Comments on: The True Price Of Auto Labor Costs

While UAW Is Blamed For Detroit's Troubles, Comparison To Wages Paid By Foreign Carmakers Isn't Whole Story

[McHineguy]

What "Factory worker"? Having a Union and a Bargaining Agreements means that the employees NEGOTIATE with their employer for what they feel is fair compensation. In Non Union places the employee either takes what they offer or quits his job. When we started bashing Unions and saying they were paid to much, it was reversed. Non Union Places had to keep up with the Union Shops or face being Unionized. Thus EVERYONE, Union and Non Union benefited.


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Posted by irmcvet971 at 04:39 PM : Dec 19, 2008

And the result is you NEGOTIATE your company into bankruptcy because no one ever asks if its affordable and you NEVER give back. Want proof? The Big 3 are failing, Toyota and Honda and BMW are not.

[slim1h2o]

machineguy at 04:43 PM : Dec

Sorry,,I didn''t offer any numbers.

It''s totally on managements lap, their demise that is.

[McHineguy]

I''''ve been saying that from the git go. It''''s not the UAW, it''''s entirely management.

The UAW produces what management demands, the UAW is just following orders.

Plain and simple..





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Posted by slim1h2o at 04:35 PM : Dec 19,

I am a designer in another industry. We are unable to design things our Union wont build. Sometimes we avoid designing some things because our union demands premium pay for certai, so called skilled tasks. I know for certain that at one time the UAW demanded extra pay for entering codes into the computers of some automobiles.

[questionnews]

I work at a non-union cabinet shop that pays pretty well & we got more work than we can handle. Meanwhile, two union cabinet shops in our area have closed in the last 6 months because of a lack of work. Many of those former union guys have applied at our shop and I''m glad we could take in a few. They seem very happy about the rate in which they are being paid. The former union guys told us that the biggest reason they had to close is because their project bids were so much higher (25% to 40%) than the bids non-union shops were providing while getting the same or better quality.

[slim1h2o]

Lets face it, it wasn''t the unions fault. The unions that stick up for the middle class, that we should be tar and feathering.

It''s the dam management, the bankers, the A-holes in government is the problem.

Stop blaming middle class America...which followed Washingtons, and managements lead, get what you can, whenever you can.

Leaders lead....and taxpayers have no recource but to follow...

[McHineguy]

Its amazing. The business is failing. The public is openly critical of the products. And they are asking for government loans. But they still point fingers at everyone else (Bush, or the banks, or the foreign competition). Meanwhile, they defend that they "deserve" pay that is 50% or more above other industries, benefits well above others, and cry that they have already given all they can.

Does anyone NOT understand why they are failing? If you are a UAW member you dont need to answer this question. Your perspective is flawed.

[samrt-2009]

Here''s an idea. UAW and management agree to temporarily set worker wages at non-union rates currently, but also agree to base total future wages on the multiple between current gross company income and the total of current reduced wage rates.

That way, if gross company income doubles, total worker wages double. If layoffs are made because of productivity increases, the total wage pool increases and individual workers share in the benefit.

Use the same formula for management and executive pay. What''s fair for one is fair for all. Additionally, such an agreement provides positive incentives for good management and good worker performance.

I realize this makes too much sense to be adopted, but one can spitball.

[McHineguy]

If management is 20% of the cost of the car for real (and labot 10%), obviouslywe need to look to putting restrictions on management pay, as well as labor.

Posted by SusanHelit at 04:25 PM : Dec 19, 2008


I''''ve been saying that from the git go. It''''s not the UAW, it''''s entirely management.

The UAW produces what management demands, the UAW is just following orders.

Plain and simple..





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Posted by slim1h2o at 04:35 PM : Dec 19, 2008

Only your numbers are wrong, far wrong. The UAW labor costs the Big 3 $18 Billion a year. Management about $4 Billion. The CEO''s dont even cost a Billion, lol.

[trillion1]

The people in charge were the one''s who made all the bad decisions over the years. Flying in on private jets saying they were broke was one of them. Sorry but $25+ an hour plus benefits. For get about it. Most workers get no where near that and are happy just to have a job.

[debinok1]

30% of the price of a new car is management and labor, on a $30,000 car thats $10,000, what happened to the execs only getting a % of the profit?

[ddaryl1]

Union yes

wallstreet white collar greed no

UNION YES

[irmcvet971]

People who support unions are the fools. They have almost priced themselves into unemployment. It is fine to ask for more money up to a point but it seems that the UAW has never heard the saying about killing the goose that laid the golden egg...Do you know what the average manufacturing job pays in Detroit? Why is an autoworker better than any other factory worker?

Posted by mbourn2 at 04:13 PM : Dec 19, 2008

What "Factory worker"? Having a Union and a Bargaining Agreements means that the employees NEGOTIATE with their employer for what they feel is fair compensation. In Non Union places the employee either takes what they offer or quits his job. When we started bashing Unions and saying they were paid to much, it was reversed. Non Union Places had to keep up with the Union Shops or face being Unionized. Thus EVERYONE, Union and Non Union benefited.

[steeepe]

Republicans love to stick it to ordinary workers and spare the executives the cuts. Cronyism is to blame for the outrageous pay that most executives pull down. The compensation committees are made up of fellow executives. Of course, they''re going to keep compensation high. The far right wing Republicans are fascists who love big companies. They think that big companies are the real America, not the people who work for them. They want more corporate influence in DC because that''s their peer group.

[questionnews]

UAW=Giant
Big 3= Goose that laid golden eggs.
Result= Dead goose & no more eggs.

[slim1h2o]

If management is 20% of the cost of the car for real (and labot 10%), obviouslywe need to look to putting restrictions on management pay, as well as labor.

Posted by SusanHelit at 04:25 PM : Dec 19, 2008


I''ve been saying that from the git go. It''s not the UAW, it''s entirely management.

The UAW produces what management demands, the UAW is just following orders.

Plain and simple..

[questionnews]

Isn''''t pathetic that the same whiners who put down fellow Americans for wanting a better pay defend the same corporations that ship American jobs overseas or who employ illegals?
People who complain about unions need to shut their pie holes for once so they can stop making fools out of themselves.

Posted by closethippy1 at 03:52 PM : Dec 19, 2008


Jimmy Hoffa would agree with you 100%!

[susanhelit]

If management is 20% of the cost of the car for real (and labot 10%), obviouslywe need to look to putting restrictions on management pay, as well as labor.

[susanhelit]

If management is 20% of the cost of the car for real (and labot 10%), obviouslywe need to look to putting restrictions on management pay, as well as labor.

[mbourn2]

People who complain about unions need to shut their pie holes for once so they can stop making fools out of themselves.


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Posted by closethippy1

People who support unions are the fools. They have almost priced themselves into unemployment. It is fine to ask for more money up to a point but it seems that the UAW has never heard the saying about killing the goose that laid the golden egg...Do you know what the average manufacturing job pays in Detroit? Why is an autoworker better than any other factory worker?

[koyt1]

We have two sectors to blame for the demise of the auto industry. One is the UAW and the other is the top management of the Big 3. They must share the blame equally.