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the environmentists started 30 yrs ago on path to destroy our manufacturing base with rules and regulations..A dream deal for the lawyers..Congress, with the elite left and tons of money from no drill, global-warming kooks have virtually shut the country down
The UAW has shot themselves in the foot with who they back in elections. It is the same party that has done everything in its power to destroy our manufacturing base with every lame regulation known to man. It is the Democrat Weirdos led by Moonbeam in CA that are trying to sue GM and the rest of the Domestics over CO2 emissions. CA will never recover from the mess they have caused. I doubt the only UAW plant in CA ever re-opens its doors.
The best and brightest from all over the World have flocked to the USA. It is one of the few places you can expect to make a good living without being taxed to death. Well you used to be able to.
Don't you mean North to their plush resort :shades:
The UAW workers need to go to school and get a real job. As Iluv has tried to point out the health care industry is the place to be. 116,000 unfilled positions for Nurses is not an insignificant number. I know in CA they name their own hours and knock down $100k+ per year.
U.S. healthcare system pinched by nursing shortage Sun Mar 8, 2009 8:10am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. healthcare system is pinched by a persistent nursing shortage that threatens the quality of patient care even as tens of thousands of people are turned away from nursing schools, according to experts.
The shortage has drawn the attention of President Barack Obama. During a White House meeting on Thursday to promote his promised healthcare system overhaul, Obama expressed alarm over the notion that the United States might have to import trained foreign nurses because so many U.S. nursing jobs are unfilled.
Democratic U.S. Representative Lois Capps, a former school nurse, said meaningful healthcare overhaul cannot occur without fixing the nursing shortage. "Nurses deliver healthcare," Capps said in a telephone interview.
An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said.
So in spite of the negatives some UAW supporters would have US believe there are jobs to be had if a person is willing to get some education. Maybe Obama should have included money to train nurses in that worthless stimulus bill. Instead of $millions trying to save some frog swamp in Pelosi's district.
My mom was an RN. Lots of long hours for not enough pay. Sort of like teachers. Not that I think of it, my mother-in-law was an RN too, and she worked out in Cali. She changed careers.
Here you go:
"Political pressure is mounting against an open-ended bailout of GM and Chrysler, with strong support in many quarters for the companies to reorganize through bankruptcy. But with the nation's unemployment rate now over 8%, President Obama and his team are wary of undermining the UAW and sending another economic shockwave through the heart of the country's industrial belt."
Of course, those Danes didn't leave home simply to exploit peasant labor in a market with an absolute void of social, economic, and environmental responsibility, as our beloved corporate masters are doing.
declare bankruptcy, then all we are doing is giving them money to continue to pay for the bloated UAW costs, but the gov't can make it look like they are supporting the COMPANY, not the union...
However, as GM still lays off more and more workers, the foreclosures will continue to rise and we are playing a shell game, trying to fool everybody...
At least in Chapter 11, everything should be documented, they will still shed the legacy costs, but they can also void any contract (think UAW) and start over just like any other company that went thru bankruptcy (think Kmart, Delta, Continental, etc)...
Either way, the foreclosures will increase for those whose jobs are lost, but they will be lost either way it is done...but under an 11, they can hire back only what they really need, and if anyone who has worked the japanese system, they can do it with only 1/3 the workers they have NOW, simply by voiding union work rules, which is what got them into this in the first place...
If they had been run like a Japanese company with only 1/3 the workers for the same production (think: union featherbedding) they would only have 1/3 the payroll and only 1/3 the legacy costs...but, since they allowed the payrolls to swell over the last 30 years, they have legacy costs that they simply cannot pay...
Plus, future workers should have 401K so that they fund their retirement, not the company...let GM match out of any future profits they have, and I absolutely believe that if they restructure to a better business model like Honda, they WILL be profitable...
Once again, people see GM as a creator of jobs...it is not and never should have been...it's primary business is the creator of profit...out of profit may comes jobs...never the other way around...union people think that GM was established solely as a place for the UAW to suck dry...and, the way it was done, they were right...now, it is time to kill the UAW and close that stupid chapter in auto manufacturing, and move onto the better model...
That is what will make buying American cars worthwhile again, when the product is better because the employee will be better...no union, no welfare attitude...it is amazing the quality of work you get from someone who can be fired tomorrow for poor workmanship...in the UAW, poor workmanship is applauded, and they cannot get rid of you for at least 2 years, while you continue to make junk... I posted this in the American Cars topic, while somewhat relevant, it is probably better here...forgive the repetition for those who read both topics...
Just that toyota next round of plants are going to be built in canada because the work force in the southern United states is to dumm. They will not build in the the Northern United states bucause of the unions. The providences they are going to build in have little our no cuaw in it
>who they back in elections. It is the same party .... CA will never recover from the mess they have caused. I doubt the only UAW plant in CA ever re-opens its doors.
But Biden said they were going to Dance together. Is this some old idea he plagerized from someone else when he talked to UAW in Miami. Odd the transparent presidency wouldn't allow TV cameras in... isn't it.
I'm not sure I want Obiden supporting the UAW with my money. They need to do things to support the US automakers after all they've allowed to be done to alllow an unveven playing field through the decades.
Obiden is caught in a quandary. They hate corporate America and all it stands for yet they are beholden to the Unions for getting them elected. They know without GM and the other automakers they will lose face after all the campaign rhetoric about saving US jobs. That and your state Ohio is pivotal for getting elected. The recession is not a big deal to the Congress and Administration as long as they can make it look like they are doing something before November 2010. If not it will be a repeat of 1994 when the Democrats lost big time to Newt and the Republicans. I actually feel sorry for the rank and file UAW members and retirees. They have been led down the garden path by their leaders. The fat cat cigar chompers that win no matter what happens. Even if the UAW were to go into bankruptcy I would bet the leaders have their pensions well funded along with life long health care. Mean while in this political chess game the working class of this country are being destroyed and pushed into the welfare class where they will be easier to control by the centralized Government.
Well I will put it to you this way gagrice, and that is 60% of our business is "GMS" which are employees and their family's thus our mechanics and dealership would not exist if it weren't for UAW employees. Most Mechanics work on commission. They have a right to UAW, representation and if they feel they aren't getting a fair shake well they can either quit and find another job or make a phone call to the Teamsters or UAW, to organize their workplace. Some mechanics make well over $30 an/hr. gagrice at some dealerships and most of your UAW-GM/Delphi, workers won't be making the big money like they once did. Hell the Delphi, production workers are making $14-15 an/hr. and don't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of!!! How many new cars is someone making $14 an/hr. going to buy??? That is considered a good job here in Michigan, despite the fact that you are still considered broke!!!
