“jt”… Think nothing of it. I know I come accoross too strong often in my support of unions in general, even when they contribute to a tough situation. When the latest income figures show such a high percent of workers…at or near the poverty level while still employed, benefits and salary packages seem out of place.
But, I remember one thing. It’s not the unions or the middle class in general that are responsible for this economic down turn…Some .CEOs of the major corps showed a 40% increase in salary, last year alone and the upper 1 percent has shown steady increase in wealth while the rest of us have suffered over these past 10 years.The wealthy are ever so happy to promote discontent among the middle class while we blame each other including unions, in hopes we take our eye off the ball…them.
Simply put, I agree that UWA built cars are at a disadvantage, in the same way my union supported father lost his job and almost his retirement when the local paper mill closed due to underpricing from mills in Canada. But, take home wages were not the main difference in paper costs in Canada, it was healthcare…plane, simple and seemingly avoided by everyone as a causal factor.
jt: you hit the nail on the head identifying productivity improvements as the salvation for the UAW. The British lost most of their industries because unions categorically wanted no part of this. It was always a “we” and “they” adversarial relationship. German and Japanese workers earning high wages and benefits have been much more cooperative with management and until recently, Germany was the world’s largest exporter with also the highest labor cost per hour.
Drifter is right in identifying the fact that companies like Toyota, Nissan and others now have US DESIGN STUDIOS and have developed cars and trucks specifically for the North American market. The Titan and Tundra are way too big and thirsty for Japan or Europe and are squarely aimed at Canada and the US, as well as some for Mexico. These are also good trucks to export to the Middle East where gas is still 35cents a gallon or so.
“When the latest income figures show such a high percent of workers…at or near the poverty level while still employed”
I’d like to see those figures.
“It’s not the unions or the middle class in general that are responsible for this economic down turn…Some .CEOs of the major corps showed a 40% increase in salary, last year alone and the upper 1 percent has shown steady increase in wealth while the rest of us have suffered over these past 10 years.”
How are the union bosses doing? They’re taking salary cuts, right? And cuts in their compensation packages, right?
Littlemouse;
When 28% of the poor and near poor 51 million are working full time, that is a much higher percent then ever was before. That’s not counting the part timers either. Remember too that 51 million includes the elderly and young who can’t work. But…
The so called over paid union head compared to the workers he represents never comes close to corporate management. Like comparing an overloaded Corolla to an over loaded 3/4 ton pick up and how it affects mileage of each. Opinions like this are from the wealthy or those middle class who have been typically brainwashed into thinking the working class are the cause of the financial strife they find themselves in. It is easy to blame those around you if you are a member of the shrinking middle class. That’s all you see. While the middle class has it’s share of sell inflicting problems, the scale of damage pales in comparison to that caused by incompetence at the highest level.
One example, lowering of the prime interest rate to a level which kills the average wage earner financially in his ability to save and accumulate long term financial security and at the same time giving the wealthy access to middle class funds they never had before. Incompetently waging wars that have created deficits in the trillions that have NOTHING to do with overpaid union boss’s wages by thousands. If you don’t get these subtle differences, blaming your brethren is all you have left.
Gotta be those union bosses ! Six figured salaries compared to millions that a CEO makes…Please, give me a break !
Just a note…I had one millionaire aquaintance who owns a chain of motels laugh at me when when I ask him how his personal wealth was negatively affected by the stock market over the previous ten years. When you have millions to invest, you have the power to negotiate security and the stock market is not always that place during these times. Secured vehicles only available to the wealthy keep people like this acquaintance insulated from the rest of us. What it does affect is the employees at the motels he owns that need to be laid off and those left with their wages remaining stagnant and benefits packages cut or eliminated. He gets it. He also gets that the people working for him like us, don’t get it…
No, Tundras are not manufactured in Japan - only in Texas.
Based purely on domestic content % and location of assembly, you might say that the Tundra is “more American”. However, that oversimplifies things, IMO… because you can buy a Silverado that is assembled in the US, with an engine and transmission built in the US. The ones made in Mexico drag the % domestic content down considerably, so you can pick a Silverado that meets or exceeds the Tundra for domestic content. Furthermore, the domestic content % ignores the white collar jobs involved in the design, engineering, and production of the vehicle. A Silverado supports far more of these jobs than the Tundra. Yes, I know Toyota says the Tundra was “designed” in the US, but in reality only a small portion of the jobs were in the US - powertrain development and base R&D was still based in Japan.
We’ll probably see a similar case when Ford starts building the Fusion in Flat Rock, MI - it will likely bring the % domestic content up considerably, but while Fusions built in Mexico get their engines from the plant there, the ones built in Michigan will likely get them from powertrain plants in Michigan - At a crude guess, I’d wager the Fusion will go to about 45-50% domestic content on average at that point, but one built in Michigan will likely be around 75-80% while one made in Mexico would likely be around 30% still. So you COULD choose to get one just as “American” as other sedans and support a lot more white collar jobs in the US in the process, but just looking at average domestic content % might make you think otherwise.
@Docnick - just remember that a DESIGN STUDIO has very, very few jobs associated with it. It is the engineering and R&D centers that bring large numbers of jobs - design studios typically employ less than 100 people. And while Toyota has a decent engineering center in Michigan, those at Chrysler, GM, or Ford are still many times larger than Toyota’s center.