tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post7892838248641558910..comments2023-10-23T09:41:22.599-04:00Comments on STONE SOUP MUSINGS: Think losing the Big 3 will be a mere blip? Think again.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06875378679299157108noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-67985249156123055422008-11-20T14:48:00.000-05:002008-11-20T14:48:00.000-05:00The Reckoning is one of Halberstam's best books. L...<I>The Reckoning</I> is one of Halberstam's best books. Like a lot of them, it ends in a rush, giving you the idea that he looked up and noticed a deadline approaching. But like his other books, it's exceptionally well written and more cohesive than a lot of them.<BR/><BR/>One thing I learned it was that when Robt McNamara was the head of Ford before becoming Kennedy's Sec'y of Defense, he badly wanted to build a fuel-efficient, reliable, no frills car. <B><I>And the bureaucracy at Ford was so entrenched and the dealers had so much power that even the CEO of the company couldn't get it done!</I></B> I'm oversimplifying, but this opened the door for the Japanese companies. They spent the 60's getting a foothold in the American market, and when the oil crisis of the 70's hit, they were ready and have never looked back.K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10222703055177237209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-45009538483367026402008-11-20T14:10:00.000-05:002008-11-20T14:10:00.000-05:00K, I finally had a chance to sit down and read the...K, I finally had a chance to sit down and read the whole article. You're right, Wilson was no hero, and had the entire country listened to Reuther, corporations and pensions would have been better off.<BR/><BR/>Gee, a union guy was smarter than the top honchos. Who would of thought? ;-)<BR/><BR/>Did you also take note of how much Wilson paid in income tax back then versus what CEOs pay today? Big difference. <BR/><BR/>I've never read Halberstam's book, but several people have mentioned it to me. I'll add it to my wish list.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06875378679299157108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-40698674143435674412008-11-19T14:09:00.000-05:002008-11-19T14:09:00.000-05:00"BTW, thanks for the link. I didn't know that Wils..."BTW, thanks for the link. I didn't know that Wilson proposed the pension plan. A CEO with heart."<BR/><BR/>Read the article before you give Engine Charlie too much credit. It was part of an effort to head off both horizontal and vertical union organizing. It's too complex for me to explain here, but had the auto industry gone in the direction the unions were contemplating, they arguably would not be in such a fix today.<BR/><BR/>BTW, I may have asked this before, but have you read David Halberstam's <I>The Reckoning</I>? It's a must for anyone interested in the automotive business.K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10222703055177237209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-53303019496395538362008-11-19T10:44:00.000-05:002008-11-19T10:44:00.000-05:00K, you're right that working people shouldn't have...K, you're right that working people shouldn't have to apologize for making a good living. Lower and middle-class (really middle-class, not the $5 million in earnings McCain mentioned) people should support each other in their efforts to do better instead of working against one another. <BR/><BR/>BTW, thanks for the link. I didn't know that Wilson proposed the pension plan. A CEO with heart. <BR/><BR/>Jason, as I mentioned in my post, the labor gap between Toyota and the Big-3 is shrinking and by 2011 Toyota's expenses could exceed those of the domestic autoworkers. <BR/><BR/>Also, from the <A HREF="http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/pm134" REL="nofollow">EPI</A>:<BR/><BR/><I>Union auto workers have already taken substantial hits on pay and benefits. For example, contracts negotiated in 2007 slashed wages for new workers by 50%. In addition, <B>new workers will not be guaranteed any retiree health care benefits, and will not participate in the traditional defined-benefit pension plan</B>. On top of that, the UAW agreed that the responsibility for health care benefits for existing retirees would be transferred from the auto companies to an independent trust, called a Voluntary Employee Benefits Association. <B>Analysts now believe that the labor cost gap between the Detroit-based auto companies and the foreign transplants will be largely or completely eliminated by the end of the current contracts.</B></I><BR/><BR/>Besides, how will it help our economy to ask workers to reduce their incomes even further at this point in time? We need to put more money into people's hands so they can spend it. Part of the reason we're in this recession is because people aren't spending money.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06875378679299157108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-25096444087141432412008-11-19T09:03:00.000-05:002008-11-19T09:03:00.000-05:00The UAW needs a little tough love. It derailed th...The UAW needs a little tough love. It derailed the Cerberus deal at Delphi. Today GM suffers a loss of about $2,000 per vehicle sold. On the other hand Toyota whose employees are not part of the UAW earns a profit of about $1,200 per vehicle sold. If GM was able to operate with labor prices near Toyota’s it would have pocketed an additional $29,715,200,000.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://nomedals.blogspot.com/2008/11/gm-bailout-makes-no-sense.html" REL="nofollow">GM bailout nonsense </A>Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11707747781007743555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-13384502631474271162008-11-18T22:20:00.000-05:002008-11-18T22:20:00.000-05:00If the bailout would offer some guarantee that the...If the bailout would offer some guarantee that they would retool and make a product to support lifetime pension, I would be all for it. Sadly, I am not convinced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18370478.post-40739299191839596112008-11-18T21:58:00.000-05:002008-11-18T21:58:00.000-05:00Even if auto workers were making $71/hr, so what? ...Even if auto workers were making $71/hr, so what? No working man should have to apologize for making a good living.<BR/><BR/>This article is very informative:<BR/><BR/>http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/28/060828fa_fact<BR/><BR/>For example, did you know that Charlie Wilson originally proposed the GM pension plan, and that Walter Reuther was skeptical?K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10222703055177237209noreply@blogger.com