Well tomorrow is week #2 for me thus I hope I sell 5+ cars next week because I could really use the money!!!
I guess they could go snowmobiling at Black Lake!!!! I think we are sick and tired of the snow and this change in weather has flared up my sinuses!!! :mad:
Thanks!!! I hope it gets better!!! I had a half dozen people at my desk last week ready to buy but despite giving them GM supplier pricing and rebates well these people don't think they should have to pay taxes thus my frusteration buttons were being pushed too the limit!!!
"You Too High!!!" ....It is what it is!!!! The only price that is better is true "GMS" (employee) thus last week was rough on me!!! I missed my brothers last high school basketball because I had 3 scheduled appointments. When all three didn't show up I had to walk outside and cool off. People are so disrespectful!!! :sick:
They have a right to UAW, representation and if they feel they aren't getting a fair shake well they can either quit and find another job or make a phone call to the Teamsters or UAW, to organize their workplace. Some mechanics make well over $30 an/hr. gagrice at some dealerships and most of your UAW-GM/Delphi, workers won't be making the big money like they once did. Hell the Delphi, production workers are making $14-15 an/hr.
You are deflecting again. It is not the new hire crap contract we are referring to. It is the older workers that are selling out the new hires to keep their high wages and benefits. How many dealerships do you suppose are UAW represented? I think the reality of most unskilled workers wages and working conditions are finally sinking in. The hand full of UAW workers making the big bucks are not helping out the working class in America at all. If you owned a parts house and faced with a UAW contract and then looked at what GM or Ford was willing to pay for the parts. A smart investor would not even consider staying in business in that environment.
I will repeat. There are MILLIONS of people right today in the USA that would jump at a job paying $15 per hour. Your utopia of $30 per hour unskilled workers is over. It cannot be sustained in this global economy we live in. And every stimulus bill makes that $15 per hour worth less at the store.
Hope you sell a bunch of cars. A good salesman is not tethered to some worthless Union contract. The more you sell the more you make. It is the ultimate capitalist job.
Just that toyota next round of plants are going to be built in canada because the work force in the southern United states is to dumm. They will not build in the the Northern United states bucause of the unions. The providences they are going to build in have little our no cuaw in it
LOL, good post, what part of the south are you in?
They need to do things to support the US automakers after all they've allowed to be done to alllow an unveven playing field through the decades.
The Feds have dropped the ball in many areas of worker protection in the USA. This report out this morning is even more disturbing.
immigrants in the United States illegally could take 300,000 construction jobs, or 15% of the 2 million jobs that new taxpayer-financed projects are predicted to create.
They fault Congress for failing to require that employers certify legal immigration status of workers before hiring by using a Department of Homeland Security program called E-Verify. The program allows employers to check the validity of Social Security numbers provided by new hires. It is available to employers on a voluntary basis.
"They could have deterred this, but they chose not to," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies.
He said a federal requirement that employers use E-Verify would have reduced, if not eliminated, the hiring of immigrants in this country illegally.
An advocacy group for immigrants, illegal and legal, did not disagree with the 300,000 estimate. Camarota says the estimate is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and other independent findings that 15% of all construction workers in the USA are either illegal immigrants or lack the status of legal immigrant authorized to work.
So where is the AFL-CIO & UAW protecting the middle class workers with their big stroke in Washington? Auto workers are just late to the party. Construction workers used to make the big bucks also. They are being replaced by illegal immigrants living in canyons and eating at homeless shelters. Not just in CA. Minnesota has a large illegal population that is bleeding the state. How many other states are impacted, with an estimated 30 million illegal immigrants living here? These are hard working people. Their crime is being here without going through the process. I think saving UAW jobs is a minor problem compared to saving jobs for CITIZENs in every part of the country.
When the economy in Alaska went in the toilet, the Unions had NO problem cutting wages by 25% to keep the jobs in the Union ranks. I remember cuts in the Teamsters, Culinary, IBEW and Operating Engineers. If the UAW leaders had used their heads when they watched GM bleeding 5 years ago they could have avoided this catastrophe.
Pay cuts are happening today in some industries. Hewlett Packard (HP) recently announced pay cuts of from 2.5% to 20%, depending on the job position. AMD and Seagate also announced pay cuts. Intel cut pay way back when (1980's) when it was still competing with Motorola and other microprocessor makers.
You're either clueless or being sarcastic. Fundamentals? What fundamentals? Do you mean housing prices? That's exactly what is different about this recession, soon to be called a depression. The fundamentals are NOT there. When was the last time in history housing prices have fallen so much?
Everyone who has lost upwards of $100K on their house as well as $100K or more on their 401K retirement plan, raise your hand. My only saving grace is that I'm 50 and have some time to make it back. But there's no doubt I will be working at least until I am 65, no early retirement for me, and I work for a company with one of the few remaining core pension plans.
It was sarcasm :P ...paraphrasing a McCain statement that did a lot to cost him the election. And unions had nothing to do with it, although some don't see it that way.
3 years ago my friends were nagging me to buy a place...I thought the market was overheated and I opted out...and I am pleased I did, places are worth less now than they were then.
I'm 31. My generation won't be retiring, even those who work for the public sector are going to face a brave new world.
I'm 31. My generation won't be retiring, even those who work for the public sector are going to face a brave new world
I've got a cousin who works for a major city in the south, in his mid-50s, retiring next week with a full pension, but he does have to buy his medical insurance.
If I've told this story before, I apologize. But, it bears repeating on the topic of public sector pensions and their sustainability (or lack there of).
Friend of mine retired 3-5 years ago from a federal agency. He had been there 42 years. His retirement pay was 80 % of his final average compensation. With yearly increases to that pension, he's now bringing in more than when he was working. If he lives to 80, he'll be bringing home twice what he was making when he stopped work.
You've picked a couple of tough occupations, Rock!
Shouldn't have to pay taxes? I guess they voted McCain...
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
in the days of yore, old and retired people would move to the forest and live the life of a saint, leaving the business and daily life grinds for their grown adult children. They were smarter back then I guess.
"The United Auto Workers Union says its members working for Ford Motor Co. have approved contract changes that include freezing wages and cutting other benefits in a move to aimed at helping the automaker remain competitive.
The approved agreement also ends the jobs bank program and lets Ford make payments in stock to a union-run trust for retiree health care.
The union says 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades workers voted for the agreement."
