Has this affected the Ferrari dealerships (LFSC and Continental)? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
As far as I know it is only the AFL-CIO folks, so domestic car dealers only. I just had my wife's G63 serviced at Knauz.
Continental is not affected. I asked while there and they said they are not a union shop. I would guess the same for LFSC, but have not used their service for many years due to location (I live much closer to Continental).
Not one single person is on strike at Continental AutoSports. We are running normal operating hours and conditions!
The service technicians are the heart and soul of any good car dealership. So I honk and wave when I drive by them. However, if a strike goes beyond two weeks, it's a losing proposition for everyone. The lost revenue and wages can't be made up. Settle this thing, guys!
Since my days in car business I still maintain some friendships there, all guys I know of, are against continuing this idiocy as the damage already far exceeds any potential gains. They hate their own Union but have no choice in the matter as the higher ups are forcing it down their throats. They all dream for Illinois to pass "Right to Work" legislation but there is no chance for that with all the morons in Springfield who are on the Unions payroll anyway.
I've spoken with two people at dealerships. The son of the owner of a medium sized dealership in the city and a sales person at a large multi-brand family owned suburban dealership. Both echo Mark's point about wishing the mechanics could still be working. However, neither of them said they are on favor of right to work (for less) legislation. The young man whose family owns the dealership, is a former student. When he was a student, we talked about the relationship between his family and the service department. Even in high school he described it as a love/hate relationship. When I spoke with him today, he said everyone's losing because of the strike except the independents and the union heads. But, he also said, "While I wish it were easier to get rid of bad (and I think he also meant slow) mechanics, getting rid of union mechanics would also hurt us." Some of his mechanics love book time others hate it. The ones who hate it tend to be his bad (slow?) mechanics. With a good mechanic, he says book time is a win for him and the mechanics. The other thing I learned is that they are striking because of the apprentice programs. According to him, NCLB (in part or whole I'm not sure) is the reason the apprentice programs have doubled from four to eight years. (I would have thought it was because of the new technology, but I'll take his word for it.) As a school administrator, I can attest to the fact that many schools dropped shop classes because of NCLB. He says that as a result of high school shop programs disappearing, the quality of candidates has dropped(I'm paraphrasing him) which led to extending the apprenticeships. Hopefully with the demise of NCLB, that will change. Good luck to the mechanics, it's not an easy life in the long run.
Not just domestic. Napleton Porsche is not doing service. I wonder how this is going to affect warranties should there be an issue down the line. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It appears the strike was settled at all dealerships except Napelton Cadillac in Libertyville. The technicians are still picketing in front of there. I understand the owner would not sign the agreement here, though he did at his other dealerships for some reason. I need my Cadillac serviced, this is my local dealership, but I will not cross the picket line.
They were not union. They were scheduled to unionize sometime after the strike began but decided to strike anyways. Basically they just quit going to work.
