I’m sorry. I thought your comment pertained to you being ok with higher inflation and therefore increased costs.
Folks on fixed income make up a sizeable voting block. The negative effects of inflation on this group has historically been a political concern. Politicians have historically tried to mollify that group.
As for
Amen brother. You’re preaching to the choir.
But I didn’t realize that was your point.
ralph
As the automakers narrow their product line to nothing but big, three row, SUVs, and trucks, I am reminded of Radio Shack. Compared to the 80s, RS abandoned the computer market, abandoned the audio and video markets, abandoned the PA equipment market, abandoned the burglar alarm market, and made the stores virtually all cell phones, all the time. Then the cell system operators decided that, instead of paying RS’ overhead, they could open up their own stores. RS had nothing left to sell, because they had abandoned all the other markets they used to compete in, and folded.
Remember the RS ad where they celebrated the abandonment of all the other markets they used to compete in?
why is staying with the same employer so important to these striking workers? In non-union jobs, you improve your situation by going to another employer who better suits your needs.
There is a separate CPI determined for the elderly, disabled, retired, etc. But they refuse to use it.
I don’t understand. Please elucidate?
TIA
ralph
great find! the unions would have had a field day trying to milk the remaining business for radio shack workers if they had the chance, instead of looking at the bigger picture of irrelevance
If there is anyone hiring. “Good enough” is what many non-union shops rely upon–because they refuse to pay more to justify ANYONE who is better/faster/more productive. They don’t care about quality because every job they do is a “one and done”. It is somebody else’s problem to fix if it was done wrong. Courts/lawsuits? They don’t care. They file bankruptcy, then create new business, and keep on doing what they were doing. Saw that here with a swimming pool contractor. State AG sued him, multiple states, judgments, etc. No idea where the crook is now, but maybe in jail? But likely NOT.
the worst thing that can happen here is a successful worker outcome - it will open the floodgates for union organizing in many other industries (good for workers!) and tank the economy right when our national debt, peak oil, and maybe a lot of others things all collide to create some real economic difficulties. They will be fighting over a diminishing pie. But here’s the thing - they almost HAVE to do it, because times will be lean and the elite are not going to go away quietly.
Stuff their mouths with their own junk. Just so long as they “go away”.
You are correct: no one uses it.
ralph
GM made roughly $20B in profit for 2022. They have about 145,000 UAW workers. If each of them got an additional $30k in salary that would be about $4.3B in extra wages. This is a bit over how much they spent on stock buy-backs in 2022 ($3.4B I believe).
Don’t tell me GM cannot afford this. Workers gave up a lot in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Management and share holders have raked in it ever since. The worker, not so much.
We cannot, as a society, keep pandering to the mega rich like this and expect things to continue functioning.
but that profit was earned in a prior period, under the rules of the game at that time that the unions had agreed to*. So there is no legal basis that those profits belong to the workers. Moral basis? I will let others argue that one. Every worker has the option to quit if they don’t like the terms of the deal. Why bother striking? It is just legal extortion.
I work in an industry with a lot of mobility. I mean a LOT of mobility. Changing jobs because I don’t like my situation is simple. But, the thing is, I fully realize not all industries are like this. I also realize that MANY industries are plagued with poor benefits and wages. In other words, do not assume that everyone can simply move to a different job and make their life noticeably better.
Hence the union desire to change those rules, so they also get a “piece of the pie” in a contract. Require a 50-50 split of ALL funds allocated to stock buybacks (or anything comparable), with half to reward workers for their part in generating that profit and the other half to boost “shareholder value”. I could also see limitations on bonuses to management exceeding COLA as also being shared with workers (for the same reason).
Actually, it’s capitalism as practiced by workers rather than the ruling class.
Companies charge as much as they can to maximize profits. Workers can withhold their services to maximize their income.
That’s how it works rather than how it’s visualized.
i don’t know if it is still the case, but these auto workers used to make WAY more than most other jobs, and treated the jobs like an entitlement. not sure the $15 an hour worker should have much sympathy for the auto worker group - but maybe things have changed
it is a high stakes bluff and at least some of the time they are not going to come out ahead. but brinksmanship is a common tactic as the US government seems to remind us all the time
The key words are “used to”, because it is not true any more. $33/hr is about $67+k/yr, yet:
“middle-income Americans in 2023 would have annual incomes between $38,133 and $114,400. This is before adjusting for local cost of living and household size.”
Thus making that income below the mid-point average ($38+k + $114+k = $152+k /2 = ~$76+k/yr). So it is no surprise they are demanding more–because their income has dropped relative to the rest of the “middle class”.
Plus, given the “two tier” wage structure as it currently exists, their incomes will continue to drop until they either drop out of the middle class entirely OR they force a change. So their position is not unreasonable. A strike is the only thing that will force management to negotiate a different contract.
Union Strike is predicated on the “Big Three” turning a deaf ear to the needs and presentation of the new contract. The reason for the strike? The indolences of the Industry management (CEOs). The Union presented an offer back in July. The Automakers ignored the offers completely and refused to even meet with the Union until two weeks ago, and even then refused to respond to the actual contract that the Union presented. Instead the Automakers presented a stingy offer of 10% over 5 years. As soon as the strike date came up, Ford and GM are both proposing a 20 percent raise over 4½ years.
The strike is necessary, and more Unions will learn to strike to engage CEOs to the bargaining table.
For every one hundred dollars of increase in wealth since 2000, 15 cents have gone to the bottom 50%.
Scott Galloway
The difference between CEO pay and average labor pay is 265%, in 1960 the difference between CEO pay and average labor pay was 26%.
Up until the 1970s, productivity and wages went up together. But now, productivity has taken off, while wages have mostly stagnated. The gains of that excess productivity have gone to corporate shareholders.
This is exactly the argument of the UAW, Corporate profits since the downturn (when the Union made big concessions) has increased wealth for all but the working class.
property and stocks get more tax breaks than work income. Banks are richer, shareholders are richer, corporations are richer, Labor has gone stagnant for the past 25 years. With unemployment low, and minimum wage earners waiting to take jobs unless the are offered more, it is due time that the UAW presents an offer that the automakers can afford.