Big 3, remember, its a loan, its a loan

[Elite1]

From the link I posted earlier, the following is totally ridiculous! Getting paid your salary for the rest of your life! Sure, if you are a UAW worker, being on that gravy train sounds great, but for the rest of us working stiffs, it is outrageous:



GM CEO,Wagoner, said that even at plants that are closing, “85 percent” of union employment benefits still “have to be paid. ” He said that GM has had to restructure and reduce the cost of operating in the U. S. , but the company still pays for employees that are not currently working at “idle facilities. ”



Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli, facing a similar question from Corker, confirmed that “agreements are in place” between Chrysler and UAW that, regardless of demand, Chrysler must still operate at a pay rate of 95 percent of wages for employees not currently working at idle facilities.



Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland’s school of business, told CNSNews.com that one of the biggest problems the companies face is the UAW’s Jobs Bank – a program established more than two decades ago that guarantees nearly full salary and benefits to out-of-work employees.



“Right now if a plant closes in St. Louis and a new one opens in Kansas City, the workers don’t have to move from St. Louis to Kansas City; they can opt to get a $105,000 payout or go on Jobs Bank where they can collect 95 percent of pay for the rest of their lives,” Morici said.



Now please show me where the above nonsense is factored in, to the hourly wage from the UAW site, that you report being so accurate. Jobs Bank? What a joke! The American tax payer has no business supporting this kind of extortion the UAW has on the auto industry! Our government has to pry away the grip the UAW has on the big 3. If they can't, let them sink. The biggest problem I see, is the fact that the UAW and other unions own so many politicians, that it will be tough for them to vote against the unions.

 

[Sled Puller]

If the UAW does get busted, it will be interesting to see how the media wil l spin it away from the democrats.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

However, they signed the contracts, and you don't see any of the management taking cuts in their health care or salaries.

Actually, that's not true. Management at GM has been paying partially for their health care for years - while the union workers still got it completely free. GM back 5 or 6 years ago froze the amount they'd pay out for health care for salaried employees. All increases since that time have been 100% paid by the salaried employee. Earlier this year they announced that salaried retirees once they hit 65 years of age after January 1, 2009 will have their health care TERMINATED and they will need to find their own health care coverage (medicare). I don't know exactly what's happened at Ford and Chrysler but I do know that my brother at Ford pays for a chunk of his health care as well (salaried).

 

[cksh8me]

Pointing fingers as to who is over paid management or the workers pretty much shows they both are overpaid.



The big 3 didn't ship the jobs to Mexico because they wanted to pay the workers more money and benefits.



The management drove the companies into the ground and the UAW is part of the drive train.

 

[DJW]

Union wages sets the standard for the rest to follow, its a bench mark, destroy that level and things would change rapidly, a customer wants goods and services as cheap as possible so as management with labor. Its claimed just one quarter of the labor to build an automobile is AWU labor for the big three, three quarter of the parts are from outside suppliers. The report of labor cost for the big three in the cost of labor of an automobile is 8% the latest figures. The foreign automakers were paid billions of American taxpayer's dollars to locate in the US, some call that Socialism, didn't hear any protest to that. I suppose its a Dog Eat Dog World.

 

[rkressg]

The whole costing rate issue is not being properly addressed. What someone is paid is only a small part of the actual costs associated with a position.



I work for a relative large company (larger than both Chrysler and Ford), that is in the business of manufacturing Airplanes and Trains. The labor costing rate is what kills US manufacturing. Every year, we push more and more manufacturing overseas, simply due to costing rates.



When we bid a project, we estimate $100/hour for engineering, $120/hour for project management, and $240/hour for US manufacturing. Granted, this is not what the people actually make, but these numbers have the costs for keeping the lights on, buildings heated, shipping of product, travel, the oops factor, and many others. But as you see, Mfg is the single most expensive component, and there is significantly more Mfg hours than Engineering hours on any project (maybe 65% of the project).



We are being pushed for overseas mfg, because we can assemble the same components in China for around a total cost of $40/hour. Quality is still an issue, but we are working very hard on increasing the quality of products mfg overseas. Forcing QA/QC is a culture shift, but you can see the scope shifting, because the local employees actually care about their work, and work very hard at being the best employee they can.



Ask the USW what happens when an industry collapses. The majority of UAW workers will be completely out of work. There will be no job banks, no unemployment, no benefits, nothing. The Management will take their money and run, leaving the majority of people out on a limb. That is just the way it happens. Detroit will be left with mile after mile of empty factories that sit empty for years, before being torn down to make way for a shopping mall.



Every day, I drive over what was the worlds largest, most productive, and most profitable steel mill. Today, it is a giant shopping mall, other than a few old smokestacks that have been made into an art display, no one would ever guess what it once was. The people living near there are in a near desperate position, from the utter collapse of the industry. People there never though it would happen, so the Unions continually pushed for higher and higher compensation, the Management pulled more and more out from the margin, and nothing was reinvested in the infrastructure. Then virtually overnight, the corporations pulled out, the plants closed, and the people were left with nothing.



If you want to prevent this from occurring again with the Auto Industry, drastic changes are needed to reduce the overhead costs. If nothing is done to change and reduce the overhead costs, the Manufacturing sector will continue to reduce labor force, and move out of town.



The Auto Industry does not care where the product is manufactured, they just care about making their margin. If it can be done with a higher margin elsewhere, they will move or die.

 

[Sled Puller]

If you want to prevent this from occurring again with the Auto Industry, drastic changes are needed to reduce the overhead costs. If nothing is done to change and reduce the overhead costs, the Manufacturing sector will continue to reduce labor force, and move out of town.

Its too late. The Unions wont budge, the white collars are still stealing as much as they can, and the feds have over regulated the emissions on the cars, as well as the plants, never mind the unrealistic taxes.



Its over, the question is how much do we have to pay, to keep their light son for another month?