An email i got...an American viewpoint

RDubya · Poncho Master!

An email i got...an American viewpoint

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

blacktransam wrote:

This was in my inbox today. Thought it to be an interesting email, and knew it would bring up some debate on a cold Monday
An American viewpoint

Detroit 3 Automakers - Union Wages

According to Forbes:

Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers.

Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year's contract, they say, must be "transformational" in reducing pension and health care costs.

What would "transformational" mean? One way to think about "transformational" would mean that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to that of the average university professor with a PhD.

Then there's the "Job Bank"

When a D3 (Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all benefits - medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour.

Here's a typical story....

Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I just sit."

Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union - UAW - as part of an extraordinary job security agreement.

Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package - soon to be increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way.

The "Big 3" want this money - not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars.

Not a good deal for us.

How about Chapter 11 - and getting rid of these ridiculous union contracts?

Do you guys promise you won't set fire to me if I voice my opinion on this??? confuse

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

I think that is deliberately misleading.

The cost per hour is not what an employee receives, it is what it costs the auto maker. That cost includes wages and benefits yes but it also includes retired employees benefits and any other contractual obligations for things like education allowances to name one, add in government obligations like CPP and EI, Employer Health tax in Canada for example.

To suggest an auto worker earns more than a University Professor is ridiculous and misleading! How many auto workers live in the Victorian mansion in downtown Toronto, the home of choice for tenured professors?

Now having said that the cost structure is real and exists, some points are valid.

-- Edited by 73SC at 15:22, 2009-01-12

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

The whole item is poorly written ... it reeks of lack of knowledge, and is full of rhetoric. An internet chain letter.

Astro Jet · Poncho Master!

No one would accuse me of being a big union supporter but Ray is right, that letter is very misleading. Number one, they should be comparing actual take home of the workers, not including all of the overhead. That overhead is so high because the Big 3 have all been in business for about a century each whereas some of the Asian manufacturers have barely been around for 20 years, so they don't have the accumulated legacy costs to deal with - wait till they have 100's of thousands of retirees to deal with.

The auto industry basically created the middle class, and that includes the retirees who weren't all forced to live on the street like homeless people once their employment ended and who continued to fund consumer demand in their golden years and helped keep the whole economy going.

Like it or not, all that income and spending provided the tax base for communities that provide services to everyone. Once that starts to dry up, everyone will suffer to a degree.

That being said, the jobs bank is one example where the unions did get out of control and the management of the big 3 never should have caved in - paying people full wages and benefits to just sit around and do nothing is just crazy, especially when there is other work available, but it is 100% up to the union member if they want to accept it!