What are “more reasonable labor rates” in your opinion ? Less or more than the job you have ? Are you against Unions in general or just for auto workers ?
Is it a “financially unsustainable model at work” because it allows American workers to make a better living for themselves than Third World workers ? Working for Third World companies with substantially less overhead; vis a vis the environment, health care, protecting workers, retirement and so forth ?
Or is it just that you would like to see American Autos selling for the price of Korean or Chinese made cars period ? (Wal Mart car prices, so to speak.)
Living in a free country, you, as an American, have the right to make that decision for yourself. Either in private – or in a public forum such as this one. Pretty cool system we have here, eh ?
I started this post looking for answers to a problem but, most of what I hear are excuses and gripes. Many of them appear valid. Many of them not valid at all.
At least Obama is doing SOMETHING. He is, for better or worse, raising awareness of all the ins and outs of this complicated and expensive problem; as evidenced by this ongoing forum.
If you are truly “rooting for GM” what do YOU think the everyday American can do to help out ?
While we are debating the nuances of four wheel transportation, HIE-YUN-DIE continues to quietly steal market share.
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Paddy: In terms of “more reasonable labor rates”, I’m going to fall back on my accounting background and opine that what constitutes a more reasonable labor rate is one that doesn’t put the company out of business.
Does that mean I’m anti-labor? Nope, far from it. However, a look at history teaches us that GM, Ford and Mopar were essentially bludgeoned into acceptance of the union’s demands in the 1950s and things went downhill from there.
I read an article by a financially astute pundit who wrote that GM wound up as the world’s largest health insurer that also happened to make and sell cars. The liability tail that they were carrying became unsustainable and there is no debating that point. Do you know why? If you are being honest when you answer that question, you’ll acknowledge the responsibility of the UAW and AFL-CIO in creating and propagating the problem.
Does my saying that mean I’m anti-union and against the American auto worker? No, it doesn’t. What it does mean is that I can look at that situation and see it for what it is: Unsustainable and the result of suicidal negotiating positions by the unions. If what I am saying wasn’t true, GM and Mopar would be ticking along quite happily right now, thank you very much.
I challenge you to refute that assertion and with facts, please. Don’t try and twist it to mean that anyone questioning the unions is anti-labor or anti-American. The jingoistic pseudo-patriotism inherent to your call to us as Americans is unconscionable and hews closely to Dubya’s “You’re with us or against us” nonsense.
Consumers make choices and those companies best able to meet those demands and do so in the most efficient way possible win the business.
I run my own company and I compete every day against players not only bigger than me, but with a longer history in our industry. I win some and I lose some, but I know to compete vigorously and pull out all the stops when doing so. If I forget what makes me successful, or begin to take my clients for granted, I will lose them and eventually will lose my business. It’s that simple. Stay competitive or perish.
Whether it’s GM or the corner barber, the game is the same.
I’ll finish with a good example to rebut what I’m sure will be your follow up argument regarding an unfair playing field with foreign companies.
The US semiconductor industry in the 1980s complained, and justifiably so, about the Japanese policy of “dumping” (undercutting US companies through manipulative pricing schemes). The US government, as always, proved to be of little help in combating this problem. Do you know what ultimately happened? The US companies beat the Japanese by innovating better, engineering better and, ultimately, offering products that the Japanese, even with their government supporting their unfair schemes, couldn’t begin to match. The rest, as they say, is history.
