[gordoUSA]

Can’t blame it all on the Unions. They have been giving up wages and benefits for 20 years now. New wages now begin @ $14.00 p/hour. In some sort of new tier system. Henry Ford believed if his own workers could not afford to buy the product they were making, his company would fail. At $14.00 p/hour the new workers can still probably buy a few of the cars Ford and GM offer.
The blame with the American auto makers is that they design crap cars!!!
…..
Both GM and Ford now make autos in Mexico and elsewhere to drive down the cost, close plants and eliminate Union jobs, but have you seen the price of a new car drop?
……
Besides, if a person, Union or otherwise, can get the pay, good for them. Who is it that said “ There is NO SUCH THING as an over inflated salary?” Or “ Everyone is this country is FREE to earn as much as they want.” Hmmmmm. Who would say that?

[TCT]

Originally Posted by chuck3507

The cows milk 25hrs a day 366 days a year!!

C'mon everybody knows you can only milk a cow twice a day. 8)

I remember working those long hours, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Those were the days.

[chuck3507]

Originally Posted by TCT

C'mon everybody knows you can only milk a cow twice a day. 8)

I remember working those long hours, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Those were the days.

Yep, long days and weird hours, but I found a pretty good deal. The pay isn't the best but I get 3000miles or more a week and am by the house almost every day.

[Sheepdancer]

Originally Posted by gordoUSA

Can’t blame it all on the Unions. They have been giving up wages and benefits for 20 years now. New wages now begin @ $14.00 p/hour. In some sort of new tier system. Henry Ford believed if his own workers could not afford to buy the product they were making, his company would fail. At $14.00 p/hour the new workers can still probably buy a few of the cars Ford and GM offer.
The blame with the American auto makers is that they design crap cars!!!
…..
Both GM and Ford now make autos in Mexico and elsewhere to drive down the cost, close plants and eliminate Union jobs, but have you seen the price of a new car drop?
……
Besides, if a person, Union or otherwise, can get the pay, good for them. Who is it that said “ There is NO SUCH THING as an over inflated salary?” Or “ Everyone is this country is FREE to earn as much as they want.” Hmmmmm. Who would say that?

Why did those union jobs go away? Because auto companies decided that they were paying people too much for the work. So even with a union job the free market corrected itself. So I will still say no one is overpaid.(for long) Sometimes wages get too high and the free market corrects itself.
And of course everyone is free to earn as much as they want. If you arent happy with the pay you are getting at one job, you are free to make yourself worth a higher paying job and switch. Or you are always free to do other things for income in your spare time.

[gordoUSA]

Not exactly. The geniuses at the auto companies, made crappy cars which cost them sales. Then they decided they would also carry the paper on those pieces of junk.
No one was holding a gun to the auto makers heads to “force” them to sign the labor deals. Again management made poor decisions in entering into those contracts. They still owe the retirees, and some current employees, $$ billions in retirement fund contributions. In other words they have reneged on their contracts they have agreed to in writing. And it is very doubtful they will make good on their previous contracts.
However, the Unions hierarchy also stole millions from their retirees and union members also. Then they needed more wage concessions from the big 3 to cover their own butts for stealing. But everything comes full circle, once there was a need for the Unions, these new Union style wages helped build the middle class of this country. Then wages and benefits became too high throughout the companies, labor and management, but mostly because the companies could not compete against better made products, and a ballooning payroll of mid level and upper level managers needed to “manage” the new ventures of financing, and debt collections, real estate and mortgage loans, insurance, etc. . Business ventures that had nothing to do with the original company concept, which was making cars. They should have at least spun those new ventures off, separate from the business of making automobiles.
In a honest ‘free market” they should have been allowed to go broke and out of business instead of creating and using various specially written tax rules, exemptions and accounting methods. Which in total amount to forms of “corporate welfare,” which, in the end costs us all money.

[jiptwoo]

Unions, unions, unions, well for 31 years I have been a proud member of the pipefitters, steamfitters union; refrigeration division. I worked hard served a 4 year apprenticeship inclusive of 4 years of school after working all day running pipe thru walls and floors. Or installing a/c units as big as a t/t with electrical control panels the size of a trailers doors with the ability to wire and troubleshoot these systems. With all the repeat customers and continuing work with countless letters of praise to union members for a job well done I will say that we are worth every cent that our contract calls for and the companies that are willing to pay these wages and want only union work. That is called bringing the job in on time and speaks to the quality of work performed. Whether it is a 42 inch carbon steel pipe running 30-40 stories or it is the refrigeration units in the supermarket we do our work with pride. I also have quite a few years doing that old deal; hauling produce ca. to hunts pt. and chelsea, and I have done that with the same pride.