next thing we'll know,... union workers will be refering to themselves as "poor, down trodden, and repressed company slaves". LOL

CBS evening news, on monday evening, said that
after the company called their bluff, the union
is reconsidering--wants to talk again. It seems
as if low pay is better than no pay.

Spotted Horse,
Agree 100%. good post.
Sure, there are greedy owners, BUT we are a capitalist society and that's just the way it is. I work for a small company whose 2nd generation owners take everything they can out of the company. Non-union, small automotive supplier. We've taken a pay cut and they've slashed our hours below 40 per week. But... I guess if I don't like it, I can leave. They're not holding a gun to my head. I am seriously looking for another job, have no loyalty anymore to this place. I've also worked for GM in the past and seen what the UAW has done to the Big 3. They are not the ONLY reason that GM and Chrysler have failed, but UAW greed, coupled with poor/greedy/inept management at ALL levels doomed them. When times were good, the union kept adding ridiculous items to the contract time after time and mgmnt caved so as not to jeopardize short term profits (and their bonuses). Nobody cared about the long term effects on the business. They figured the gravy train would never end and when times got tough, they ended up killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. I was a shareholder who lost it all. But the UAW gave up VERY little and ended up owing a giant piece of BOTH companies. external_link's gift to them.

The bottom line is that the work ethics, morals and value system that made the US the industrial giant in the last century are GONE. Everyone is out for themselves, wants to make it to retirment at 50 with lavish pensions, health care for life and will sue the pants off of anybody who wrongs them in the slightest way.

A sense of community, help they neighbor philosopy is considered foolhardy.

This selfish phenomena exists at all levels, from individuals to small companies to large businesses to unions to governments.

Personally, there's a lot of stuff I read about in this forum, news reports and hear locally that I shake my head at and wonder how people can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning and not be ashamed.

Sum it up by saying that this lack of a moral compass and sense of entitlement will be the downfall of the US in the long run. Maybe not in my generation but I believe it will happen by the end of this century.

And all the whining of the unionists won't change anything.

I'm not a particularly big fan of unions... to say the least. However, the very reason that many of the big industrial unions like the UMW(A) and Steel Workers were formed was because of that very kind of treatment.
Those people were nothing more than slaves to their respective companies in many cases. There was more than one incident around here were the compan would attempt to starve the men back to work... so you can scorn the unions all you like today, but that's why they're here and they haven't forgotten their heritage even if many others have.

Rod

(quoted from post at 13:49:22 08/25/09) I'm not a particularly big fan of unions... to say the least. However, the very reason that many of the big industrial unions like the UMW(A) and Steel Workers were formed was because of that very kind of treatment.
Those people were nothing more than slaves to their respective companies in many cases. There was more than one incident around here were the compan would attempt to starve the men back to work... so you can scorn the unions all you like today, but that's why they're here and[b:f428cc3bb5][color=red:f428cc3bb5] they haven't forgotten their heritage even if many others have.[/color:f428cc3bb5][/b:f428cc3bb5]

Rod

Click to expand...

Everybody has a "sob story",.....

If starvtion and murder is just a 'sob story', and apperantly acceptable practice to you, I'd hate to know just where it is that you draw the line...
A lot of people didn't have the means to walk away 100 years ago.

Rod

(quoted from post at 15:07:47 08/25/09) If starvtion and murder is just a 'sob story', and apperantly acceptable practice to you, I'd hate to know just where it is that you draw the line...
A lot of people didn't have the means to walk away 100 years ago.

Rod

Click to expand...

Are you saying that the unions (and their members), have NEVER murdered anyone?

Not 'here' they haven't, though that's hardly the point.
Unions were started here for very good reasons whether anyone thinks so or not. By the same token, a lot of the members stole the place blind and had no small part in their demise... but the fact remains... that they were treated like slaves by the coal company right from the start. Those men fought for a wage they could survive on rather than starve to death. Times are hardly as desparate today.

Rod