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Originally Posted by dfw.embalmer
Regarding the shortage of labor, maybe US companies should open more manufacturing operations in South America, creating meaningful jobs, and quite possibly, that could help solve our immigration issues!
Regarldless of how you arrive at the $70. per hour figure, that's what they are shelling out per employee....regardless of how much of it actuall goes in the pocket of the employee, that is the expense. That expense is the result of years and years of unreasonable wage increases and benefits. That is why me, the taxpayer is funding the day to day operations of GM, and Chrysler (I know GM said they paid the money back with interest) but as yet, the money has not changed hands. It's pure greed.....$28. per hour plus bennies still racks up to around $50. per employee...with around $20 going to the retirees...it is still ridiculous!
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Lets remember here that the Big Three had no problem with those wages until your "college educated" (needs the quotes) bankers drove the economy into total collapse. Only then, when other weaknesses in the business, and in the product, did the UAW wages become a problem.
If you honestly think that the "average joe" on the line is a high-school dropout, think again. The Big Three DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT hire line workers without an Associates Degree or vocational school certificate. PERIOD. In the past, yes. But anyone who has been hired anytime recently is not your "joe sixpack".
Here's another question. When Joe UAW does screw the screw in wrong, is it his fault that he will be disciplined if he has to take the time to unscrew it and repair the damage. That his non-UAW line manager has a quota to meet, and damn the quality if it means slowing the line?
Sure, there are problems with the UAW. I'm not a member, and I don't plan to ever be a union member. But associating "UAW" with poor quality is farcical. Explain GM Lansing Grand River's Bronze Award for plant quality by JDPower. It's those damn UAW slackers who can't build anything right. Oh wait...
Let's also consider that the work is very,very repetitive, can cause stress injuries, and in most plants, there is NO air conditioning. Sure, they've got fans, but the machinery keeps it over 90 most all year round. Would you like working there? Perhaps $14 wouldn't be enough to make you do it. Perhaps you'd need more motivation?
For what it's worth, I couldn't be a line worker. Not for a career. Thats what those "$70" people have been doing. The "$70" worker is not a 2004 hire. He's a 1980 hire. We e We can't all be doctors and lawyers. But there is no reason that we can't have people earning a good living that don't work in an office.