Quote:
Originally Posted by Light
Ferd your post have been as usual very sensible. There is something that you may be overlooking. When I mentioned that workers here were being paid $8.00 per hr. someone said if I didn't like it negotiate a better wage or get another job. So I ask you this: the men and women that negotiated a retirement contract with the big three years ago, what are they supposed to do? Should they be paid their retirement or not?
Today on Fox it was reported the cost for retirement was $200.00 per unit.
The problem is not because of wages but because the big three didn't build a good product and that is not the workers fault.
About 7 years ago I talked with a Mexican man who worked for GM just across the border. He said his pay was $32.00 a day yet the parts he made when sold to the consumer did not reflect his lower wage.
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Light, first I believe that number is $2000 not $200 but I could be wrong. I dont think I am.
But is it fair? No its not. But the blame here is on a broken system. Both the management and the unions came up with this system and it isnt workable. EVERYONE is to blame. The Unions are equal partners in the demise of these companies. They are working with a model that is completely outdated!
based on the numbers I quoted, GM pays workers a benifit and wage package of $75 per hour (again not factoring in any overtime) that means there AVERAGE factory worker has a cost of $156,000! ALL Retirees are paid a pension package that is basically 70% of their wage so that works out to almost $110,000 per retired worker. AND the union has a negotiated "work pool" that has 21,000 people being paid full time wages and benifits for doing NOTHING.
Again, both groups are at fault management and the unions. But the bottom line here is that EVERYBODY loses their jobs if this doesnt get fixed.
The Japanese model is basically $99K as an average per worker with those workers recieveing a 401K retirement plan instead of a pension that may or may not even be there when they retire. It is a vastly better plan for both the health of the company, the workers who dont have to worry about their benifits, and the STOCKHOLDERS like me and you who have 401Ks or IRAs or some other kind of retirement plan.
I am not for hurting these Union workers in any way. But we have to live with reality. They joined the unions and worked for a collective barganing agreement that has ruined the industry they worked for. They own their share of the blame here.
As for the cars coming out of Detroit, I dont agree at all that they arent good cars. I have a 2000 pontiac Grand Prix that is a great car. until last year, GM had a 24% share of the American Market Ford nearly 20% Toyota has never been better than 15%. American Auto companies make good cars that sell. that isnt the problem. The business model is the problem. That business model is based on an outdated Unionized work force.
The whole thing needs to be chucked, new managment and new union reps need to figure out how to move forward so folk can work and cars can be made and stock holders and see a capital gain for their investment.
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