I think I read that Saturn wants out of GM and go it alone. The Astra is quiet a HB and for the price you are getting something no longer made by anyone but, Hyundai. A two door hatchback. The Astra goes one better it comes with a 1.8 liter rather than Hyundai's 1.6l, plus heated seats standard. The four door Astra(Opel) comes with a moonroof,and heated seats. Now, this might not mean anything to you but, it' s good on gas and has a comfortable ride. What took it so long to get here? Ford is only going to let 100 Americans test drive the Fiesta. What's wrong with this picture? :shades:
You are deflecting again. It is not the new hire crap contract we are referring to. It is the older workers that are selling out the new hires to keep their high wages and benefits.
The new workers new before they took the job that they were going to be working under these conditions. It wasn't a suprise and they are finding out now that just it takes more than a 3rd grade educated dummy do some of these jobs. They were lucky to even be hired as they were all "temporary" hires but the UAW, faught for full-time status thus they weren't selling out the new hires. People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
How many dealerships do you suppose are UAW represented?
Probably not many!!! I know at a busy dealership a good mechanic can make a really good living. You can have a criminal record a mile long but if you can turn a wrench well the world is yours.
I think the reality of most unskilled workers wages and working conditions are finally sinking in. The hand full of UAW workers making the big bucks are not helping out the working class in America at all
That brave new world you love is killing my bottom line. Every person that I've met is scared to death to buy anything. It's a objection that affects each individual differently. When the UAW, disappears and your serf n' elite society takes a hold gagrice, will your dream world be all that you thought???
If you owned a parts house and faced with a UAW contract and then looked at what GM or Ford was willing to pay for the parts. A smart investor would not even consider staying in business in that environment.
$0.08 to make a fuel injector was too expensive??? :confuse: GM, paid $12 for a Multec 2 injector. How much would you pay for that injector at the dealership???
The Astra is quiet a HB and for the price you are getting something no longer made by anyone but, Hyundai. A two door hatchback. The Astra goes one better it comes with a 1.8 liter rather than Hyundai's 1.6l, plus heated seats standard. The four door Astra(Opel) comes with a moonroof,and heated seats.
And how many of those have they sold? I've seen about two on the road TOTAL. :confuse:
"How many new cars is someone making $14 an/hr. going to buy"...
And part of the reason that a simple Chevrolet stickers at $40K is because of overpaid UAW floor sweepers making $35/hour, and needing 3X as many workers (hence inflated labor costs) as Honda does to make a car...I was outside BJ's and they had a Chevy SUV (Not the Acadia, it was smaller, about midrange size...Endeavor???) with a $40K sticker on it...who will spend $40K on a Chevy when that much $$$ can buy a whole range of cars that are probably better built and much higher on the chain than Alfred Sloan's lowest vehicle brand, the Chevrolet...
If the car had a reasonable cost, more folks might afford one...yes, I believe in capitalism, so if Chevy can get it, more power to them...but the other side of capitalsim is that if no one wants the product, then the maker files for bankruptcy and we get rid of the company and its workers...
Assuming GM in Chapter 11, why is everyone afraid of it???...some folks will lose their jobs, but the same job loss will happen if no Chapter 11, as they will continue to bleed $$$ and with continuing govt bailout $$$, NOBODY will gamble on the carmaker...
Ch 11 is the salvation, as they will systematically shed all those UAW costs, dump a few vehicle lines, and consolidate into a lean, mean fighting machine, with Chevy, Buick/Cadillac, GMC Truck, and Corvette...a niche player, but a large niche player, and a new force to be reckoned with, esp with new workers, no union, and NO RESTRICTIVE WORK RULES, the real downfall of the Big 3...
People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
How is it any tougher for your dad and the 650,000 UAW retirees, than the 650k people that lost their jobs last month alone? Your dad will continue to get a pension. The UAW and GM or Delphi mislead the workers when they made the deal to pay for life time health insurance from FUTURE sales. Your dad and the rest can sue the UAW for breach of contract. Won't do any good to sue GM or Delphi they are protected by bankruptcy law. If a 55 year old UAW pensioner has to get a part time job to pay for health care so be it. They will just be like the rest of US retirees. That includes Federal Civil Service workers and retirees. They now have to pay a share of their health care.
Every person that I've met is scared to death to buy anything.
People are not buying cars because they no longer have the option to borrow against their homes to finance a new car. That should have NEVER been allowed. It is pure and simple a loophole in the tax code. You can blame the fear on the pessimist running the country now. The 110th and 111th Congress has taken a normal recession and ballooned it into a full blown depression. Can you say Pelosi, Frank, Dodd and Reid?
When the UAW, disappears and your serf n' elite society takes a hold
Read some of Bill Ayers writings and you will see what is in store for you. It is not the UAW dream world that you envisioned. It is a workers kept under control of the elite few in government. At least under capitalism you could change jobs without fear of government reprisal.
This Pork filled stimulus will do nothing to help working men and women. The more you read the worse it gets. Just look at the unemployment aspect of it and tell me that will help anyone for more than a year. It is a simple case of trying to destroy states rights.
You wanted a welfare state and that is what you are about to get. Would you like tomato or split pea soup with your slice of bread?
You and over half the country have bought into the class warfare party hook, line and sinker. It is your elected Congress that approved the $700 billion for the fat cat bankers. And it is YOUR Congress that has pushed this Pork Chop stimulus bill. It will do so little for the working man it is laughable. Not to mention subsequent bills to keep people in homes they should have NEVER been allowed to buy. Why should You, your dad and I be stuck with higher taxes to pay for someone's mortgage that was beyond their means to start with?
How many new cars is someone making $14 an/hr. going to buy???
Presumably he does not need more than ONE car. In CA today you can buy an Impala LS for $17k. You will need to put a couple thousand down or a trade-in. Finance $15k at your credit union for 5 years at $297 per month. Without any over time that $14 per hour will give you a gross income of $29k. Food should not cost a single person more than $400 per month. My wife and I eat very healthy fresh vegetables and fruit on less than that per month. You like lobster get a better job or two jobs. So far we have spent $697 on car payment and food from $2400. Give Obama his 10% and you have over $1400 left for rent and gas. What you fail to realize is there are about half the families in this country living on $14 per hour. You are spoiled and are having a tough time adjusting. Now I would expect a smart individual making $14 per hour to buy a 2 year old Impala or Malibu for about $7000 and cut that payment down to about $125 per month. If they feel they have to have a CamCord it will be more than that.
So you see the new hires in the UAW will make it just fine. If not they will have to get some education and a better job.
