Appearing on WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday, GOP Mark Kirk repeated his suggestion -- advanced by the conservative and mainstream media at the national level -- that the average General Motors worker makes $70-plus per hour. Watch it:
In ...
Appearing on WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday, GOP Mark Kirk repeated his suggestion -- advanced by the conservative and mainstream media at the national level -- that the average General Motors worker makes $70-plus per hour. Watch it:
In citing these figures, Kirk's underlying premise seems to be that GM's demise can be attributed to the greediness of its workers and the union that represents them. Indeed, on local radio last week, he said this could end up being a "bailout of the United Auto Workers, not General Motors." But the idea that individual workers at GM are paid substantially more than those at Toyota is bogus. The $70 figure includes not only an individual worker's wage and benefits, but also the legacy costs being paid out to retired workers. Dean Baker recently estimated that the actual, individual labor cost at GM is more like $41:
The New York Times told readers that GM's autoworkers are paid $70 an hour (including health care and pension). This is not true. The base pay is about $28 an hour. If health care cost per worker average $12,000 per year, that adds in another $6 an hour. If the pension payment takes up 25 percent of base pay (an extremely high pension), that gets you another $7 an hour, bringing the total to $41 an hour. That's decent pay, but still a long way from $70 an hour.
How does the NYT get from $41 to $70? Well the trick is to add in GM's legacy costs, the pension and health care costs for retired workers. These legacy costs are a serious expense for GM, but this is not money being paid to current workers. The person on the line in 2008 is not benefiting from these legacy costs.
If Kirk believes that the pension and health care secured for retired autoworkers by the UAW is unjust or greedy, he should just say so. My sense is that many working Americans disagree. But his suggestion that the workers themselves are taking home more than their fair share is ridiculous, particularly when we haven't heard a peep about the six-(or seven)-figure salaries being taken home by bankers at AIG or Citibank.
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It`s obvious that the highest corporations in the auto industry bring a solid contribution to the decisions that draw the path of this economical field. It`s obvious employees fight for a raise in their incomes, for doing mechanical risky work, targeted number of headlights or many other car parts per day, week, month. A fair decision should be made, directly proportional to the value of their work. Global auto industry is an economical force, after all. On behalf of their workers.
I can`t help at estimating the profits producer companies make on behalf of a single sold car. I agree that workers should be correctly paid, taking into notice this aspect. On the other hand, it`s hard for us, car owners, too. Luckily, you find here and there affordable car insurance quotes to cover your unexpected costs. A salary should cover all decent costs of person.
Since we are talking about a company which has enormous profits each year, I think that General Motors can afford to pay it's workers with this kind of money. And, as quality work should be payed well, I see no reason for those people not to get a lot of money. The products they create are top quality, and this can be seen when you have a 5 yrs old car which runs just as smoothly as it did in the first day. My company received some cars through a automobile donation company, and all the cars produced by GM were in perfectly working condition, although some of them were actually up to 10 yrs old. This shows quality! So, I don't think we should look so much in other people's backyard, and focus on the real economical and social problems of the country!
I don't know if that is true, but if it were, I don't really see the problem! It's very hard work and it should be payed accordingly! I work with cars for many years at the Ford dealerships Des Moines and let me tell you that with every year that goes on, the cars are more and more complex. This tells me that those people need to adapt very fast and learn to do things better and faster every year! If that doesn't deserve that pay, I don't know what does!
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