Okay, so I'm getting real tired of hearing how the Union has put the Auto Industry in the proverbial crapper. It may be true that union workers are getting paid a little bit more than their non-union counter parts, but I seriously doubt that this has been the demise of the industry.
Has anybody taken a look at what the big shots of the auto companies are making? According to this article CEO compensation is up from 25 times the average laborer's salary in 1970 to 500 times the average laborer's salary in 2004! My guess would be that has close to doubled that for 2008.
This USA Today website shows that the CEO of General Motors had a total compensation package worth nearly $16 million for 2007. Ford was nearly $23 million. Wal Mart's CEO (that's the company with a small full-time to part-time worker ratio...you don't have to provide benefits to part-timers) made over $29 million for '07.
I think maybe we need to shift the focus of salary to somewhere a little bit further up the line. If there is money to be found to save the industry, how about a little top-down trimming rather than the other way around?
For all of the non-union workers out there--laborers and management alike, you can thank the labor movement for your 40 hour work week, overtime compensation, employer paid (or partially paid) health benefits, paid holidays, paid vacation time, workman's compensation (if injured on the job), retirement plans, safe working environments, freedom from harassment and a host of other benefits that are taken for granted in today's work world. Don't be crapping all over the unions unless you're willing to give up ALL of your many benefits that they've won for all working men and women (that means protection against child labor, too).
John
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) AFL-CIO
former District 9 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
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5 comments:
There you go again John! You liberal, union loving guy! You probably voted for Obama too, didn't you!
P.S.--Good rant
The American auto industry has failed because of poor design. Their cars break and break again. And I'm sure the engineers were directed to 'cheap down' the designs by the greedy bastards at the top.
Thatcher killed our Unions, so sad.
I was a Trade Union Rep for years.
Good post!
John John John. . . . . I think you have hit the nail on the head. . . . I see this crap as a break the union deal. . . . I can't tell you how many times I have heard that the auto industry problems are that their non-unionized counterparts make a lot less in the southern states. . . I am in the south. . . . there are no unions. . . . I am almost ready to post about my situation at work which would have never happen if I had belonged to a union.
You are right. . . . you keep telling it like it is. . . . don't blame the unions for all the idiotic things the auto industry has done. . . .
Ciao
This is exactly how I feel about celebrities and pro athletes. I mean, we're all good at our crafts. Why aren't we getting paid that much for it? Bah!
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