You are just going to have to abolish this dream world where people with no skills make $35/hour working for someone else...they aren't worth it and never were worth it...they got it thru collective bargaining and continued it while the companies lost money, at least on auto sales...how may years did we read that GM and Ford only made money because of their financing arms, yet they actually lost money on North Amer auto sales...that was the first clue, but nobody paid attention...
The days of walking into GM/Ford with a 3rd grade education, hardly literate, making $65K yearly doing nothing in a Jobs Bank are over...the pay will now be commeasurate with the skill level or the ability to produce GOOD PRODUCT...
I believe that teams at Honda or Toyota sign their vehicles, so one can tell a year later or more who made the car...if warranty costs are high, they know who made the poor product...how hard would the UAW fight THAT provision, where you might actually know who made what...commonly called accountability...
Whine all you want, unskilled labor is about to be paid what unskilled labor is worth, and it is much less than what the UAW is accustomed to...and 30 years of contributing to a 401K ought to give each worker something to be proud of...intelligent use of their own money...
$0.08 to make a fuel injector was too expensive??? :confuse: GM, paid $12 for a Multec 2 injector. How much would you pay for that injector at the dealership???
A replacement injector for a 5.3 gm v8 at autozone is $94, and around $145 at the dealer (I'd guess that would be the Multec 2). I'm thinking that $.08 is missing some overhead costs. I guess GM makes more money selling one injector than what they currently make selling the whole damn Suburban. Sounds like more fuzzy UAW accounting to me.
People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
Then he should have opened his own shop years ago and made the millions for himself. He's entitled to what Delphi paid him under the UAW contract and nothing more. I've had various jobs where I saved my employer money by catching errors and/or helped land a big project. I'm not entitled to anymore $ just for doing what I was hired for.
First, there are no wage reductions - only a freeze. This is not going to help Ford's near-term cost and cash flow problems.
Only 59% of the workers approved the contract. That says a lot about the UAW mind set. Many of them seem to still want a handout from the taxpayers. And let's call it what it really is - welfare for the auto workers.
People are not buying cars because they no longer have the option to borrow against their homes to finance a new car.
That's part of it. But also, I think people are realizing that they don't really need a new car every 3 or 5 years. A business model that was based on replacing a car/truck every 3-5 years was probably flawed to begin with. The same goes for a lot of consumer goods. People are realizing a lot of the things they have been conditioned to think of as needs are really just desirements. Why lay out $500+ dollars for a digital compatible TV set when a $40 converter box will do? Do I really need that gym membership that I use once a month?
>"The original VW Beetle is one of those cars improved by the rosy glow of nostalgia.
The engines did need more adjustments than the typical domestic car engine did, and was also more likely to wear out faster if driven regularly at freeway speeds. But they were very cheap and easy to replace."
I agree about the lack of longevity of the early VW engines. Most of the VW owning folks, I knew, used them for commuting. They served quite well for that purpose.
In reality the D3 engines didn't last many miles either.
We used to talk about how the Ford flat heads didn't start to run good until a rod started knocking. And the Flathead water pumps had a short life span. Chevy engines, through about 54 didn't have replaceable rod bearings. The entire rod had to be replaced, as the bearing surface was called a "Babbit" and poured/molded onto the rod and rod cap. Conservative drivers could expect to replace the "Rings and Inserts" (rod bearings) at 40K to 50K. If they were revved high on a regular basis, like the VW engines, the life of American made engines was very short.
However, even with its flaws and shortcomings (real or imaginary), the Beetle sold well and D3 didn't pay attention. The Japanese came along and D3 didn't pay attention. UAW workers got higher and higher pay and benefits and they didn't pay attention, even though Plants began to shut down and many of their UAW brothers were without work. Yet they continued to strike.
They just didn't pay attention!
Article after article supplied to us by various links mention how the majority of Americans don't have much sympathy for UAW workers, mainly because of their high wages and bennefits; and refusal to accept what the job is actually worth. Most Americans don't make the kind of money that UAW worker do. YET the UAW wants help, through tax dollars, from those lower income people.
They still aren't paying attention.
I keep seeing post referring to the assemblers at the import plants as being backward, ignorant and so forth, for accepting the pay that the job is actually worth. Although they may not be able to purchase as big of a house or boat or car or second house. They are still working. They may get laid off due to the economy, but it won't be because they were greedy.
How can Saturn go it alone? They are mostly GM models from other divisions. The Aura is more or less a Malibu, the Sky is a Pontiac Solstice, and the Astra is an Opel.
"How many new cars is someone making $14 an/hr. going to buy?"
None, unless he is young and/or stupid and can even get the financing in the first place. I remember buying a new car when I was only making $14/hr. Of course that was over 20 years ago.
People are not buying cars because they no longer have the option to borrow against their homes to finance a new car. That should have NEVER been allowed.
I would NEVER borrow against my home to buy a depreciating asset! That is reckless and self-destructive. In fact, I find the idea of borrowing against my home abhorrent. It's like throwing a 24K gold antique watch that once belonged to your great great grandfather into the pot in a poker game you're losing.
Heck, I could live on way less than $400 a month in food if I ate in all the time.
At $14/hr., paying the rent on a run-down 1-bedroom apartment in a marginal neighborhood would be a challenge. A good investment in such an environment would be a used handgun - preferably something simple and reliable like a S&W Model 10 .38 Special. Per cars, I'd only have one - a $1,200 hooptie. Insuring it would be another challenge.
Anyone see GMA on ABC this morning? They were broadcasting from Mumbai, India - now the biggest city in the world.
What struck me about the show and related to this topic, is if the Indians or the Chinese for that matter can make a vehicle that is close in quality to those made in the West, then they will steal some serious business form the Western auto makers. Why? The average worker in Mumbai is making $980 / Year. Per Year! There are millions of Indians who will work for wages like that.
This doesn't just go for the UAW, but for for all people who work in manufacturing; if you're making something that someone else can copy and the skill is to turn a wrench or screwdriver, or push a few buttons on a machaine, you're in trouble! Even at 415/hr plus benefits - you're in trouble!
If you want to work at a company making good money, you sure had better work for a company that has uncopied technology (my company has chemical formulae and processes that haven't been copied).
FORTY ONE PERCENT of UAW workers at Ford rejected the contract to keep Ford making cars in the USA. Are UAW workers crazy or what? If it was only 10% I would chalk that up to the militant ignorance in every Union. Where does the average UAW worker think those million UAW jobs went over the last 3 decades?
