Wages in the Automotive Industry

[Issachar]

Chrysler pays its workers an average of $75.86 per hour in wages, pension and health care costs, the highest among the Detroit automakers.

In addition to the 49,000 active workers, the company also has about 78,000 hourly retirees and surviving spouses. $75.86 per hour?! Is that a typo?!

Meanwhile, a strike deadline is set for 11AM Wed. by Chrysler if talks don't go well ...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071008/auto_talks.html?.v=7

Issachar

[medbiller777]

No...probably not. This is not what they bring home in their paycheck...but pay plus healthcare, plus retirement, plus other benefits. My hubby is a UAW worker for ummmm....a major manufacturer of "BIG" toys. Every year we get one of these in the mail from company telling us how much per hour my hubby "makes" . Last year I told him to call company and tell them please dump all of our benefits cuz we'd like that wage all in dollars on his paycheck! Some of that is made up like "legal benefits" we get a thing at the end of the year telling us this benefit is worth something like $13,000 and we didn't even use the attorney that year...but guess what we get taxed on those $! :doh

[goinghome]

Yeah, I got one of those "aren't we the greatest company on earth" statements a few years ago too. When I saw the $$ amount they were reporting, all inclusive of benefits and wage, I almost fell over. If only it were tangible money. I never use health benefits anyway and that's the greatest expense. I get sick, doctor sick, about once every 10 or 15 years. What a waste, not that I'm complaining. Thank you so much God for my health!!!!!!!!!:yeah

[HisAlways]

Wow...that's unbelievable. I'll never see that kind of income in my lifetime.

[Beeferoni]

So what now...do we tear down the hard-earned salary and benefits package that the UAW has negotiated for its members with Chrysler because "it's more income that I'll ever see," or do we try and improve the rest of the American economy to the point that more people can make those wages and enjoy those benefits?

Is it a race to the bottom, or a struggle to the top?

What you're looking at with the Chrysler jobs discussed above is the heart of the middle class. These are tough jobs that are hard on the body and often lead to health problems later in life. Good for them that these workers are able to provide for their families.

[medbiller777]

So what now...do we tear down the hard-earned salary and benefits package that the UAW has negotiated for its members with Chrysler because "it's more income that I'll ever see," or do we try and improve the rest of the American economy to the point that more people can make those wages and enjoy those benefits?

Is it a race to the bottom, or a struggle to the top?

What you're looking at with the Chrysler jobs discussed above is the heart of the middle class. These are tough jobs that are hard on the body and often lead to health problems later in life. Good for them that these workers are able to provide for their families.

I don't begrudge them they pay. I get the annual report for the company my hubby works for and after seeing that the CEO (whom we have personally known for the last 15 years) is making bonuses every year of over $2million(not including stocks and other perks). And the company is posting huge profits. Everybody is making their share. Now ask me about some of their really stupid management techniques and I'll tell you a whole different story.

[Issachar]

... or do we try and improve the rest of the American economy to the point that more people can make those wages and enjoy those benefits? If the rest of the American economy was improved; i.e. made right, it wouldn't take nearly that kind of money to get by. It's not a "they get too much" thing as much as it is a reflection on the sad state of the economy.

And as for working hard? Have you ever been in a auto plant? Do you personally know folks in them or do you work in them? Sure there are hazards and some hard work, but that is true for any industry. At the Jeep plant in Toledo, a brand new plant, you grab these two grips in your hands and with very little effort, you "steer" a robot to come up under the car and at the same time with multiple tools, screw the nuts on the exhaust system. My friend and brother in Christ that does this says he wouldn't want to see a cut in pay but that there is no way that this sort of thing is worth $29 per hour. He does dry wall on the side. THAT is work. Then there are those that drive cars off the line. Not really "work"; same wage though. Some folks can get upset with me about saying this, but it's true. In the old plant about 1 mile away, they had couches and tv's and small dorm style refrigerators on the line. I know that there are some guys too that have to work under the car for hours and have a slight stoop to do the work and they have back issues. So it's mixed. If you all are honest and know folks on assembly lines, you know that many of the jobs, especially these days, are not hard. Tedious maybe, but those physiques that many of them have says something about the labor involved.

Issachar

[Resting]

I have to agree with Issachar. My husband worked in the auto industry for many years. The stories he has to tell!

First, let me say that I am glad these people can make so much money...glad for them anyways. BUT, it's WAY TOO MUCH for the kind of job they do. They are actually instructed to keep production slow enough so that they don't "overwork". They are not to do too much per hour...

Husband told me of MANY examples of people reading magazines on the line because they filled their quota of parts for the hour and cannot begin more until the next hour begins...

I am all for people making money-this is part of the capitalistic economy we have. BUT, I think the unions hinder production, ingenuity and hard work in this country...which is also what we the people are supposed to be all about.

I'd like to see the unions OUT of there...and let the workers get paid based on their qualifications, experience, and the difficulty of the job.

My husband didn't get paid HALF of what a union line worker got paid to do...which was so mindless...EASY...just push this button every 5 seconds or so...ridiculous. And husband's job was much more difficult and required lots of skills and qualifications...

I am not trying to sound like I hate the unions--or the workers who work in them...The workers are in the system that protects them...and that's how it works-good for them for getting somewhere like that...

It just seems like the system is broken in this industry.

OK> I'm done now. Thanks.

[Issachar]

Resting, one thing that is true is that there wouldn't be unions if heads of corporations wouldn't have created the conditions that made unions possible. Now though, things have swung the opposite way.

What we need is where everyone in the world seeks and does the Father's will. :)

Issachar

[Resting]

in 100% agreement, Issachar! Unions did do a good service when they first came about.

Now, however, they are squelching the American Way...and companies are now willing to offer reasonable working conditions/wages...

BTW: I love your screen name. My youngest son's name is Isaac...