[sojsurf]

Also from Detroit metro, and was coming here to say the same thing. I moved here from out of state and the more I talk to folks who work in the auto industry, the more I'm convinced that unions are a large obstacle to the revitalization of Detroit's auto industry.

While they bring stability and job security to workers who are invested in excellence and quality, they also bring stability and job security to workers who have no desire to be productive. This is demotivational for anyone who needs to work with these employees and has an outsized effect on the organization. To quote a friend, "I love my work, but I can't get anything real done because I need sign-off from X, but he sits around all day, doesn't really work, and no one can fire him."

[whalesalad]

The whole "he just sits around - no one can fire him" is painfully true.

[athms]

You can find this in non-union companies too. I worked at SAP (SuccessFactors) for seven years and had to interface with many people that were incompetent and lazy, yet protected from termination because of company politics.