On April 9, 2012 at 18:29, Fiasco said...
I'm pro union. That's just me. Worked for Chrysler for 13 years as UAW and then co-owned JAG which is an IBEW shop (I wasn't in the union).
You wanna know what EVERY UAW worker I ever met says about working for UAW? Best job they ever had. I know one guy that's been with Chrysler for over 30yrs and he loves the union but knows it needs to go. The stories I've heard from him about idiots and what they've done and not been fired would piss off most people.
That said, believe it or not, Union scale can dictate what non union workers in the same industry make. Non union electricians in St. Louis would not be making the wages they do if not for the unions wage scale.
Let's be honest MOST of the time the union scale is way too high. There's no way an 18yr old with 3 months job experience should be making $20pr hr, or more.
The same is true for non-unionized auto plants in the south. The wages and benefits are set at a level that removes the motivation to unionize.
Not from what I've read. The plants in SC aren't worried about the unions at all. The laws down there almost prohibit unions. It's not like the Honda plant is going to lose employees to GM in Detroit.
I could go on for some time (hell, maybe already have here previously) about the collapse of Chrysler, Daimler's hand in it and how labor was ultimately blamed. The fact of the matter was (using union labor) Chrysler was killing everyone on per-vehicle profits, paying record profit sharing checks and creating vehicles that were in high demand. Daimler single handedly crushed the company, drove the most talented designers (car guys) out, absconded back to germany with cash reserves and stripped the plants of new technology. Cerebus took over, appointed an idiot (Nardelli fired from Home Depot) to run the show. Collapse complete.
Hmm it's kinda funny that Chrysler was "killing" with their per-vehicle profits with vehicles that had spotty reliability and poor initial quality. Daimler did a lot to hurt Chrysler but seriously how long could they keep paying insane pay rates and having to pay pensions on insane pay rates without going under?
