protests Archives | AutoDepot

Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal, Safety, Middle East

Go back a few years and the prospect of political unrest in a host country was seldom a factor in determining where to hold a motor race. But that age of innocence appears to be behind us.

We got our first taste of things to come when the world-famous Dakar rally was forced to cancel in 2008 and later relocate from North Africa to South America due to threats from al-Qaeda. But what we hoped would have been an isolated occurrence is re-emerging as a serious consideration for racing series the world over.

The start of the 2011 Formula One season was due to get underway in Bahrain on March 13, but protests in the gulf state forced its cancellation and the delay of the season’s start, which only took place this past weekend in Australia. (The GP2 Asia series was also forced to cancel its Bahrain races in February and March.) The question is, will the cancellations in Bahrain emerge as an exception, or the new rule? Follow the jump to read on….

[Image: Adam Jan/AFP]

Continue reading Will protests in the Middle East cause the cancelation of additional races?

Will protests in the Middle East cause the cancelation of additional races? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Chevrolet, GM, UAW/Unions

GM Orion Township Assembly Plant sign A group of union members are reportedly unhappy about the two-tier wage system that the United Auto Workers agreed to for the General Motors Orion Township plant. According to the Detroit Free Press, around 100 current and retired union workers from three states descended on the UAW’s Detroit headquarters to protest the move on Saturday.

The demonstration was designed to show the members’ disapproval of the October 3 UAW/GM deal that will put around 40 percent of the workers at the Orion Township facility on a second-tier pay system, effectively amounting to half of the $28 per hour that tier-one workers make.

Both the UAW and GM say that the move was made to help the Orion-built Chevrolet Cruze become a profitable model for The General. The UAW also said that there are no plans to see the same pay structure spread to other plants and that if GM does very well in the coming months, there are opportunities to make improvements for the union’s members.

Union members aren’t so convinced that the two-tier system won’t seep into other plants, however, and they feel that the Orion Township situation sets a dangerous precedent that could easily be revisited at other facilities in the future.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

UAW protests… itself? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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