GM soon bankrupt

[Faustian]

Let them eat cake. I say.

 

Make better products, people will buy. Not difficult.

[Tiger Moth]

Union assembly worker wages are down to $14/hr to start (up to a max of ~$22) with no pension benefits and mediocre healthcare package. The middle class steaming full speed in reverse...is that what we want for our country?

I don't get the point. If that wasn't a competitive rate, et al for an uneducated, unskilled worker, no one would take the job.

 

And, that rate is for more recent hires. Those who have been around for a while make more.

 

I know someone who had worked in Thailand for Philips Semiconductor as a semi-skilled worker for $1 an hour.

 

Its a global market - apparently $14 an hour is pretty generous for an unskilled worker.

[Old Hippie]

 

...Union assembly worker wages are down to $14/hr to start (up to a max of ~$22) with no pension benefits and mediocre healthcare package. The middle class steaming full speed in reverse...is that what we want for our country?

 

Cheers,

SD

 

Yes, it is what many want for our country, to see the middle class destroyed, and then we can compete with the poor of the world for the remaining jobs..

 

[Old Hippie]

Union assembly worker wages are down to $14/hr to start (up to a max of ~$22) with no pension benefits and mediocre healthcare package. The middle class steaming full speed in reverse...is that what we want for our country?

I don't get the point. If that wasn't a competitive rate, et al for an uneducated, unskilled worker, no one would take the job.

 

And, that rate is for more recent hires. Those who have been around for a while make more.

 

I know someone who had worked in Thailand for Philips Semiconductor as a semi-skilled worker for $1 an hour.

 

Its a global market - apparently $14 an hour is pretty generous for an unskilled worker.

 

 

You really have no clue, do you?

[..]

I will submit that the cost of living in upcountry Thailand and the cost of living in midwest US makes those salaries equal.

 

And I'd bet a dozen barfines that you wouldn't last a week doing the assy line workers job. Been on the line as an observer and while sorting out procedures, and I'll tell you, they earn every penny.

 

The question is: why do you wish ill on your fellow middle classer? Isn't the American Dream that each generation does better than the last? Are you NOT embarrassed that our generation has failed to supply this for our children? "There but for the grace of God go I" and all that...

 

That's the problem with the myth of individualism. The ruling elite has used it to divide and conquer and our fellow "class" mates are slitting their own throats. Just witness how rich the rich have gotten the past 30 years and how poor the middle class has become. You can't deny the math.

 

Cheers,

SD

[cavanami]

$14 / hr is not much pay for the USA. The cost of living continues to soar!

Property taxes, sales tax...like an average of 8 ~ 10%+

Medical, good luck!

Price of gas..etc

 

Amen, bro...the rich get richer and the middle class is evaporating.

[Tiger Moth]

The question is: why do you wish ill on your fellow middle classer? Isn't the American Dream that each generation does better than the last? Are you NOT embarrassed that our generation has failed to supply this for our children? "There but for the grace of God go I" and all that...

 

I don't wish ill on anyone.

 

I recently read an article featuring IBM CEO Sam Palmisano. In the article he explained IBMâ??s plans to continue to be successful, $90billion per year, using a global strategy. And, this strategy includes retaining many high paying jobs in the US. For example, IBM will be creating a research facility in China because it believes the revenue generated will increase global profits. IBM has outsourced many vanilla software development jobs to India. But, again, IBM has continued to employ over 100,000 well paid individuals in the US. The article also mentioned, IBM rewards employees for expanding and upgrading their skills outside of normal work hours.

I have heard Bill Gates of Microsoft in similar discussions about global markets and Microsoft resources and maintaining high profitability.

How does this apply to GM? Well, GM, as it has been mentioned, has an overhead of $2,000 that goes into every car/truck. It is not impossible for GM to overcome this handicap â?? IBM and Microsoft pay their US employees far in excess of the very vast majority of workers throughout the world, and they are successful. Many other US companies like Johnson & Johnson do as well.

I believe the current CEO of GM (and management team) and past CEOs have not been doing their jobs as well as the CEOs of the many successful US companies. So, they have a $2,000 overhead â?? then they have do better than their competitors, they have to out think, innovate, plan.

Regarding an unskilled worker slapping a piece of rubber over a windshield for $14 an hour compared to someone doing the same somewhere else for $2 an hour â?? that isnâ??t going to cut it. It is the responsibility of the CEO and the unskilled workers to provide productivity such that the compensation differential is offset. I donâ??t know the exact answer â?? not my job â?? but, it is the job of the CEO and the management team and the unskilled workers. Improve the manufacturing process, upgrade the skills of the present unskilled workers (by rewarding them for their skill development efforts outside normal work hours like IBM does) â?? add value to the work being done, increase productivity.

If nothing changes, GM will remain uncompetitive and the unskilled workers will be out of a job.

Let me say this with all sincerity on the record, I would be very happy to see a superb job by the management team at GM and for GM to be a successful as it once was. I would be very happy to see GM have a lot of highly paid workers in the US.

But, a continuation of the past is just going to continue the existing trend line.

 

[Tiger Moth]

And I'd bet a dozen barfines that you wouldn't last a week doing the assy line workers job. Been on the line as an observer and while sorting out procedures, and I'll tell you, they earn every penny.

 

Well, I did spend a fair amount of time loading trucks at UPS - but, that was some time ago.

 

And, I spent time on the floor of Nissan's factory in TN as an observer.

 

See my earlier response. I truly would be happy for good, hard working people to have good lives.

 

You have to admit, the status quo is leading to disaster. I hope GM makes whatever changes are needed to turn things around.

 

If you want to see a heartless response to the situation, how about Mitt Romney:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112000885.html

[..]

We have improved the processes and the wages have remained stagnant over the past couple of decades. I had a graph around here somewhere showing it, but I can't find it. Basically, productivity has risen, while wages have shrank. So the graph looks like an open crocodile mouth.

 

What this means is that people are working harder, producing more, and getting paid less.

 

How is this a good thing? We are chasing our tails...and spiraling ourselves into oblivion. The race to the bottom, so to speak.

 

If we do not have a middle class, who will buy the shit that we (well, not really we per se, but it is ordered from here) make? Henry Ford understood this.

 

The boomer's vision of "me, me, me" vs the greatest generation's version of "we, we, we" is how we got here today!

 

Cheers,

SD

[Tiger Moth]

We have improved the processes and the wages have remained stagnant over the past couple of decades. I had a graph around here somewhere showing it, but I can't find it. Basically, productivity has risen, while wages have shrank. So the graph looks like an open crocodile mouth.

 

What this means is that people are working harder, producing more, and getting paid less.

 

How is this a good thing?

 

 

GM has been falling for many years - upper management has been making millions. It has been their job to see that the company is successful. I don't know why they have failed.

 

I still feel however that it is also the responsibility of management and the UAW to see that the members of the UAW are providing value equal to or greater than their cost relative to the competition. Obviously, if your competitor has a better productivity:cost ratio, you are at a disadvantage, even if you have increased productivity. So, unless some other factor offsets this disadvantage, such as superior design, profits will be negatively impacted.

 

Again, I have no ill will towards anyone. Fine by me if superior design, model selection or whatever more than offset any deficiency in productivity:cost ratio. However, with market share losses and lack of profits, GM has not been producing products that have an appeal that exceeds the costs.

 

The auto industry is your area of expertise (or at least one of them), where do you think the problems have been?

 

I don't think there is anything good about this situation. My wish would be that GMs situation improves - and that responsibility lies at the feet of the people paid millions to see that it improves.