I'm with Bob all the way. There is NO WAY an auto worker is worth more than $15 per hour in this economy. There are millions of illegals that would jump on those jobs in a heartbeat. And the plan is to gather them into the fold. Just like the Oregon Firefighters all the shop foreman will have to speak Spanish or lose their jobs. Rocky, better take some Spanish classes. The fluent Bilinguals will have a job when someone with just English is out on the street. And in full compliance with Federal and many State governments regulations.
At $14/hr., paying the rent on a run-down 1-bedroom apartment in a marginal neighborhood would be a challenge.
Lemko your rents must be atrocious. In San Diego a decent one bedroom can be had for $700-$800. A Studio within a block of the beach can be had for that same amount. Any entry level job that pays $14 per hour is a great job. Here you will have at least 1000 applicants for each job. Think more like $8.50 per hour for entry level. That is the realistic wage. And still way above minimum wage which a large portion of the population exist on. If you are making decent wages and are not thankful for the job you should be.
Rocky, There are mechanics that are very good at analyzing problems that are making $100k plus per year. They are not the average. Most are lucky to average $19 per hour. How much does your parts man make per hour. That is what should be compared to a warehouse guy at a supplier like Delphi. Anything over $15 per hour is just not realistic in the USA today.
You do know that all fords for asian market is build in india right and also hyundai for asian market is build in india and they build stuff only for korea and us in korea .
recenlty an indian company brought range rover and also i think the bmw factory for asian market is in india too.
the thing the what you hire instead of hiriing a high school grad for $$$ you just hire a engineer for the same money. so ford opened they hired 5000 engineers for their plants and the work force was avialable.
rockylee: People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
I hear this attitude expressed among union members and just shake my head in disbelief.
Your father didn't "make" GM millions of dollars. He installed parts on a vehicle as it moved down the assembly line. For doing that work he was well compensated.
Your father's contribution, however, didn't influence whether Joe or Jane Public wanted to buy that GM vehicle.
Over the years, men such as Harlow Curtice, Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, Bunkie Knudsen, John DeLorean, Pete Estes and John Beltz made the styling and engineering decisions that encouraged consumers to eagerly part with their hard-earned dollars for a brand-new GM vehicle as opposed to a Chrysler, Ford, AMC or foreign vehicle. They made GM millions-upon-millions of dollars.
Take away a Bill Mitchell, and you've hindered GM's competitiveness. Take away a UAW member, and there are hundreds of people who can do the job as well.
Certainly hourly workers deserve to be treated with dignity and compensated fairly for their efforts (although I would remind you that the contract that UAW members had was with GM, not with the taxpayers). But saying that they "made" the company shows that someone has been listening to far too much UAW rhetoric.
kipk: We used to talk about how the Ford flat heads didn't start to run good until a rod started knocking. And the Flathead water pumps had a short life span. Chevy engines, through about 54 didn't have replaceable rod bearings. The entire rod had to be replaced, as the bearing surface was called a "Babbit" and poured/molded onto the rod and rod cap. Conservative drivers could expect to replace the "Rings and Inserts" (rod bearings) at 40K to 50K. If they were revved high on a regular basis, like the VW engines, the life of American made engines was very short.
Very true, but the overhead valve V-8s (beginning with the famous Olds Rocket V-8 and Cadillac V-8) did last a long time, as did the more modern I-6s produced in the 1960s.
Don't forget guys like Charles Kettering or Zora Arkus Duntov.
Virgil Exner was pretty awesome over there at Chrysler. I don't think anybody will ever come up with anything as beautiful as the 1957 Chrysler lineup again.
Comments
The UAW has shot themselves in the foot with who they back in elections. It is the same party that has done everything in its power to destroy our manufacturing base with every lame regulation known to man. It is the Democrat Weirdos led by Moonbeam in CA that are trying to sue GM and the rest of the Domestics over CO2 emissions. CA will never recover from the mess they have caused. I doubt the only UAW plant in CA ever re-opens its doors.
The logical next step I guess is for the UAW to head East.
The UAW workers need to go to school and get a real job. As Iluv has tried to point out the health care industry is the place to be. 116,000 unfilled positions for Nurses is not an insignificant number. I know in CA they name their own hours and knock down $100k+ per year.
U.S. healthcare system pinched by nursing shortage
Sun Mar 8, 2009 8:10am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. healthcare system is pinched by a persistent nursing shortage that threatens the quality of patient care even as tens of thousands of people are turned away from nursing schools, according to experts.
The shortage has drawn the attention of President Barack Obama. During a White House meeting on Thursday to promote his promised healthcare system overhaul, Obama expressed alarm over the notion that the United States might have to import trained foreign nurses because so many U.S. nursing jobs are unfilled.
Democratic U.S. Representative Lois Capps, a former school nurse, said meaningful healthcare overhaul cannot occur without fixing the nursing shortage. "Nurses deliver healthcare," Capps said in a telephone interview.
An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said.
So in spite of the negatives some UAW supporters would have US believe there are jobs to be had if a person is willing to get some education. Maybe Obama should have included money to train nurses in that worthless stimulus bill. Instead of $millions trying to save some frog swamp in Pelosi's district.
Here you go:
"Political pressure is mounting against an open-ended bailout of GM and Chrysler, with strong support in many quarters for the companies to reorganize through bankruptcy. But with the nation's unemployment rate now over 8%, President Obama and his team are wary of undermining the UAW and sending another economic shockwave through the heart of the country's industrial belt."
Obama Auto Team Wraps Up in Detroit (WSJ - may be a registration link, depending on when Google dumps it).
However, as GM still lays off more and more workers, the foreclosures will continue to rise and we are playing a shell game, trying to fool everybody...
At least in Chapter 11, everything should be documented, they will still shed the legacy costs, but they can also void any contract (think UAW) and start over just like any other company that went thru bankruptcy (think Kmart, Delta, Continental, etc)...
Either way, the foreclosures will increase for those whose jobs are lost, but they will be lost either way it is done...but under an 11, they can hire back only what they really need, and if anyone who has worked the japanese system, they can do it with only 1/3 the workers they have NOW, simply by voiding union work rules, which is what got them into this in the first place...
If they had been run like a Japanese company with only 1/3 the workers for the same production (think: union featherbedding) they would only have 1/3 the payroll and only 1/3 the legacy costs...but, since they allowed the payrolls to swell over the last 30 years, they have legacy costs that they simply cannot pay...
Plus, future workers should have 401K so that they fund their retirement, not the company...let GM match out of any future profits they have, and I absolutely believe that if they restructure to a better business model like Honda, they WILL be profitable...
