A post by Maynard
Will the United Auto Workers strike in September when their contracts expire? It’s a possibility. There’s tension in the air, with the Big Three automakers trying to squeeze down costs so they won’t go broke, and the unions inclined to resist concessions. This article notes:
The automakers insist they need major cost reductions, particularly in health care, to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States and return to profitability.
The three Detroit-based automakers, including Chrysler, which is being spun off by German parent DaimlerChrysler, lost more than $15 billion combined last year.
Some of the numbers are illuminating. First, there’s the actual cost of union labor:
GM and Ford hourly labor costs — $73.26 and $70.51, respectively — are about $30 higher than those of their Japanese rivals operating US plants, according to data compiled by the automakers.
Wow, a $30 an hour wage gap puts you at a severe disadvantage, doesn’t it? No wonder these guys are going broke! Hey, where do I get one of those $73 an hour jobs?
Health care and pensions are also a big issue, with the old-line companies committed to fork over billions to pay off old commitments. Certainly it’s understandable that the retired workers expect to be paid as they were promised; however how many buyers are willing to pay an extra $1500 for their car in order to subsidize retired union workers?
The health-care issue looms especially large for GM, which last year spent $4.8 billion on insurance and medical care for its workers and retirees.
“Health care is the largest single competitive issue we face as a company,” Tremblay, GM’s vice-president of labor relations for North America, told reporters at a press conference. “I think it’s impossible to ignore the issue.”
She said about $3 billion of GM’s annual health-care bill goes to cover the cost of insuring retirees and their dependents.
In the near future, you’re going to see this private fiscal crisis ooze into the political arena in the form of a clamor for socialized medicine. With GM and Ford and Chrysler being pushed into bankruptcy, the unions and management will both agree that if only the government will take over health care, then the carmakers and the unions will be saved. Hillarycare will be touted as the cure for ailing businesses and industry. And they’ll have a point: Instead of having individual companies go broke, we can have the entire country go broke. As Hillary says, we’re all in this together.
By the way, as a personal matter, I strongly prefer to support domestic companies in my purchases. The last time I shopped for a car (in 1994), I bought a Saturn. Detroit had finally given me what I wanted: A competitive, reliable compact car. And if I buy another car in the future, I’ll look for an American offering. But you can see why our self-inflicted wounds have given foreigners an edge.
Unfortunately Tammy, that’s why we ended up getting a Honda Accord when we were FINALLY ready to buy our first “showroom-new” car. We test drove a lot of cars, but kept coming back to the Honda. It was a good-looking car, it had an impeccable safety rating and it was affordable. It was built in America (Ohio, to be exact).
Oh yeah – and it came with XM.
I’m not so sure an “American car” exists anymore. Most auto parts are manufactured in China or elsewhere and shipped back here. Auto companies are in fact owned by stockholders who can live anywhere in the world. Japanese auto plants in the U.S. do the same thing as American auto plants do, they import auto parts and have Americans assemble the cars. Except their workers are not unionized. To buy an American car really means supporting unions.
Sung to the tune of, “Look for the union label”:
“Look for the union label
when you are buying that coat, dress or blouse.
Remember somewhere our union’s sewing,
our wages going to feed the kids, and run the
house.
We work hard, but who’s complaining?
Thanks to the I.L.G. we’re paying our way!
So always look for the union label,
it says we’re able to make it in the U.S.A.!”
Unions have only accelerated the move to outsourcing. And isn’t “We work hard, but who’s complaining?” rich?!
Are any textiles manufactured in the U.S. anymore?
As many clamor for socialized healthcare, remember two things: Tax paid healthcare is actually healthcare rationing, and it is also far from free. If you look at Canada’s plan and the various Euro-zone plans that are often touted, you will see that you have long waiting lists and rules that keep you from being treated if you are too old, too young, in an advanced stage of a deadly disease, and the list goes on. For example in England, if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, you don’t decide on an operation. You only qualify for 6-month check-ups, until the cancer gets to a point where an operation is “warranted”. If it begins to spread after the last check and before the next, well, sorry about that. My brother -in-law is a surgeon, and says that there are may Europeans and Canadians that come here to get healthcare they do not yet qualify to receive in their home countries. Of course they pay cash. You can bet that Hillary or any of the elite for that matter will never wait in line with we the rif-raf. I’m not sure what the answer is to the rising costs and uninsured masses, but protection from lawsuits with “loser pays” reduces litigation to serious matters, and some level of required coverage to keep people with headaches out of the emergency rooms may be a start.
Believe me, Mr. Fixit, I am well aware of how good our medical system is here. I recently had a case of appendicitis, I was diagnosed, wheeled into surgery and released for recuperation in a little over 24 hours. My appendix, thankfully, did not rupture. Had I been forced to wait for weeks or months like citizens in places with socialized medicine, my appendix likely would have ruptured, gone septic, and I would not be here today.
Given the fact that for some strange reason appendicitis tends to run in families, I honestly believe that for me to support socialized medicine is tantamount to condemning any children I may have in the future to death. It also makes me furious that the leadership of my union seems to think that socialized medicine is a good idea.
When your company is hurting, demand increases in everything. Drive up the cost of the company’s products driving buyers elsewhere. When the company is in financial danger, demand even more, even to the point of bankrupting and closing the company. Everybody loses. Blame the company management and the government. It’s their fault you and countless others have no jobs. Nothing. After all, it’s the American (Union) Way. Gad.
Universal health care? No. Universal INDIVIDUAL health RESPONSIBILITY. No one wants that. Not my fault either. Truth is, probably 90% of what gets in our bodies, WE put in OUR mouths. Simple computer logic. Garbage in garbage out. We creat e our own health. Good or bad. Give up the garbage convenience foods and start eating healthy, you won’t need a doctor but rarely. But, golly, we can’t change our habits. Gotta have the Big Mac ‘n fries, biskits ‘n gravy. Again, gad. Will we EVER learn? It’s called “reaping what we have sown”. Jeezlouise.
I bought two Ford trucks. One was made in Canada, the other in Japan.