Time to drastically cut autoworker salaries, benefits

I don't know where you got your information, but don't be fooled by creative accounting.

Workers can agitate all they want, but it's the investors who will decide who to keep and who to let go, and they don't listen to workers as much as they listen to the profit line.

As for giving up anything, it's unlikely to happen any time soon.

I think that instead of asking workers to give up wages and benefits, people like you should offer to pay $1000.00 or more over MSRP for your vehicle purchases. If everyone did that there would be no issue. Or do you think that only *other people* should have to sacrifice?

Dave

You're just putting a bandaid on a gaping wound. As our economy advances more and more of the products we use will need to be manufactured overseas in order to keep them affordable. The auto industry is going the way of the textile, toy, gadget industries to name just a few. Our work force will need to become more service oriented and higher tech. If this doesn't happen then those that refuse to move on will have a reduced standard of living. There are plenty of well paying jobs available but workers need to train themselves to be qualified for the positions. Just wait until China starts exporting cars to the USA. The Big Three haven't seen anywhere near the worst of it yet.

If this solution is applied to all industries that are in trouble from foreign competition then we had better get ready for runaway inflation.

And would you volunteer to give up a goodly portion of your salary and benefits today, Rich?

wrote

Give anyone a trip into the future to see, firsthand, what WILL happen and THEN ask them that!

I worked for Lexis/Nexis for 15 years... several times I protested -tho not enough- promotions; because I had been around long enough to see that I would be eventially promoted into non-essential positions, productivity-wise.

Sure enough, it happened to me... and at that time they refused to allow senior tech people to drop down... later, too late for me, they did!

Time for the unions to finally face facts... all they do is play politics with/for the workers' support.

If they would look at themselves as a resource-supplier and furnish best possible product at competitive price, we wouldnt be having this problem.

Hmm.. I wonder if the employees get the benefit or the union does. Seeing the building that the UAW just built along my commute path makes me think the UAW is sucking the money.

Nothing needs to be manufactured overseas to be affordable. I can still occasionally find things made in the USA that one would think would have gone overseas years ago. It's a question of decision making. Going for automation and avoiding unions which exist only for themselves and shaking down the manufacturers.

The loss of manufacturing for 'service' a economy is a national security and economic nightmare. Moving money around to make a profit isn't real wealth. Real wealth comes from creation. When the means of production are no longer here, the real wealth is gone with them. Sure, maybe the investment in a foreign country pays off for the stock holders in the short term, but for the nation as whole eventually we are left with nothing that anyone wants and needing everything from the outside. The rest of the world will have the USA by the balls.

There are many products that automation can't make their manufacture more efficient. This is where low labor costs are crucial. I see it as a good thing that we can't afford to manufacture many of our consumable items. It means we have a higher standard of living. Look at Japan and parts of Europe to see what protectionism does to an economy. France is in horrible economic shape because of their unwillingness to compete head-on with the rest of the world. Their economy has no growth and unemployment is in the double digits.

National security has always been a weak argument for enacting protectionist policies. Those type of policies will weaken us economically which in itself is a threat to national security. All you need to do is look at what happened to the Soviet Union to see the result a weak economy can have on national security.

As for creation, that is exactly what a service economy thrives on. By service economy I am not referring to waiters and fast food jockeys. I am referring to the technology sector and companies like Microsoft, IBM, engineering firms etc. This is where the creative forces are hard at work.

The world's individual economies are merging together at a ferocious pace and I for one see this as a good thing. It promotes stability between nations and greatly reduces the chance of conflict. It also provides developing countries with a market niche so they can begin the climb out of the economic basement. We need to promote economic growth in countries like Mexico to stop illegal immigration as just one example. Also, China is going to be the worlds 800 lb gorilla in a few decades. If we think we are going to take them on in manufacturing many of the average person's consumables we are going to loose big. What we need to do is learn to use their manufacturing ability to our benefit. As has always been the case, America will need to morph into something beyond what it has been in the past and what it is today if we are to maintain our high standard of living. IMO, the best way to let this happen is to promote free and unfettered markets here and with other nations.

What is the purpose of the building?

A rational person would sooner give up 20% of a $60,000 job than face the possibility of losing that job and ending up with a $25,000 job.

-Rich

I paid $39,000 Canadian for my Mach-1. I didn't bargain one bit, I paid list. I did my part!

-Rich

That's what the really, really rational person would do. They'd take classes at night to learn a more desirable trade. But most are too lazy and in denial of what is happening in their industry. Meanwhile, there are reports from economists that predict 5-15m skilled trade jobs will go wanting in the next few years due to retirement and the aging of the population. It's there on a platter, but the auto workers don't care.

-Rich

If I was faced with the fact my company was teetering on the edge and if I liked my job, yes.

-Rich

You do not understand human nature. It really has nothing to do with being rational or not.

It's "it never happens to me", it happens to the "other guy". And, "why should I give up anything... I worked to get where I am".

The other side of the coin is... if I give up 20% of my $60K job, will prices be reduced by 20%? No. I'll still have to pay the same thing for milk, eggs, and mortgage payment. That 20% means I'll have to sell the home I've been paying on for years, pull the kids out of private school, and generally change my whole lifestyle.

Nope, not me. Besides, I'm too good to be let go and this company knows it.

The perfect customer. They expect you to try to talk them down, which is why they mark things up the way they do. You made some salesman's day.

Don't be so judgmental. A person can be totally rational and not decide to change careers. It's human nature to resist change; to want to stay with what is comfortable and safe to them. Maslow's Hierarchy. They have a vested interest in family, job, and community. Walk in their shoes and hopefully you would see why they don't leap to change.

Perhaps you might persuade Bill Gates to give up 20% of his wealth. After all, how much does one person really need? That 20% could support how many? How many homes could he build to house people? For how many could he pay their utility bills? Multiply that by the number of big income CEOs. Or, try to convince all the senators and congressmen to give up 20% after they have just voted a pay hike greater than the median annual income of the public which has no benefits.....

That's so easy to say... but, you will never really know, no matter what you think or believe about yourself, or what you say, until you are faced with that choice.

Just as I've seen "macho" types brag about how they will handle combat or street work, only to see them panic when the chips fall. And the quiet, meek types who react in super human fashion, risking all to help someone in need. You'll only know AFTER you have faced it. Even then, if it should happen again, you can't be sure of reacting the same way because the circumstances may be quite a bit different.

A single person, having no other responsibility is more able to take great risk when only they will suffer from the result. But, if you have a family, and they mean anything to you, putting their health and welfare at risk is not as easy.

But, you won't even realize any of this until you have experienced it.

I don't know yet.... the sign just went up. didn't know what it was until this morning... it just says UAW with the region number.