Now that CZ owns Colt, what should they do first?

[OldArmy01]

Fire the management clowns, fire the Union, and move the factory to Utah or Texas. Staff an R&D department. Make receivers that aren’t wobbly fitting, and make the lowers with a mil spec pocket (to annoy the commies). Keep the 6920, and other classics in production. Make a new line of modernized rifles with ambi features, m-lok rails, mid length gas, etc…. Keep prices competitive.

I agree with all this except the union bit… maybe some sort of compromise there, and throw GA or FL into the running for places to move the plant to, otherwise all that.

[Stickman]

I agree with all this except the union bit…

What part about it vexes you? If there is something you think that the Colt union brings to the table to make it a better place, I think it is important that we are aware of it. Many of us have no love for unions, that includes people who have been in them as well as those who haven't.

[OldArmy01]

What part about it vexes you? If there is something you think that the Colt union brings to the table to make it a better place, I think it is important that we are aware of it. Many of us have no love for unions, that includes people who have been in them as well as those who haven't.

Let me first say I fully understand unions can be abusive, I’m not advocating that and advocate against that. Also let me state I do not have any idea as to the pay scale or benefits Colt offers it’s employees, they may be great. It’s been my experience however as a blue collar guy (TIG) welders, that most employers at least in my experience, if they can get away with paying you as little as possible, they will. Even if (like in my case) you’re a talented and skilled worker. (I’m not rooting my horn but I’m pretty good with TIG, meh with MIG, which is backwards of most welders but that’s just because I have spent so much time welding via TIG the lack of control with a MIG is frankly, annoying)

Which is why I said maybe some sort of compromise, al I’m after is employers paying their employees well and offering decent benefits in the areas pertaining to health insurance and retirement.

No I’m not saying the janitor should be paid $30/hr, but a skilled worker ought to be able to afford health insurance for his family and a small house/reasonable expenses etc. and in my area there seems to be a growing pay gap even among skilled workers and so I’m starting to warm up to such ideas as unions… only in so much as it relates to a company that’s making massive profits and arguably abusing its employees via low pay and benefits.

So yeah not arguing for $20/hr to flip burgers or mop floors but for skilled technicians and skilled laborers, we ought to get paid a reasonable living wage. Hell I’m leaving my state soon due to low pay for what I do. Which is crazy to me… but with welding it very much depends on whose the employer not just your skill level or quality of character as a worker. (Being on time, focused and doing a good job, ot being argumentative etc.)

[Diz]

Oh man. I support this message fully. Get the **** out of Conn. Dump the union. Dump upper management. Move to SC. Hire good GUN folks. Re-focus on building weapons for the civilian market. They created a whole after-market industry by refusing to sell us what we wanted for decades. Sell us the guns/parts we need to make Crane/NSW MK18's. Sell us tanodized upper and lower sets, M4 Carbine marked. Sell us Colt bbls, and all the other parts we need. Let me walk into a retail store, just like PSA, and load up on everything I want. Make industry partnerships for other required items such as optics, mounts, lights, lasers. In other words, what any good retail AR business is doing. Maybe I don't know, get on the cutting edge of what's being done with other AR models and be relevant again. Develop new parts, like rails, trigger groups, BCG's (especially for SBR's w/cans), and all the shit that other vendors have brought out and made huge businesses out of because Colt refused to do so.

Oh yeah, and keep rocking out the 6920 concept. Offer it bare bones, with choices of bbl length, gas length & and low pro GB, beefed up BCG's, and maybe, offer completion parts such as BUIS, RDS's, and furniture, incl FF rails. Maybe even monolithic uppers.

Remove all over-compliant features such as lower receiver blocks. Make new, low shelf lowers. Just because, we couldn't have them for decades.

This would be epic. All the features we want on modern rifles, with Colt M4 Carbine rollmarks. They couldn't keep these parts in stock, IMHO.

[Pappabear]

Bring back the Colt 308/6.5 CM. And how bout a Colt 2011? And some new M4's.

PB

[mRad]

Let me first say I fully understand unions can be abusive, I’m not advocating that and advocate against that. Also let me state I do not have any idea as to the pay scale or benefits Colt offers it’s employees, they may be great. It’s been my experience however as a blue collar guy (TIG) welders, that most employers at least in my experience, if they can get away with paying you as little as possible, they will. Even if (like in my case) you’re a talented and skilled worker. (I’m not rooting my horn but I’m pretty good with TIG, meh with MIG, which is backwards of most welders but that’s just because I have spent so much time welding via TIG the lack of control with a MIG is frankly, annoying)

Which is why I said maybe some sort of compromise, al I’m after is employers paying their employees well and offering decent benefits in the areas pertaining to health insurance and retirement.

No I’m not saying the janitor should be paid $30/hr, but a skilled worker ought to be able to afford health insurance for his family and a small house/reasonable expenses etc. and in my area there seems to be a growing pay gap even among skilled workers and so I’m starting to warm up to such ideas as unions… only in so much as it relates to a company that’s making massive profits and arguably abusing its employees via low pay and benefits.

So yeah not arguing for $20/hr to flip burgers or mop floors but for skilled technicians and skilled laborers, we ought to get paid a reasonable living wage. Hell I’m leaving my state soon due to low pay for what I do. Which is crazy to me… but with welding it very much depends on whose the employer not just your skill level or quality of character as a worker. (Being on time, focused and doing a good job, ot being argumentative etc.)

Unions are terrible. They are one of the greatest contributors to inflation. The union guns cost more and are in shorter supply.

F the union.