Once again, people see GM as a creator of jobs...it is not and never should have been...it's primary business is the creator of profit...out of profit may comes jobs...never the other way around...union people think that GM was established solely as a place for the UAW to suck dry...and, the way it was done, they were right...now, it is time to kill the UAW and close that stupid chapter in auto manufacturing, and move onto the better model...
That is what will make buying American cars worthwhile again, when the product is better because the employee will be better...no union, no welfare attitude...it is amazing the quality of work you get from someone who can be fired tomorrow for poor workmanship...in the UAW, poor workmanship is applauded, and they cannot get rid of you for at least 2 years, while you continue to make junk...
I posted this in the American Cars topic, while somewhat relevant, it is probably better here...forgive the repetition for those who read both topics...
But Biden said they were going to Dance together. Is this some old idea he plagerized from someone else when he talked to UAW in Miami. Odd the transparent presidency wouldn't allow TV cameras in... isn't it.
I'm not sure I want Obiden supporting the UAW with my money. They need to do things to support the US automakers after all they've allowed to be done to alllow an unveven playing field through the decades.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Well tomorrow is week #2 for me thus I hope I sell 5+ cars next week because I could really use the money!!!
-Rocky
-Rocky
"You Too High!!!" ....It is what it is!!!! The only price that is better is true "GMS" (employee) thus last week was rough on me!!!
-Rocky
You are deflecting again. It is not the new hire crap contract we are referring to. It is the older workers that are selling out the new hires to keep their high wages and benefits. How many dealerships do you suppose are UAW represented? I think the reality of most unskilled workers wages and working conditions are finally sinking in. The hand full of UAW workers making the big bucks are not helping out the working class in America at all. If you owned a parts house and faced with a UAW contract and then looked at what GM or Ford was willing to pay for the parts. A smart investor would not even consider staying in business in that environment.
I will repeat. There are MILLIONS of people right today in the USA that would jump at a job paying $15 per hour. Your utopia of $30 per hour unskilled workers is over. It cannot be sustained in this global economy we live in. And every stimulus bill makes that $15 per hour worth less at the store.
Hope you sell a bunch of cars. A good salesman is not tethered to some worthless Union contract. The more you sell the more you make. It is the ultimate capitalist job.
LOL, good post, what part of the south are you in?
The Feds have dropped the ball in many areas of worker protection in the USA. This report out this morning is even more disturbing.
immigrants in the United States illegally could take 300,000 construction jobs, or 15% of the 2 million jobs that new taxpayer-financed projects are predicted to create.
They fault Congress for failing to require that employers certify legal immigration status of workers before hiring by using a Department of Homeland Security program called E-Verify. The program allows employers to check the validity of Social Security numbers provided by new hires. It is available to employers on a voluntary basis.
"They could have deterred this, but they chose not to," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies.
He said a federal requirement that employers use E-Verify would have reduced, if not eliminated, the hiring of immigrants in this country illegally.
An advocacy group for immigrants, illegal and legal, did not disagree with the 300,000 estimate. Camarota says the estimate is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and other independent findings that 15% of all construction workers in the USA are either illegal immigrants or lack the status of legal immigrant authorized to work.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2009-03-08-immigrant-jobs_N.htm-
So where is the AFL-CIO & UAW protecting the middle class workers with their big stroke in Washington? Auto workers are just late to the party. Construction workers used to make the big bucks also. They are being replaced by illegal immigrants living in canyons and eating at homeless shelters. Not just in CA. Minnesota has a large illegal population that is bleeding the state. How many other states are impacted, with an estimated 30 million illegal immigrants living here? These are hard working people. Their crime is being here without going through the process. I think saving UAW jobs is a minor problem compared to saving jobs for CITIZENs in every part of the country.
Pay cuts are happening today in some industries. Hewlett Packard (HP) recently announced pay cuts of from 2.5% to 20%, depending on the job position. AMD and Seagate also announced pay cuts. Intel cut pay way back when (1980's) when it was still competing with Motorola and other microprocessor makers.
Now, dig this!
Joblessness Hits a 25 Year High
Those are the reasons for the election outcome, not any union influence as some like to believe.
You're either clueless or being sarcastic. Fundamentals? What fundamentals? Do you mean housing prices? That's exactly what is different about this recession, soon to be called a depression. The fundamentals are NOT there. When was the last time in history housing prices have fallen so much?
Everyone who has lost upwards of $100K on their house as well as $100K or more on their 401K retirement plan, raise your hand. My only saving grace is that I'm 50 and have some time to make it back. But there's no doubt I will be working at least until I am 65, no early retirement for me, and I work for a company with one of the few remaining core pension plans.
3 years ago my friends were nagging me to buy a place...I thought the market was overheated and I opted out...and I am pleased I did, places are worth less now than they were then.
I'm 31. My generation won't be retiring, even those who work for the public sector are going to face a brave new world.
I've got a cousin who works for a major city in the south, in his mid-50s, retiring next week with a full pension, but he does have to buy his medical insurance.
The public sector is as much a drain on resources as out of control unions.
Friend of mine retired 3-5 years ago from a federal agency. He had been there 42 years. His retirement pay was 80 % of his final average compensation. With yearly increases to that pension, he's now bringing in more than when he was working. If he lives to 80, he'll be bringing home twice what he was making when he stopped work.
Shouldn't have to pay taxes? I guess they voted McCain...
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
The approved agreement also ends the jobs bank program and lets Ford make payments in stock to a union-run trust for retiree health care.
The union says 59 percent of production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades workers voted for the agreement."
Ford workers approve UAW contract changes (Idaho Statesman)
The Astra is quiet a HB and for the price you are getting something no longer made by anyone but, Hyundai. A two door hatchback. The Astra goes one better it comes with a 1.8 liter rather than Hyundai's 1.6l, plus heated seats standard. The four door Astra(Opel) comes with a moonroof,and heated seats.
Now, this might not mean anything to you but, it' s good on gas and has a comfortable ride. What took it so long to get here? Ford is only going to let 100 Americans test drive the Fiesta. What's wrong with this picture?
:shades:
-Rocky
The new workers new before they took the job that they were going to be working under these conditions. It wasn't a suprise and they are finding out now that just it takes more than a 3rd grade educated dummy do some of these jobs. They were lucky to even be hired as they were all "temporary" hires but the UAW, faught for full-time status thus they weren't selling out the new hires. People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
How many dealerships do you suppose are UAW represented?
