konigstiger

IG Metall, whose decisions serve as a benchmark for unions in other industries, began warning strikes (workers putting down their tools for a couple of hours) around Germany 1/28/04 including 1,000 employees at DaimlerChrysler's largest plant (Sindelfingen?). More strikes are expected in the coming days.

Mercedesfan

The only guys I saw at Sindelfingen recently who had any tools to put down were the robots.

A decade or so ago when the labor unions threatened it was interesting to see that a majority of the workers building Benz's were being brought in from Italy and other cheaper labor source countries. Now though the Mercedes is mostly built by robots.

konigstiger

Great, thanks for cleaning that up. I guess we have nothing at all to worry about. Respectfully though, how high is your security clearance within DCAG to see beyond that of a guest and/or customer?

DaveBk

Having visited the Sindelfingen plant last Thursday, I have some up to date infomation. Whilst much of the assembly process is automated (especially body assembly) there are still 42000 people employed on the site. Nearly all the final assembly is by hand. No signs of any industrial discontent through...

Mercedesfan

Good point, but very few of those 42000 people actually carry tools. Many are there to make sure the robots stay working and some are inspectors, designers, etc. To the extent hand assembly is required much of that is done by the suppliers before the pieces actually get to the line. I'm trying to recall if I even saw anyone holding a tool anywhere on the assembly line as it seems anything that required a tool was being positioned by a robot. It is truly amazing to compare the absence of workers on the assembly line today with what it was just a dozen or so years ago.

The tour guides will tell you that this high degree of automation adds to reliability and consistency in the finished product. The BMW guys on the other hand claim their cars are superior because they are "handcrafted."

konigstiger

DaveBk,
Maybe you didn’t see any signs of discontent because the warning strikes started 1/28/04 you visited on 1/22/04.

Mercedesfan,
Maybe “workers putting down their tools for a couple of hours” means stopping whatever it is that they do in the production process.

Don’t think the details need much debating though since the message was simply intended to alert those who are waiting on future deliveries.

HELL ONA HARLEY

Yea.... I'm currently waiting for my car now.... I don't know the details of the strike or even why they are unhappy....It must not be to bad at the moment if there only stopping production for a few hours. I know the unions are very strong there, much more than they are here and I only hope as a union member myself they resolve their dispute quickly and get what their looking for.... If I wait a few weeks more for my wheels, so be it....

Plumbers / Steamfitters union local #343 Vallejo, Ca.

B.T.W.... I can't believe there are some that think a machine is solely responsible for your car.... Give me a break....Who do you think keep them machines running???? MEN WITH TOOLS....

Thanks god machine's can't do it all....

Mercedesfan

Agreed. The concern is real. The other thing that is to be noted is with today's "Just in Time" automotive manufacturing (which Mercedes has copied from Toyota) all it takes is for some little supplier to shut down or go on strike and the whole assembly process comes to a halt. Recall what a fiasco it was just to get the supplier switched from Bose to Becker/Harmon Kardon for the DVD Nav Screens?

(I say Mercedes has copied this from Toyota based on personal experience. I toured the Toyota factory in Toyota City just outside of Nagoya over a decade ago and they were proudly bragging about their "just in time" manufacturing. I have been on multiple tours of the Merecedes factory in Sindelfingen and it wasn't until just the year before last that the tour guides were proudly announcing Mercedes' adoption of "just in time", though I don't doubt that Mercedes has been phasing it in over a longer period of time.)

Mercedesfan

Interesting comment regarding the extent of Mercedes' unionization. I do think that the move to robots though was motivated in part by concerns/fears that management has had in the past. It would be interesting to know whether Mercedes has a plan to use management to replace striking workers in the event of a full scale strike. It would probably take them some time to get back on line but it would not surprise me if Mercedes doesn't have some kind of such contingency plan in the event of a lengthy strike. One thing is certain though and that is with the high degree of automation there are a lot fewer slots that have to be replaced by management today than it would have required a dozen or so years ago to get production back up on line. My guess is the unions know this too and that is why the piddly little work stopages rather than all out strikes. After all the union has to do something now and then to justify the dues and fees they impose on their own members.

HELL ONA HARLEY

How about providing job training, a livable wage and decent benifits for its members!!!! Obviously most companies are not going to provide this on their own free will.... It obvious to me by your comment you are no union man, so I don't want to debate the importance of the generations of unions and its members in this country that have set the standards of wages and benifits for union and non-union workers alike .... I only hope MB gets things together so I get a good union made car by someone with the skill and knowledge and not a car that was put together by a bunch of pencil pushers.... Nuff Said.

Mercedesfan

I'm actually neutral on unions and I perceive their role and influence in the US as quite different than in Europe. Germany has been fortunate to hang onto a balance where their automotive industry remains competitive but it appears some of their neighbors killed the goose that could have layed the golden egg long ago.

For better or for worse the reality of automation has resulted in fewer workers. The unions start to lose their relevance when the workers they were formed to protect are no longer working or have been replaced by workers in cheaper labor markets. Is it any surprise to read that the US version of the new Smart Car from Mercedes will be manufactured in a labor cheap country south of the U.S. Border? The current Smart cars are not even made in Germany. That may also be true for the A Class as well which at least is not manufactured in Sindelfingen.