GM Pact Lets It Move Fourth of Workers to Lower-Paying Jobs

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: Bloomberg.com

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. has the right to shift a fourth of its union labor force to lower-paying jobs by 2011 under a tentative contract reached last week with the United Auto Workers.

GM and the union agreed to label ``in excess of 16,766'' jobs as ``non-core'' positions that pay about half as much as the earnings of 73,500 current UAW members at the largest U.S. automaker, according to the agreement. The jobs won't provide a full UAW pension or retiree health care.

The contract addresses GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's demand that the union help close a $25-to-$30 gap in hourly U.S. labor costs with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Hourly pay and benefits for non-core jobs will be about $28, compared with $51 for current UAW workers, people familiar with the plan have said.

``These rates get them very close to the Toyota labor costs,'' said Kristin Dziczek, an analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ``Its really sets up a mash of the titans'' between GM and Toyota.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ag2EGHt0kFRY&refer=us

[papau]

1. So lower paying jobs means $56,000/yr in pay and benefits - I wonder how much is real cash n/t

n/t

[Delphinus]

2. Hmm ...

seems like, then, when those older workers retire, all new hires will be brought in at the lower-tiered wage and, eventually, if the auto maker survives, all will be making the lower-tiered wage. Is that a correct assessment?

[robcon]

3. That's not it.

It's a new classification of jobs as lower paying ones - not all jobs.

As I understood it, production-oriented jobs (working, for example on the production line) are largely unchanged. The non-production jobs (support, clean-up, non-factory floor positions) are going to be classified as lower-paying jobs.

[Kokonoe]

5. All new workers start at a new lower rate that lasts for years

even line workers.

[madmom]

4. So do these people still have to pay all their dues as well as everything else for less than full

representation? This is BULLSHIT!!!!!!



"GM and the union agreed to label ``in excess of 16,766'' jobs as ``non-core'' positions that pay about half as much as the earnings of 73,500 current UAW members at the largest U.S. automaker, according to the agreement. The jobs won't provide a full UAW pension or retiree health care."

[SquireJons]

6. Really?

I'd be pretty damn happy with $28/hr. I've never made more than $24/hr and my last contract paid me $17/hr (no benefits) as a team lead on an IT project for a fortune 100 company. Everything is relative, I guess. Either things must be really expensive in Detroit, or there are a lot of rich blue collar workers there... and maybe even a healthy market for solid gold coke spoons.

[superconnected]

7. If you had a family to support and you worked for years to get

far higher than that you would care.

I can't work for $24. I can't afford to. Unless I want to eat top ramen and wear used clothes and go to the library instead of buy books at half priced books where I buy them now.

I am not extravagant. I don't like to barely get by either though. I'm in IT too - server admin here. I couldn't pay my rent at all if I took a $17 an hour job and I could barely do it if I took a $24 an hour job(I do not live in a nice place but a cheap place)... I have coworkers that settled for that low though($24 range). They do the same job as me and make $10 less an hour. Now how does that happen. Oh, well, they settled for it.

These poor people at GM did not settle for it. They were sold out by their "leaders" of the union. They'll lose their houses because of that crap or they'll move on, which I highly recommend. The new people coming in will never be able to buy a house on that little salary. I know first hand. Making $10 an hour more barely lets me consider buying a house now.

[madmom]

8. I think rich blue collar worker is an oxy-moron

[Trillo]

9. And don't forget the falling dollar and hyperinflation.

The last decade's dollar is worth considerably less than next decade's dollar. Loaves transform to crumbs.

Thank Goodness the CEO's compensation isn't so limited.