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[OldArmy01]

[QUOTE=mRad;2985668]Unions are terrible. They are one of the greatest contributors to inflation. The union guns cost more and are in shorter supply.

F the union.


Okay, we’ll from my vantage point we’re partly where we are because the public in general would prefer to buy lower priced Chinese made junk than save up a little longer and buy a quality made American made product or other higher end foreign made product. Hence chinamart/ Walmart. It’s frankly stupid to build up an enemies economy but here we are. So given that you’ll have to excuse me if I dismiss your view as simply being cheap.

To the above other economic issue it’s my opinion we should as a country only do business with allies. Like import bans on products from everyone else, screw’em.

P.S. I don’thate the Chinese people, I do hate the CCP though.

Perhaps I can clarify a little though, I don’t think the subject of unions can come up and not discuss other things so I’m not try to take this off topic, but. I’d agree that in general unions or the execution of unions has not been anywhere near ideal, so I’d be all for some sort of legislative reform or this could also bring up the discussion of profit caps. No I’m not a pure capitalist, I also don’t purely support the free market as you may see above, I’m also not a Democrat. I do love my country though in spite of the corruption and of our society degradation. I’m also not a commie so don’t come at me like that just because we may disagree on something here.

[mRad]

[QUOTE=OldArmy01;2985714]

Unions are terrible. They are one of the greatest contributors to inflation. The union guns cost more and are in shorter supply.

F the union.


Okay, we’ll from my vantage point we’re partly where we are because the public in general would prefer to buy lower priced Chinese made junk than save up a little longer and buy a quality made American made product or other higher end foreign made product. Hence chinamart/ Walmart. It’s frankly stupid to build up an enemies economy but here we are. So given that you’ll have to excuse me if I dismiss your view as simply being cheap.

To the above other economic issue it’s my opinion we should as a country only do business with allies. Like import bans on products from everyone else, screw’em.

P.S. I don’thate the Chinese people, I do hate the CCP though.

Perhaps I can clarify a little though, I don’t think the subject of unions can come up and not discuss other things so I’m not try to take this off topic, but. I’d agree that in general unions or the execution of unions has not been anywhere near ideal, so I’d be all for some sort of legislative reform or this could also bring up the discussion of profit caps. No I’m not a pure capitalist, I also don’t purely support the free market as you may see above, I’m also not a Democrat. I do love my country though in spite of the corruption and of our society degradation. I’m also not a commie so don’t come at me like that just because we may disagree on something here.

You may dismiss my view as being “cheap”, but the truth is the union priced themselves out of the market always asking for more, more, more.

When GM went bankrupt, UAW members working in their plan were making nearly $120/hr with their benefits package for unskilled labor. Let that sink in. Non-union auto workers in the same region were earning $70/hr with their benefits package. Somehow, those companies didn’t go bankrupt.

Those UAW cars aren’t better.

You can have US-production without unionization, and the less unionization, the more likely those jobs stay in the US.

Again, unions are one of the greatest contributors to inflation and one of the driving forces of outsourcing, as completely evident by the current trend in the auto market.


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[Diz]

Well, yes, and no. Not a big fan of unions, but not a big fan of fat-cat capitalists either. The problem is there is fault on both sides, so singling out one or the other doesn't really solve the issue. I have worked in manufacturing for over 20 years, in union and non-union shops. I've seen the good, bad, and ugly. The unions played a significant role in the demise of the auto industry, but so did the corporate players. There were no innocent parties there. Greed cuts across all layers of society.

We're talking about a balance of power, between labor and management. Too much either way isn't a good thing. But since we're talking about people here, it becomes a struggle for domination, not equality. That's just our nature. You need a mechanism to balance the two interests, and though unions have the right idea, they frequently get abused. And the working man gets stuck between a rock and a hard place. Neither side has his best interest at heart. So all in all, I think each man should control his own destiny. If your welder can't get a square deal, then up-stakes and go somewhere else. Don't squat in one place and expect someone else to take care of you. Or if you can't find any work as a welder, then re-train yourself and get into field that is more competitive.

Sure I made good wages in a union shop, but it never lasted. It's kind of a pay me a lot now, and lay me off, or pay me a decent wage that can be sustained-type of thing. Trust me, when things get tough, touch labor is the first thing to go. That's just the way it is. The guy with the money and ideas gets to decide what he wants to do. Unions frequently only aggravate the situation where the owners make poor decisions, run out of money, and the working man takes it in ass.

I think the "Right to Work" states have the best idea. It seems to strike a good balance between labor and management. That's why I'd love to see Colt move to SC. The state works with local community colleges and new businesses to train folks in the exact skills needed to work in decent paying jobs. Neither side really holds sway over the other. The companies want good workers; the people want good jobs. The market seems to balance itself out.

[OldArmy01]

[QUOTE=mRad;2985728]

You may dismiss my view as being “cheap”, but the truth is the union priced themselves out of the market always asking for more, more, more.

When GM went bankrupt, UAW members working in their plan were making nearly $120/hr with their benefits package for unskilled labor. Let that sink in. Non-union auto workers in the same region were earning $70/hr with their benefits package. Somehow, those companies didn’t go bankrupt.

Those UAW cars aren’t better.

You can have US-production without unionization, and the less unionization, the more likely those jobs stay in the US.

Again, unions are one of the greatest contributors to inflation and one of the driving forces of outsourcing, as completely evident by the current trend in the auto market.


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We’re not effectively communicating here. I pointed out I did see problems with the execution of unions up to this point, and that I thought some form of legislative reform pertaining to them is in order. Man is simply greedy, it shouldn’t be a surprise.