Mike - I have heard that figure recently also - I believe that $78/hour figure is based on the total expenditure the manufacturer makes in terms of not only salary, but the entire benefit package - healthcare & retirement funds included. However, even at a 27% figure I found that represents benefits only, it's still well over $100,000/year income - but a quick websearch I did makes it comparable to other industries in the US - maybe why we're finding washing machines and other home appliances made overseas now, too.
[Forwardlook-related content:] Anyone have any idea what an assembly line autoworker made in the late 50s? And how does that compare to the sales price of the car at that time?
John Spiers
Lake Worth, Florida.
--- On Mon, 11/17/08, Mike Apfelbeck <moparmike72@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Mike Apfelbeck <moparmike72@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Where is everyone?
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 2:59 PM
I heard the other day that the average Detroit(UAW member) assembly line worker
costs the car company approximately $78 per hour in wages and benefits. Since I
make about a fourth of that amount, in my job, I can't afford to buy one of
their products. I spend my money on whatever I perceive to the best value, I
don't feel obligated to pay extra just to support some bloated union scale.
The " little guy" in Detroit should be worried about how his union is
pricing him out of the job market.
Mike
At 08:18 AM 11/17/2008, Anthony C. Boatman wrote:
> For decades the Big Three dug in their heels and fought against any type
of change to make their cars better or safer. They fought against seat belts,
stronger bumpers, collapse zones, better mpg, you name it. Now they are reaping
the results.
>
> Best thing would be for them to go bankrupt and reorganize under that
protection with a commitment to start building better cars more suitable to the
realities of the 21st century.
>
> If government need has a role in this at all, it should be to prop up the
pension plans and benefits for retired workers, so they don't get clobbered
in the process. But I'm something of a socialist at heart, so I'm
worried about the little guy, not the top execs.
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