GM union strikes?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Sep 25 2007, 12:11 PM) [snapback]517482[/snapback]</div>

JHinton, may I ask if you are one of the workers who got their pay slashed from $27 to $18.50/hr? What is your role at Delphi?

 

The local paper this morning reported on the GM strike, and suggested up to 100,000 people could be out of work in Ontario and Quebec because of it. Several GM lines are built in Canada, along with a significant number of parts, including transmissions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Sep 25 2007, 10:28 PM) [snapback]517745[/snapback]</div>

I'll agree that the gap between rich and poor is growing. However, besides the very poor, I would say many of the problems of the middle class are their own doing. It's called overspending. Living within you means when out of fashion with the baby boomers and I see no return to basic financial reality anytime soon.

While wages have not been increasing very much, compensation has been. You need to look beyond your paycheck and look at everything that you company provides. The majority of American families receive medical coverage from their employer. The cost of this coverage has been increasing at what, 10 to 12% per year, but this is not all passed on the employee. So your compensation is increasing even your wages aren't.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Sep 25 2007, 10:28 PM) [snapback]517745[/snapback]</div>

This strike isn't just about offshoring. Yes, that is what the UAW is claiming is their goal, job security, but it is about much more than that. For example, has the UAW agreed to drop wages from about $30/hr to say even $20/hour? That would help keep UAW jobs in the US and still be well above the average of $16/hr of manufacturing jobs. No, they didn't do that, they are looking to keep whatever they can for the current employees at the expense of the future of GM and the UAW.

I won't argue that GM management hasn't been key in the problems that the company currently faces. The company as a whole needs to change if GM is going to survive in the US. (Note, GM is profitable and doing well in their international business and in 2006 sold 55% of there vehicles outside of the US.)

I lost respect for unions in there modern form in 1998 with the UAW shut down GM due to a strike at a plant in Flint, MI which was a couple block from where I was going to school. Why did they strike? 1) GM wanted the plant to make part Y instead of part X that was in the contract for several more years but wasn't needed anymore. 2) Workers in one section of the plant would no longer work on a quota system were they could go home early when they meet their quota for the day. Instead they would be required to work a full 8 hour shift that they were being paid for.

My opinion was reinforced when I worked for UPS for a year in college and was represented by the Teamsters. My union representative continued to get on me for admitting to making mistakes (mistakes are never the employees fault) and not strictly working to contract (doing things to make my job run smoother and the company run better but wasn't specifically in my job description). They also spend most of their time fighting for people that were just bad employees (missing work, continually screwing up, didn't follow instructions).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Sep 26 2007, 06:02 AM) [snapback]517806[/snapback]</div>

This country will not sustain its current standard of living(especially the middle class) if everything is made overseas. There are numerous industries who have been systematically targeted and destroyed by "foreign competition". In the short run this is great for investors because it maximizes short-term profits, but in the long run this country dies from the inside out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Sep 25 2007, 10:39 PM) [snapback]517749[/snapback]</div>

No, I am not one of the workers that accepted a pay cut to keep their jobs. I'm a mechanical engineer; my job title is Lead Product Engineer. I am responsible for one of our product lines. I interface with our design group, assembly plant, and the OEM as well as driving down cost by scrap reduction efforts. Technically I don't work for Delphi since I'm a contract employee. Delphi is not hiring any salaried employees while in bankruptcy. I get paid a straight hourly wage, no benefits. My particular plant is part of the Interior and Latch Group that is going to be sold off. Delphi is currently negotiating with the private equity group RENCO.

In anticipation of your next question, how much to I make and do I deserve it, I’ll answer as follows. I’m not saying but you can go on Salary.com and look up a Product Engineer IV if you want to see what the range is. (I’m below the mean for my area zip 35080)

I will say what I made at the job I just left. If you took my salary/bonuses and divided it by the number of hours I worked, I made $21/hr when I started and $24/hr 5 years later when I left. As you can see that is less than the average UAW worker. That $24/hr is after investing 4 years of my life and $120K getting a college degree plus a decade of work experience. ($40K tuition and books / $80K opportunity cost) For the last 5 years my salary has just kept pace with inflation so to make the next jump I’m going to need to go back to school and get a masters degree. (Another $20k-$30k and 2-3 years) I’m also learning a foreign language.

Do I deserve it? Yes, I bring many times my salary back to the company in cost savings. However, I understand that wages are part of the free market and I’m worth what someone will pay me and that is a supply and demand issue. When negotiating salary, if I ask for too much, I will not get the job because it will go to someone that will work for less. I’m also starting to get to the point that I need to be careful to keep my productivity up and visible so it is not tempting to replace me with a new graduate that will work for less. One thing seeing company downsizings first hand has shown me is that the most experienced and highest paid engineers are the first to go if they have started to sit back and relax.

Currently engineers are in short supply. (My previous employer has been trying for 2 years to fill a position because they are offering too little) However, even engineering positions are under pressure in the global market. India is the hot place to set up engineering centers because you can get an engineer with a PHD for less than the starting salary for a US engineer. India and China are graduating about 1 million engineers per year to our 70k.

In the global market an individual must be flexible and willing to move where the jobs are. I’ve moved 3 times in 7 years due to job issues, either transfers or moving to a new company. I suspect in the future, one should expect to be required to move globally in order to stay employed. This is an area where the US does its population a great disservice by not teaching foreign languages in school. The rest of the developed world begins foreign language in elementary school when it is easiest to learn and learns 2 to 3 languages. Language skills will only be more important for future generations.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(malorn @ Sep 25 2007, 11:04 AM) [snapback]517446[/snapback]</div>

My Prius is for sale. I now drive a Toyota RAV4 EV Electric Vehicle. Yes, it emits no carbon (wind powered) and burns no gasoline.

The redneck economy believes that spending all of their money on a giant "American" truck only to send just as much money every month to the Persian Gulf somehow makes economic sense, and is somehow good for our Economy. A smarter person drives a car that doesn't threaten America's sovereignty and security, namely a continued, expensive, endless war for oil.

malorn, you just don't get it, do you? Every time a redneck commits to a ginormous SUV as a grocery getter, it hurts this nation, it hurts this nation far more than a Prius does, including whatever mysterious "loss of jobs" or some unknown quantity of fuel it takes to move a car on a boat 6000 miles. Last I checked the fuel cost per ton by water was something like 1/10th that of semi truck, so my guess is that it takes the equivalent of 600 miles worth of driving to move a Prius 600 miles by road.

My point about redneck economics is that it doesn't work out. The economics don't work.

1. Spend everything you own on a giant truck in order so that no one will think of you as gay.
2. Spend money you don't have (on credit card) to feed the beast with gasoline.
3. Demand unreasonable wages and benefits from an employer who can't afford to pay you.
4. Act surprised when the whole thing comes crashing down and you are left with nothing but a used truck, some guns, and a beer can collection. No job, no pension, nothing.

The only people buying these trucks days are posers who can't afford them. Sure, they can make the payment, but they really, truly can't afford to drive the thing anymore. Even if things seem okay now, the owners are digging themselves a hole they can never get out of. I have seen with my own eyes a Hummer H2 delivering pizza. You might as well just stay home.

Nate