I'm gonna go ahead and start this one off with a little piece I like to call "Fuck you greedy American car companies, and although I'm sure it's gonna cause another downturn in our economy, I'd like to see you private-jet flyin', 85-90% pension payin', $70-an-hour (seriously, that's their average hourly rate, mostly because of the some-odd 350,000 people on said pension; compared to just $27/hr avg at Kia plants in the south) payin', gas-guzzling creatin', money-hungry pieces of shit buried by Christmas."
Actually, that pretty much sums it up. But since I have a penchant for overkill, I shall elaborate. What better forum to do so?
I fully realize that if things go the way I've outlined in my opening statement, we can expect more people laid off and subsequently applying/receiving unemployment. However, I have expressed my feelings about possible buyout plans. Where the fuck are the Germans when you need them? Hell, even the Belgians! They bought Anheuser-Busch, for Chrissake (and, yes, I've heard that the same company makes -yum- Stella Artois, though I haven't researched this yet). I'm sure they can do a better job of making Chevrolets than we've proven we can, and if not, fuck it, it's a Chevrolet - if you're stupid enough to want to buy a Chevy, chances are you can't afford one since you've already lost your job and are desperately trying to knock up your sister in hopes of making your welfare check just a little bit fatter. Hell, what readers am I going to offend because of that comment?
As I am wont to do, I was listening to KOMO 1000 on my way home from work earlier, spinning through the slush and openly ridiculing the three-car pileup on the onramp from SB I-5 to Hwy 16, I was listening to the ongoing saga of the 'Big Three' and their plight. Let's give a quick recap for those of you who haven't been paying attention. I'll make it simple:
-Representatives of the 'Big Three' (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) flew on INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE JETS to meet with the guv'ment about handouts, thinking that since Congress passed the multibillion-dollar bailout package for banks (read: financial institutions that handle your money semi-responsibly, not automakers out to make the cheapest car yet charge you a fucking arm and a leg), they might save these greedy assholes. Wrong.
-Not only did Congress publicly humiliate them by pointing out (and I'm paraphrasing) that they flew in on private jets to hold out their tin cups, the bailout package that the guv'ment actually put together FOR the aforementioned 'Big Three' was turned down by......the 'Big Three' because they'd have to take pay cuts. Hmmm...............
Lose your job.........take a pay cut? Which option sounds better (and probably sounded better to the employees who will cannibalize these corporate mucky-mucks)?
I'm in favor of what I believe was stated as 'Option Two' by the Bush administration, who is trying to help them out. If I remember correctly, it involved a short-term loan or two, and included the most important part - Forced. Restructuring.
I'll say that again. Forced. Restructuring. Bingo-bango, there's your ticket. The days of socially-accepted (yet grumbled about) golden parachutes are gone, boys. 'Shamefully caught in your failures." Time to fall on those broken knees. Kick those motherfuckers to the curb, and let's appoint....oh, I don't know, someone who realizes the shit we're in and can appreciate the fact that the higher-ups should not be making XXX% (even XXXX%) of the wage that his average employee makes! The only way for us to get out of this mess is for people to realize that greed is what got us here, practicality and a little melding of the social classes (and pay scales) is what will get us out. Please, people, I don't care who you voted for. Let's work together, cause for God's sake (for all our sakes), it's not only on president-elect Obama and the government to right the ship. We all have to push too, from the king of the shit heap to the lowliest dung beetle. Concessions. Pay cuts. What harm do these do when the price of gas has fallen to its lowest point in almost ten years, and groceries are slowly following suit? Cost of living, especially for those of us dependent on fossil fuels, has decreased exponentially. Case in point: I drive an '01 Saturn that has a 10.something-gallon tank. Three, four months ago it cost me the better part of $45 to fill it. Tonight I got 7.6 gallons for $13.36. Gas costs almost $3 A GALLON less than it did just a season ago! Working at a grocery store, I've watched the price of milk, bread, and eggs drop, as well as seeing sales the likes of which twenty-something consumers have never seen. My wife's jaw is bruised from the many times in recent weeks that it's hit the floor after I've come home with some of the deals I get, not as an employee, but simply as a customer. Seriously people, time to be a little more modest. Do what's good for the people. It's gonna happen anyway, just be a catalyst instead of a speedbump.
Or you could just get ran over.
Later.
1 comments:
Two things.
One you need to differentiate between the auto workers, and the auto executives. Union Auto Workers make an average hourly wage of 29 dollars, compared to the average hourly rate of 26 dollars for the non union, US based, foreign auto workers (such as the Kia workers you cited). Really not that different.
Benefits are costing auto manufactuers 12 per union employee, and 11 dollars per non union employee. Again, not much difference.
The difference comes in so called "legacy costs": pension and healthcare benefits for retirees. Those WERE (the key word being "were") costing the Auto Manufacturers and average of 16 dollars per union employee, and just 3 dollars per non union employee.
Part of that disparity is due to the fact that the US car manufacturers have been operating in the US for MUCH longer. They have literally hundreds of thousands of retirees, while the reletively new "transplants" don't have anywere near that. The domestic car makers retirees are older on average, and older people have more health problems.
But, the important thing here is that the UAW has already addressed this. The UAW agreed to set up a trust fund that it would oversee for health care costs of retirees. That shifts the burden to the union, and not the auto maker. That step alone dropped legacy costs down to about 3 dollars per worker. Exactly the same as the non union workers.
And I haven't even mentioned the fact union labor only accounts for ten percent of each vehicles pricetag.
There are lots of people to blame. I don't think the auto workers are among them.
My personal opinions on the matter? As things stand right now the system is rigged against US auto manufacturers. They are competing against foreign auto makers that don't have to shoulder ANY health care or pension costs for the most part. Most of the foreign makers operate in countries with Government funded healthcare. And until that changes the playing field will always be tilted toward the foreign manufacturers.
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