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You mean Republicans killed the bailout. But I thought you are anti-bailout so why wouldn't you tout Republicans? A: Because you hate organized workers too much.

BTW, that last thread you dismissed when I said the $73/hr was a lie? Confirmed: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/business/economy/10leonhardt.html

Seventy-three dollars an hour.

That figure ? repeated on television and in newspapers as the average pay of a Big Three autoworker ? has become a big symbol in the fight over what should happen to Detroit. To critics, it is a neat encapsulation of everything that?s wrong with bloated car companies and their entitled workers.

To the Big Three?s defenders, meanwhile, the number has become proof positive that autoworkers are being unfairly blamed for Detroit?s decline. ?We?ve heard this garbage about 73 bucks an hour,? Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said last week. ?It?s a total lie. I think some people have perpetrated that deliberately, in a calculated way, to mislead the American people about what we?re doing here.?

So what is the reality behind the number? Detroit?s defenders are right that the number is basically wrong. Big Three workers aren?t making anything close to $73 an hour (which would translate to about $150,000 a year).

But the defenders are not right to suggest, as many have, that Detroit has solved its wage problem. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler workers make significantly more than their counterparts at Toyota, Honda and Nissan plants in this country. Last year?s concessions by the United Automobile Workers, which mostly apply to new workers, will not change that anytime soon.

And yet the main problem facing Detroit, overwhelmingly, is not the pay gap. That?s unfortunate because fixing the pay gap would be fairly straightforward.

The real problem is that many people don?t want to buy the cars that Detroit makes. Fixing this problem won?t be nearly so easy.



the reality is that the $70 figure is based on overall costs per employee. Both past and present. These are figures that the unions negotiated and management accepted.

I made a post regarding this topic previously. it is simply the three headed monster

1) shitty management and executives

2) shitty product and unwillingness to adapt (Ford is getting better at this however, they are at least trying to morph)

3) shitty pig headed unions and shitty union wage contracts

i do find it just hilarious that the UAW is playing a dangerous game of chicken though. Dont think for a minute that these companies wont throw themselves into bankruptcy. Having a job at 70% of your previous wage is better than no job at this point.