janet_reno_jr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> On May 11, 7:48 pm, SgtMinor <Sa...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> The UAW has been instrumental in raising wages and working conditions
throughout American industry.
>
> And they've about priced themselves out of business.
>
> I'm all for good wages, conditions and living standards - for
> everybody.
>
> That aside - Follow the money.
>
> How many new car plants are being built or expanded in Michigan? How
> many are being closed or scaled down?
>
> Same questions for the southeast will produce a much different answer.
>
> Ford - classic case. A few years back their motto was "Quality is Job
> 1". The battle cry now is "Ford quality is now equal to Toyota".
> What changed?
>
It may be fa****onable in right-wing circles to blame unions for all the
problems of the auto industry, better yet, the country, but once again,
such an over-simplification misses the point. And why are unions the
only organizations to blame for high wages? Aren't labor agreements
NEGOTIATED, and didn't management sign every labor agreement? Did the
union hold a gun to these idiots' heads?
American car manufacturers are not competitive for three main reasons:
1. Labor inefficiency. Japanese manufacturers are about 20% more
efficient than their American competitors. American bosses have
traditionally been at war with their employees and look at them as a
necessary evil rather than partners in their business. If you create a
climate of fear, workers will seek protection. Unions are needed to
protect workers for inept managers. Japanese companies, with some
exceptions, then to respect their workers and seek their inputs.
2. Crappy cars that suck gas and break down. Every time American
companies cut costs they did so by removing quality from the automobile.
Quality was an afterthought.
3. Health care costs. America is the only major car manufacturing
country without universal health care.
The American car industry has been blind for the past 60 years to what's
been going on all around them. They ignored, no, rejected the advice of
W. Edwards Deming, who then was welcomed by the Japanese and taught
them statistical quality control. Many of the techniques Deming
introduced to the Japanese were the product of another American, Walter
Shewhart. This gave the Japanese an advantage that the US manufacturers
have still not been able to match.
American car executives took American buyers for granted and sold them a
bunch of shoddy goods. Today's consumers are no longer impressed by the
"made in the USA" label as it stands for nothing.
The problem with the American car business is management. In 2007, with
GM re****ting its third annual loss in a row, CEO Rick Wagoner made $14.4
million - a 40% raise. Ford Motor Co. posted a record $12.7 billion net
loss in 2006, yet gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four
months on the job. Chrysler just hired Home Depot flame-out Robert
Nardelli, another slash-and-burn executive, to head up the company.
Clearly, it's all the UAW's fault.
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