Blaming the Unions

[Joanne98]

We all know the Republicans and their sponsors in the corporate supremacy movement are out to destroy organized labor. It's part of their ideology, and they've been chipping away at the unions for years. And now they have the biggest private sector prize of all in their sights: the UAW. Senate Republicans circulating a memo encouraging their members to mount an assault on the UAW as part of the proposed bailout for auto companies. The GOP and their allies in the corporate media then spent a great deal of airtime blaming the UAW for Detroit's problems. And the media has played right along, citing an utterly false assertion that GM workers earn an average wage of $70 or more per hour, compared to US-based workers in Japanese auto companies who supposedly earn much less. That number is completely off base, as it was calculated by taking into account the benefits paid to retirees, as well as other figures designed to inflate the number. But it hasn't stopped the media outlets from parroting the $70+ figure right, left, and center.

The real cash wage for these workers in 2006 was $39.68. According to GM:

TOTAL COMPENSATION
The total of both cash compensation and benefits provided to GM hourly workers in 2006 amounted to approximately $73.26 per active hour worked. This total is made of two main components: cash compensation ($39.68) and benefit/government required programs ($33.58).
The average annual cash compensation for hourly employees in 2006 was $39.68 per hour. Included in average earnings are straight-time pay, Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), night-shift premiums, overtime premiums, holiday and vacation pay. In 2003, GM workers logged 41,363 (hours in 000's) in overtime hours for an average of 371 hours per worker; in 2004, 39,409 overtime hours for an average of 374 hours per worker; in 2005, 33,555 overtime hours for an average of 337 hours per worker; and in 2006, 27,265 overtime hours for an average of 315 hours per worker.

Benefit/government required programs in 2006 added an additional $33.58 for each active hour worked. These costs include: group life insurance, disability benefits, and Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB), Job Security (JOBS), pensions, unemployment compensation, Social Security taxes, and hospital, surgical, prescription drug, dental, and vision care benefits.

So these supposedly rich, profligate union auto workers are averaging around $39 per hour in cash pay. And that's before taxes. And this graphic (from the New York Times) makes it clear that much of the auto makers' labor costs come from "legacy costs" or what they promised to retirees:

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http://desmoq.blogspot.com/2008/12/blaming-unions.html

[OregonBlue]

1. And yet those same "Toyota" Senators will collect full pensions and benefits for life when they

retire. It's just amazing that the people who destroyed our nations economy will get full benefits while insisting that workers who spent their whole lives working hard at these plants are being asked to give up what they worked so hard for.

Don't forget that many of these same jerks who will be feeding at the public trough for life are millionaires.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. I love the phrase "Toyota Senators" but I think Corporate Senator is better. n/t

[doc03]

3. You bring up a good point the companies always include

overtime in that figure. That's an old trick the companies use they always work short handed so you are constantly forced to work overtime. While that inflates the apparent labor costs it actually saves them tons of money because if they can force 2 workers to do the hours of three they save on paying into benefits for that third worker. Another thing the American Auto companies have been around for a hundred years and they have to pay pensions. The transplants haven't been here long enough to have many pensioners and they probably have Defined Contribution plans and therefore no legacy costs from them anyway.