WSJ editorial on strike
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WSJ editorial on strike
From a Wall Street Journal editorial:
GM last year made $11 billion in profit and paid workers $10,750 each in profit-sharing payments. The average hourly employee earns $90,000 annually and pays a mere 3% of health costs compared to an average of 30% in private industry. No wonder union workers don’t believe Bernie Sanders’s claim that they’ll pay less under Medicare for All. They won’t.
But Detroit’s good times aren’t certain to continue. Ford’s credit rating last week was downgraded to junk amid plunging sales in China and Europe. A long industry upswing in the U.S. fueled by dealer incentives, low interest rates and rising wages has stalled. Trade uncertainty hurts too.
Auto makers have also been ordered by Beijing, Brussels and Sacramento to manufacture more electric cars that are crimping profits and sucking up capital. Hence GM announced last year that it is ending production at four
But GM says it has offered the union new investment at eight current plants, 5,400 more jobs, annual wage increases over the next four years, an $8,000 ratification bonus per worker, sweeter profit-sharing formula and no change in health contributions. Laid-off workers will be able to transfer to GM’s other plants.
UAW leaders have rejected this offer but are vague about what they want beyond a faster phase-out of a two-tier wage structure and fewer temporary workers. Their main goal seems to be to rally workers, especially newer hires with less loyalty to the union, as they try to stanch a membership cline amid the spiraling corruption investigation.
The Justice Department has charged several former UAW officials for conspiring to embezzle worker dues and training funds to spend on lavish personal expenses including private villas, designer clothes, golf clubs, spa visits and sports cars. Last week the feds indicted Region 5 Director Vance Pearson, who has advised the union negotiations with GM.
The Detriot Free Press has identified UAW President Gary Jones as “UAW Official A” in the latest complaint, and agents recently searched his home. Messrs. Jones and Pearson say they have done nothing wrong, though other union officials have been found guilty, including the union’s former negotiator with Fiat Chrysler. These are the union “stakeholders” that Elizabeth Warren wants on corporate boards.
The UAW lost 35,000 members last year amid media reports of the corruption probe even as auto employment increased by 20,000—much of which occurred at non-unionized manufacturers with pay comparable to nearby UAW plants. Michigan, Wisconsin and Kentucky have also enacted right-to-work laws that allow workers to opt out of unions.
So now UAW leaders are trying to justify the 2011 dues increase they claimed was to support a worker strike fund. Workers will still lose between 60% and 80% of their pay while on strike, though GM has time to negotiate as it sits on 11 weeks of car iventory.
GM last year made $11 billion in profit and paid workers $10,750 each in profit-sharing payments. The average hourly employee earns $90,000 annually and pays a mere 3% of health costs compared to an average of 30% in private industry. No wonder union workers don’t believe Bernie Sanders’s claim that they’ll pay less under Medicare for All. They won’t.
But Detroit’s good times aren’t certain to continue. Ford’s credit rating last week was downgraded to junk amid plunging sales in China and Europe. A long industry upswing in the U.S. fueled by dealer incentives, low interest rates and rising wages has stalled. Trade uncertainty hurts too.
Auto makers have also been ordered by Beijing, Brussels and Sacramento to manufacture more electric cars that are crimping profits and sucking up capital. Hence GM announced last year that it is ending production at four
But GM says it has offered the union new investment at eight current plants, 5,400 more jobs, annual wage increases over the next four years, an $8,000 ratification bonus per worker, sweeter profit-sharing formula and no change in health contributions. Laid-off workers will be able to transfer to GM’s other plants.
UAW leaders have rejected this offer but are vague about what they want beyond a faster phase-out of a two-tier wage structure and fewer temporary workers. Their main goal seems to be to rally workers, especially newer hires with less loyalty to the union, as they try to stanch a membership cline amid the spiraling corruption investigation.
The Justice Department has charged several former UAW officials for conspiring to embezzle worker dues and training funds to spend on lavish personal expenses including private villas, designer clothes, golf clubs, spa visits and sports cars. Last week the feds indicted Region 5 Director Vance Pearson, who has advised the union negotiations with GM.
The Detriot Free Press has identified UAW President Gary Jones as “UAW Official A” in the latest complaint, and agents recently searched his home. Messrs. Jones and Pearson say they have done nothing wrong, though other union officials have been found guilty, including the union’s former negotiator with Fiat Chrysler. These are the union “stakeholders” that Elizabeth Warren wants on corporate boards.
The UAW lost 35,000 members last year amid media reports of the corruption probe even as auto employment increased by 20,000—much of which occurred at non-unionized manufacturers with pay comparable to nearby UAW plants. Michigan, Wisconsin and Kentucky have also enacted right-to-work laws that allow workers to opt out of unions.
So now UAW leaders are trying to justify the 2011 dues increase they claimed was to support a worker strike fund. Workers will still lose between 60% and 80% of their pay while on strike, though GM has time to negotiate as it sits on 11 weeks of car iventory.
Last edited by Michael T*; Sep 18, 2019 at 12:07 PM.
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What am I missing here? The UAW refused the offer noted in the editorial above as insufficient. Is the UAW, and their members, a bit out of touch with reality? Does anyone else have this kind of benefit? I might ask if Mary Bara is playing with a full deck if she cannot reign in the cost of health care. It is clearly lopsided to UAW union members.
None the less, with the scathing accusations of embezzlement rendered on UAW leaders, where is the justice? How can union members stand for this. Apparently, their negotiated benefits are so luxurious, they don't care what the hierarchy does.
None the less, with the scathing accusations of embezzlement rendered on UAW leaders, where is the justice? How can union members stand for this. Apparently, their negotiated benefits are so luxurious, they don't care what the hierarchy does.