Probably not many!!! I know at a busy dealership a good mechanic can make a really good living. You can have a criminal record a mile long but if you can turn a wrench well the world is yours.
I think the reality of most unskilled workers wages and working conditions are finally sinking in. The hand full of UAW workers making the big bucks are not helping out the working class in America at all
That brave new world you love is killing my bottom line. Every person that I've met is scared to death to buy anything. It's a objection that affects each individual differently. When the UAW, disappears and your serf n' elite society takes a hold gagrice, will your dream world be all that you thought???
If you owned a parts house and faced with a UAW contract and then looked at what GM or Ford was willing to pay for the parts. A smart investor would not even consider staying in business in that environment.
$0.08 to make a fuel injector was too expensive??? :confuse: GM, paid $12 for a Multec 2 injector. How much would you pay for that injector at the dealership???
-Rocky
And how many of those have they sold? I've seen about two on the road TOTAL. :confuse:
Darn right, he is "entitled" to it.
And part of the reason that a simple Chevrolet stickers at $40K is because of overpaid UAW floor sweepers making $35/hour, and needing 3X as many workers (hence inflated labor costs) as Honda does to make a car...I was outside BJ's and they had a Chevy SUV (Not the Acadia, it was smaller, about midrange size...Endeavor???) with a $40K sticker on it...who will spend $40K on a Chevy when that much $$$ can buy a whole range of cars that are probably better built and much higher on the chain than Alfred Sloan's lowest vehicle brand, the Chevrolet...
If the car had a reasonable cost, more folks might afford one...yes, I believe in capitalism, so if Chevy can get it, more power to them...but the other side of capitalsim is that if no one wants the product, then the maker files for bankruptcy and we get rid of the company and its workers...
Assuming GM in Chapter 11, why is everyone afraid of it???...some folks will lose their jobs, but the same job loss will happen if no Chapter 11, as they will continue to bleed $$$ and with continuing govt bailout $$$, NOBODY will gamble on the carmaker...
Ch 11 is the salvation, as they will systematically shed all those UAW costs, dump a few vehicle lines, and consolidate into a lean, mean fighting machine, with Chevy, Buick/Cadillac, GMC Truck, and Corvette...a niche player, but a large niche player, and a new force to be reckoned with, esp with new workers, no union, and NO RESTRICTIVE WORK RULES, the real downfall of the Big 3...
How is it any tougher for your dad and the 650,000 UAW retirees, than the 650k people that lost their jobs last month alone? Your dad will continue to get a pension. The UAW and GM or Delphi mislead the workers when they made the deal to pay for life time health insurance from FUTURE sales. Your dad and the rest can sue the UAW for breach of contract. Won't do any good to sue GM or Delphi they are protected by bankruptcy law. If a 55 year old UAW pensioner has to get a part time job to pay for health care so be it. They will just be like the rest of US retirees. That includes Federal Civil Service workers and retirees. They now have to pay a share of their health care.
Every person that I've met is scared to death to buy anything.
People are not buying cars because they no longer have the option to borrow against their homes to finance a new car. That should have NEVER been allowed. It is pure and simple a loophole in the tax code. You can blame the fear on the pessimist running the country now. The 110th and 111th Congress has taken a normal recession and ballooned it into a full blown depression. Can you say Pelosi, Frank, Dodd and Reid?
When the UAW, disappears and your serf n' elite society takes a hold
Read some of Bill Ayers writings and you will see what is in store for you. It is not the UAW dream world that you envisioned. It is a workers kept under control of the elite few in government. At least under capitalism you could change jobs without fear of government reprisal.
This Pork filled stimulus will do nothing to help working men and women. The more you read the worse it gets. Just look at the unemployment aspect of it and tell me that will help anyone for more than a year. It is a simple case of trying to destroy states rights.
You wanted a welfare state and that is what you are about to get. Would you like tomato or split pea soup with your slice of bread?
You and over half the country have bought into the class warfare party hook, line and sinker. It is your elected Congress that approved the $700 billion for the fat cat bankers. And it is YOUR Congress that has pushed this Pork Chop stimulus bill. It will do so little for the working man it is laughable. Not to mention subsequent bills to keep people in homes they should have NEVER been allowed to buy. Why should You, your dad and I be stuck with higher taxes to pay for someone's mortgage that was beyond their means to start with?
Presumably he does not need more than ONE car. In CA today you can buy an Impala LS for $17k. You will need to put a couple thousand down or a trade-in. Finance $15k at your credit union for 5 years at $297 per month. Without any over time that $14 per hour will give you a gross income of $29k. Food should not cost a single person more than $400 per month. My wife and I eat very healthy fresh vegetables and fruit on less than that per month. You like lobster get a better job or two jobs. So far we have spent $697 on car payment and food from $2400. Give Obama his 10% and you have over $1400 left for rent and gas. What you fail to realize is there are about half the families in this country living on $14 per hour. You are spoiled and are having a tough time adjusting. Now I would expect a smart individual making $14 per hour to buy a 2 year old Impala or Malibu for about $7000 and cut that payment down to about $125 per month. If they feel they have to have a CamCord it will be more than that.
So you see the new hires in the UAW will make it just fine. If not they will have to get some education and a better job.
The days of walking into GM/Ford with a 3rd grade education, hardly literate, making $65K yearly doing nothing in a Jobs Bank are over...the pay will now be commeasurate with the skill level or the ability to produce GOOD PRODUCT...
I believe that teams at Honda or Toyota sign their vehicles, so one can tell a year later or more who made the car...if warranty costs are high, they know who made the poor product...how hard would the UAW fight THAT provision, where you might actually know who made what...commonly called accountability...
Whine all you want, unskilled labor is about to be paid what unskilled labor is worth, and it is much less than what the UAW is accustomed to...and 30 years of contributing to a 401K ought to give each worker something to be proud of...intelligent use of their own money...
A replacement injector for a 5.3 gm v8 at autozone is $94, and around $145 at the dealer (I'd guess that would be the Multec 2). I'm thinking that $.08 is missing some overhead costs. I guess GM makes more money selling one injector than what they currently make selling the whole damn Suburban. Sounds like more fuzzy UAW accounting to me.
People like my father made GM, millions of dollars and he should be compensated!!!
Then he should have opened his own shop years ago and made the millions for himself. He's entitled to what Delphi paid him under the UAW contract and nothing more. I've had various jobs where I saved my employer money by catching errors and/or helped land a big project. I'm not entitled to anymore $ just for doing what I was hired for.
