Saving the US Auto Industry

[lookout123]

Originally Posted by Brianna

I googled UAW average salary and found this one at the top.


According to Forbes:

Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers, 2006.

Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D. (see graph above, click to enlarge), and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

Labor cost is not the same as earned wage. The issue with the American auto companies isn't necessarily what they are paying current employees, it is the staggering weight of their legacy costs. Every retiree still has medical coverage that is second to non and a pension.

I grew up in a UAW family in a UAW town and I even worked in one of the UAW plants. My father and most of my extended family survive on what the UAW negotiated for them at contract time. Unions paved the way for employee rights we all enjoy today.

The UAW is just as guilty as GM, Ford, and Chrylser management if we really look at their current problems. The Unions pushed contracts in the '70's and '80's that they knew were not sustainable - but they sure looked good at the time. That's all fine and there is plenty of blame to pass around but now the day of reckoning is upon us they want government bailouts? BS. No thanks.

When JI Case, Case International, etc were circling the drain the company and the union went back to the drawing board. The UAW gave concessions (they gave up some benefits) in the name of keeping the company alive so they could at least keep the sustainable portion of their benefits. There was no government bailout.

If the UAW can't figure something out with the big 3 then let them go to bankruptcy. The companies won't close their doors, they'll simply restructure.

No government money for them, not a single penny IMO.