The United Auto Workers union is on strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the first time in its history that it has struck all three of the nation’s unionized automakers at the same time.
Their demands are bullshit and they have yet to submit a counter offer. They are negotiating in bad faith and all they will succeed in doing is making American Automotive less competitive and more expensive.
They are asking for a 40% raise over 4 years, PLUS a 32 hour work week, and pensions, etc. Today the top hourly wage is $32 per hour, they are suggesting increasing that to $58.50 per hour with these actions (10%^4 + 25%). That would basically double the cost of manufacturing and it would reduce productivity by 20%. Unlike knowledge workers, the 4 day work week in this instance just means they produce less or they have to hire more to produce the same output.
Either way, that would put the big 3 at a huge disadvantage vs the Asian imports and most notably, Tesla.
In its annual executive compensation report that GM filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, GM reported that Barra made a total of $28,979,570 in 2022 compared with $29,136,780 million in 2021 for running the company and chairing the board of directors. For 2020, Barra took home $23.7 million in total compensation and $21.6 million in 2019
Manufacturing productivity is tightly controlled. Productivity targets are met, based on hours worked. The UAW specifically has a hand in setting productivity targets.
I don’t agree with all of the above poster’s takes (for instance, I don’t think this is a hard line the union is setting, but rather a negotiation tactic), but his points here do come from basic math and do not require a source.
I literally refer to the union head of the UAW as “maybe the best I’ve ever seen” like one post prior to this, so if you think I’m opposed to either unions or this strike, you are grossly mistaken.
No one is choosing a tesla over a Ford because of cost. Lots of people were ignoring those cars because they weren’t union, even before Musk went more visibly off the deep end. And they’re completely different products with different value propositions.
Unionism raises working standards for non-union workers as well. These gains would affect the non-US manufacturers the same way they will affect non-union US workers. That’s the point.
Suggesting that workers continue to sacrifice to keep a product “competitive” is sweatshop logic. You’ve got your priorities twisted. If your response is “that’s the way capitalism works…” Only because we let it. That’s how organized labour works.
There is no chance they get both the wages and the 4 day week. They’re arguing for both to get one.
Pretty basic negotiation tactic, and the strategic strike shows they’re trying to push negotiations forward, not draw a line in the sand.
My guess is they’ll get the money and stay at 40-hr weeks, because in the long run that’s cheaper than the additional labor required for 32 hr weeks at their current price point.
Their demands are bullshit and they have yet to submit a counter offer. They are negotiating in bad faith and all they will succeed in doing is making American Automotive less competitive and more expensive.
They are asking for a 40% raise over 4 years, PLUS a 32 hour work week, and pensions, etc. Today the top hourly wage is $32 per hour, they are suggesting increasing that to $58.50 per hour with these actions (10%^4 + 25%). That would basically double the cost of manufacturing and it would reduce productivity by 20%. Unlike knowledge workers, the 4 day work week in this instance just means they produce less or they have to hire more to produce the same output.
Either way, that would put the big 3 at a huge disadvantage vs the Asian imports and most notably, Tesla.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2023/04/28/gm-ceo-mary-barras-2022-compensation-revealed/70155472007/
Maybe they can afford to pay their workers more.
What’s your source? Your own ass or that of the Heritage Foundation? Either way, it stinks to high heaven of bootlicking.
Again with the baseless anti-worker assumptions.
His source is math. 32 is 20% less than 40, and in manufacturing, hours worked directly correlates to total output.
Yeah because overworked and underpaid workers are exactly as productive as happier and healthier ones 🙄
Manufacturing productivity is tightly controlled. Productivity targets are met, based on hours worked. The UAW specifically has a hand in setting productivity targets.
I don’t agree with all of the above poster’s takes (for instance, I don’t think this is a hard line the union is setting, but rather a negotiation tactic), but his points here do come from basic math and do not require a source.
I literally refer to the union head of the UAW as “maybe the best I’ve ever seen” like one post prior to this, so if you think I’m opposed to either unions or this strike, you are grossly mistaken.
I am pro-math, though.
Amongst your laughable bullshit:
No one is choosing a tesla over a Ford because of cost. Lots of people were ignoring those cars because they weren’t union, even before Musk went more visibly off the deep end. And they’re completely different products with different value propositions.
Unionism raises working standards for non-union workers as well. These gains would affect the non-US manufacturers the same way they will affect non-union US workers. That’s the point.
Suggesting that workers continue to sacrifice to keep a product “competitive” is sweatshop logic. You’ve got your priorities twisted. If your response is “that’s the way capitalism works…” Only because we let it. That’s how organized labour works.
There is no chance they get both the wages and the 4 day week. They’re arguing for both to get one.
Pretty basic negotiation tactic, and the strategic strike shows they’re trying to push negotiations forward, not draw a line in the sand.
My guess is they’ll get the money and stay at 40-hr weeks, because in the long run that’s cheaper than the additional labor required for 32 hr weeks at their current price point.