Only 59% of the workers approved the contract. That says a lot about the UAW mind set. Many of them seem to still want a handout from the taxpayers. And let's call it what it really is - welfare for the auto workers.
That's part of it. But also, I think people are realizing that they don't really need a new car every 3 or 5 years. A business model that was based on replacing a car/truck every 3-5 years was probably flawed to begin with. The same goes for a lot of consumer goods. People are realizing a lot of the things they have been conditioned to think of as needs are really just desirements. Why lay out $500+ dollars for a digital compatible TV set when a $40 converter box will do? Do I really need that gym membership that I use once a month?
The engines did need more adjustments than the typical domestic car engine did, and was also more likely to wear out faster if driven regularly at freeway speeds. But they were very cheap and easy to replace."
I agree about the lack of longevity of the early VW engines. Most of the VW owning folks, I knew, used them for commuting. They served quite well for that purpose.
In reality the D3 engines didn't last many miles either.
We used to talk about how the Ford flat heads didn't start to run good until a rod started knocking. And the Flathead water pumps had a short life span. Chevy engines, through about 54 didn't have replaceable rod bearings. The entire rod had to be replaced, as the bearing surface was called a "Babbit" and poured/molded onto the rod and rod cap. Conservative drivers could expect to replace the "Rings and Inserts" (rod bearings) at 40K to 50K. If they were revved high on a regular basis, like the VW engines, the life of American made engines was very short.
However, even with its flaws and shortcomings (real or imaginary), the Beetle sold well and D3 didn't pay attention. The Japanese came along and D3 didn't pay attention. UAW workers got higher and higher pay and benefits and they didn't pay attention, even though Plants began to shut down and many of their UAW brothers were without work. Yet they continued to strike.
They just didn't pay attention!
Article after article supplied to us by various links mention how the majority of Americans don't have much sympathy for UAW workers, mainly because of their high wages and bennefits; and refusal to accept what the job is actually worth. Most Americans don't make the kind of money that UAW worker do. YET the UAW wants help, through tax dollars, from those lower income people.
They still aren't paying attention.
I keep seeing post referring to the assemblers at the import plants as being backward, ignorant and so forth, for accepting the pay that the job is actually worth. Although they may not be able to purchase as big of a house or boat or car or second house. They are still working. They may get laid off due to the economy, but it won't be because they were greedy.
Kip
None, unless he is young and/or stupid and can even get the financing in the first place. I remember buying a new car when I was only making $14/hr. Of course that was over 20 years ago.
I would NEVER borrow against my home to buy a depreciating asset! That is reckless and self-destructive. In fact, I find the idea of borrowing against my home abhorrent. It's like throwing a 24K gold antique watch that once belonged to your great great grandfather into the pot in a poker game you're losing.
At $14/hr., paying the rent on a run-down 1-bedroom apartment in a marginal neighborhood would be a challenge. A good investment in such an environment would be a used handgun - preferably something simple and reliable like a S&W Model 10 .38 Special. Per cars, I'd only have one - a $1,200 hooptie. Insuring it would be another challenge.
What struck me about the show and related to this topic, is if the Indians or the Chinese for that matter can make a vehicle that is close in quality to those made in the West, then they will steal some serious business form the Western auto makers. Why? The average worker in Mumbai is making $980 / Year. Per Year! There are millions of Indians who will work for wages like that.
This doesn't just go for the UAW, but for for all people who work in manufacturing; if you're making something that someone else can copy and the skill is to turn a wrench or screwdriver, or push a few buttons on a machaine, you're in trouble! Even at 415/hr plus benefits - you're in trouble!
If you want to work at a company making good money, you sure had better work for a company that has uncopied technology (my company has chemical formulae and processes that haven't been copied).
I'm with Bob all the way. There is NO WAY an auto worker is worth more than $15 per hour in this economy. There are millions of illegals that would jump on those jobs in a heartbeat. And the plan is to gather them into the fold. Just like the Oregon Firefighters all the shop foreman will have to speak Spanish or lose their jobs. Rocky, better take some Spanish classes. The fluent Bilinguals will have a job when someone with just English is out on the street. And in full compliance with Federal and many State governments regulations.
At $14/hr., paying the rent on a run-down 1-bedroom apartment in a marginal neighborhood would be a challenge.
Lemko your rents must be atrocious. In San Diego a decent one bedroom can be had for $700-$800. A Studio within a block of the beach can be had for that same amount.
Any entry level job that pays $14 per hour is a great job. Here you will have at least 1000 applicants for each job. Think more like $8.50 per hour for entry level. That is the realistic wage. And still way above minimum wage which a large portion of the population exist on. If you are making decent wages and are not thankful for the job you should be.
Rocky, There are mechanics that are very good at analyzing problems that are making $100k plus per year. They are not the average. Most are lucky to average $19 per hour. How much does your parts man make per hour. That is what should be compared to a warehouse guy at a supplier like Delphi. Anything over $15 per hour is just not realistic in the USA today.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/08/a1a_- - homedepot_0309.html?imw=Y
recenlty an indian company brought range rover and also i think the bmw factory for asian market is in india too.
the thing the what you hire instead of hiriing a high school grad for $$$ you just hire a engineer for the same money. so ford opened they hired 5000 engineers for their plants and the work force was avialable.
I hear this attitude expressed among union members and just shake my head in disbelief.
Your father didn't "make" GM millions of dollars. He installed parts on a vehicle as it moved down the assembly line. For doing that work he was well compensated.
Your father's contribution, however, didn't influence whether Joe or Jane Public wanted to buy that GM vehicle.
Over the years, men such as Harlow Curtice, Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, Bunkie Knudsen, John DeLorean, Pete Estes and John Beltz made the styling and engineering decisions that encouraged consumers to eagerly part with their hard-earned dollars for a brand-new GM vehicle as opposed to a Chrysler, Ford, AMC or foreign vehicle. They made GM millions-upon-millions of dollars.
Take away a Bill Mitchell, and you've hindered GM's competitiveness. Take away a UAW member, and there are hundreds of people who can do the job as well.
Certainly hourly workers deserve to be treated with dignity and compensated fairly for their efforts (although I would remind you that the contract that UAW members had was with GM, not with the taxpayers). But saying that they "made" the company shows that someone has been listening to far too much UAW rhetoric.
Very true, but the overhead valve V-8s (beginning with the famous Olds Rocket V-8 and Cadillac V-8) did last a long time, as did the more modern I-6s produced in the 1960s.
Virgil Exner was pretty awesome over there at Chrysler. I don't think anybody will ever come up with anything as beautiful as the 1957 Chrysler lineup again.