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re: Volkswagen employees vote down UAW unionization bid in Chattanooga
Posted on 2/15/14 at 5:15 pm to JustGetItRight
Posted on 2/15/14 at 5:15 pm to JustGetItRight
quote:
And not surprisingly, the cost of living is significantly higher and local purchasing power is lower in Germany than in the US.
Rent and groceries are both lower in Germany.
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Posted on 2/15/14 at 7:35 pm to UMTigerRebel
quote:
Have you checked out the new Taurus, 300, or Impala? I'd take any of those over a Camry now. That's just sedans though. Although I'll also take our F250 over any truck Toyota makes all day every day.
Why don't you do me a favor and get on your google machine and look to see where these cars are made.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 7:42 pm to Person of interest
quote:
compensation for auto work in the United States averaged $33.77 per hour
I've toured the GM plant in Arlington where they make Tahoes, Suburbans, Yukons, and Escalades. Those things are so automated that I'm fairly certain that you could train a chimp to do what little human work is left over. $33/hr. doesn't seem unreasonable.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 7:42 pm to Person of interest
quote:
In 2010, over 5.5 million cars were produced in Germany, twice the 2.7 million built in the United States. Average compensation (a figure including wages and employer-paid benefits) for autoworkers in Germany was 48.97 Euros per hour ($67.14 US), while compensation for auto work in the United States averaged $33.77 per hour, or about half as much as in Germany, all according to 2007 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For Germany-based auto producers, the U.S. is a low-wage country.
So the average auto worker in Germany makes $140k per year. Yes, that would be quite the sustainable wage for semi-skilled labor in the United States. Good luck with that.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 8:43 pm to The Spleen
quote:
I'm not crazy about the UAW, but rest assured if I was an hourly worker in an auto factory I'd want to be unionized.
Speaking as someone who married the daughter of a militant 40-year UAW worker, I can assure you there is no benefit, except for using union meetings as an excuse to get shitfaced at the union hall.
Unions reward seniority, rather than skill or merit. The leadership is corrupt, and lacks the bargaining power they promise you. They may negotiate a higher wage, but any increase is more than lost during the aggregated years you spend on strike while your family is forced to eat ketchup and white bread as meals.
And, at least in my father-in-law's case, the union was thrilled that they negotiated a pension that was 100% funded by the company without any contribution by the employer. What they didn't proudly announce was that if the employee dies, there is no benefit for the spouse or other dependents. The pension simply disappears. Care to explain to me how this is better than a 401k?
American labor unions deserve to die.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 9:03 pm to East Coast Band
Won't buy a car from a union shop again. No incentive to make them reliable.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 10:01 pm to The Spleen
So naive
Posted on 2/15/14 at 11:06 pm to The Spleen
quote:
Somewhat agree, and disagree. It's no coincidence that the middle class has been shrinking since Reagan began his assault on unions in the early 80's. Now, I do admit the unions helped create an environment where that assault could be justified. I still think there's a need for them, but I agree maybe not in the form they had become 30 years ago.
Everybody equates "union" with UAW. I like the concept, not so much the execution.
Without a union, the employer has all the power. And look at how that has worked out with the demise of the middle class that follows the declined of union participation.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 11:43 pm to Grievous Angel
quote:
Without a union, the employer has all the power. And look at how that has worked out with the demise of the middle class that follows the declined of union participation.
Union propaganda.
The middle class is alive and well, just redefined. Unions are now for people who lack bargaining power due to a lack of skill and individual bargaining power.
They still serve a purpose in some industry, like construction trades but have no business in the public sector. Unions are bringing about their own demise and are basically a big business. They spend more money lobbying than most industry.
European and Asian unions dont have an adversarial relationship with management like American unions. Maybe that's why they are still relevant.
This post was edited on 2/15/14 at 11:46 pm
Posted on 2/16/14 at 8:36 am to 3nOut
quote:
You know how to stop outsourcing? Stop taxing companies so much and raising a minimum wage.
Or stop extending "free trade" to foreign countries when free trade is never extended in return.
BTW, how are American workers supposed to compete with outsourced labor making a fraction of the minimum wage?
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