[Rhodes22-list] UAW

Rik Sandberg sanderico1 at gmail.com
Thu Dec 18 18:15:59 EST 2008 

Herb, Ben, Bill, et al

Somebody needs to figure out just what is considered a labor cost in 
these conversations.

GM's labor cost is between 73 and 74 dollar per hour. This is not just 
wages, but wages plus all the benefits (health care, pension, job bank 
etc, etc.) that must be included as part of the cost of having a union 
employee in one of their plants.

Honda, Toyota, etc, in other words, the nonunion plants in this country 
using American labor have a cost per hour of about 48 dollars including 
all their labor related expenses.

Somebody needs to figure out when they have made a deal that is just a 
little too good and is about to end in a smoking pile of rubble.

Chapter 11 would make these negotiations possible. Just throwing more 
money at the big three is just going to encourage more of the same poor 
behavior from both sides.

Rik

Will Rogers often said, "There's nothing quite like money in the bank." He went on to say, "I'm not so concerned about the return on my money as I am about the return of my money."



Herb Parsons wrote:
> Ben,
>
> Does that 10% represent ALL labor costs? In other words, are retirement 
> funds part of that calculation? If a man goes to work at the auto plant 
> at 25, works till he's 55 (30 years) and then retires, and then collects 
> full benefits for the next 30 years, that would add substantially to the 
> "labor costs."
>
>
> Ben Cittadino wrote:
>   
>> Robert;
>>
>> If by "shake the unions" you mean void their contracts with the unions the
>> aswer is yes. This is the reason many people think bankruptcy is the answer.
>> The Trustee in bankruptcy can, with the approval of the Court void any
>> contract the company would otherwise be required to honor; unions,
>> suppliers, dealers, etc.
>>
>> If you think the unions are the problem (labor casts are about 10% of the
>> cost of a car) then bankruptcy is your answer. I tend to think incompetent
>> management is the problem, emphasizing short term quarterly profit reports
>> for big bonus' over long term infrastructure planing and modernization of
>> plants with imaginative designs instead of more gas guzzling SUV's. The
>> unions didn't plan that garbage.
>>
>> Ben C.
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert Skinner wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> Two questions:
>>>
>>> If they went into chapter 11, would the auto companies be able to "shake
>>> the 
>>> unions"?
>>>
>>> Can the auto companies function without the unions -- or have the managers 
>>> forgotten how to make a vehicle?
>>>
>>> /Robert O'Maine
>>>
>>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> David,
>>>>
>>>> It isn't fun watching the personal side of these events.  My oldest
>>>> son's roommate in Little Rock works at the family Jeep dealership
>>>> (Chrysler) that's been in the family for three generations. I doubt
>>>> they'll make it. On the other side of the equation, people in San
>>>> Antonio, Tupelo, Montgomery, Jackson, etc. are ready to hustle at $40
>>>> an hour. If we didn't allow for failure we'd still be driving Hudsons
>>>> and Packards.
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:47 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>>>> And too many dealerships holding too much finished inventory.  Now
>>>>> that the shock has worn off from the meltdown I'm remembering how
>>>>> perfectly awful the prospect of not being a leader in the steel
>>>>> industry seemed in the 70s.  Let 'em declare chapter 11 - no loan wi
>>>>> thout stiff terms.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bill Ford was being interviewed yesterday and still pandering to the
>>>>> UAW.  If Chrysler could shake the union and close a third of their
>>>>> dealerships they'd be well along the way.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 4:34 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>>>>>> David,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Saw that earlier.  I flew the San Antonio trip all of October and
>>>>>> talked to the locals about the new Toyota Tundra truck factory there.
>>>>>> They've been doing mostly training and waiting for better times.  The
>>>>>> new Toyota factory in Tupelo, MS is slowing down opening.  Chrysler
>>>>>> usually shuts down for two weeks at Christmas for maintenance anyway
>>>>>> so this is only two more weeks of shutdown, but, the UAW workers draw
>>>>>> 95% pay during the shutdown. GM has some divisions that would do very
>>>>>> well on their own. The Corvette would be fine in its niche.  Shanghai
>>>>>> Buick is doing well.  Their trucks sell well.  I don't see how loaning
>>>>>> them money will do anything but prolong the inevitable. They have the
>>>>>> same problem as the passenger airlines - too many seats chasing too
>>>>>> few asses.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:18 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> And so it begins.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Time for Toyota and Ford to steal market share...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Time for GM to fold up the rest and become Chevrolet Corporation...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> NEWS ALERT
>>>>>>> from The Wall Street Journal
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dec. 17, 2008
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Chrysler said it will idle all manufacturing operations at the end of
>>>>>>> the day Friday for at least a month in an effort to align production
>>>>>>> and inventory with U.S. market demand.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For more information, see:
>>>>>>> http://wsj.com?mod=djemalertNEWS
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For complete coverage of Detroit in Crisis, see:
>>>>>>> http://online.wsj.com/public/page/auto-industry.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
>>>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>>
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>>> --
>>>>> David Bradley
>>>>> +1.206.234.3977
>>>>> dwbrad at gmail.com
>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>       
>>>>         
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>>>
>>>     
>>>       
>>   
>>     
>
>

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