A Puebla newspaper reports that the workers at the big VW factory in Puebla have asked for a 12% raise in pay., The reporter specifically mentioned VW’s problems with the cheating on the engine computer.
I tried to find out what the pay level is for these workers. I got figures as high as $8 USD per hour, though that included benefits. (In the factory where we worked for over 30 years, the company even included the cost of the parking lot as part of our compensation package. Just saying)
I also found starting pay listed as low as 150 pesos a day, for up to 12 hour days. That would be less than a dollar an hour. I assure you benefits do not run $7/hr for these guys. They do have free VW worker buses bringing them to work every day.
Another source listed maybe $30 a day actual pay for top workers. Note that is far short of $8/hr. But, it is far greater than the alleged minimum salary figures you see in newspapers. Minimum salary might be correct for a kid herding goats, but not for anyone else, not even out here in the mountains.
Pay is relative. You live in a impoverished country then $8/hr can go a long ways. Software engineers in the US compete directly against engineers in India. India’s salary is 1/3rd that of the comparable software engineer. But with that 1/3rd pay they can hire servants, drivers full time babysitter for the kids…nice house.
Wages and benefit inequalities seem like they tend to equalize over time. In the 1950’s and 60’s Japan was the go-to place for inexpensive labor, but the workers there figured it out and demanded corresponding wages to their productivity. Then came Thailand, which after the workers figured it out, the manufacturing went to China and India. Eventually – after a certain amount of pain – I expect it will come back to the USA. I think the college professors call this regression to the mean.
Wages and benefit inequalities seem like they tend to equalize over time. In the 1950's and 60's Japan was the go-to place for inexpensive labor, but the workers there figured it out and demanded corresponding wages to their productivity.
Many economists think it’ll take generations for India’s wages increase so we can actually compete with them. They are still a very very class structure society. I’ve dealt with it first hand.
A good friend of mine retired from the Air Force just a few months before I did. He married a woman from Taiwan and she convinced him that moving to Taiwan would let them live a lavish lifestyle. I talked to him a few weeks after moving there and he said he was living like a king. I let him know that my new job was working out just fine. It allowed to to live a middle class life.
In Minnesota they are revising the statutes to cover pedicabs with electric assist. You know the three wheeled bikes that can carry a couple passengers in the back while the driver pedals, also known as rickshaws. I’m sure the rates are less in Taiwan but we’re catching up fast to the culture. I hope they don’t start serving fish bones though for lunch. I’d have trouble getting used to that. Regardless of where I have gone, I’m always happy to be back home again.
Most people, are, Bing. But, people are all different and some are very happy to live somewhere else. In fact, the USA was formed with people like that. Still, I am glad you are happy where you live. That makes for a good life.