Then should we add the cost of steel to my wage? I know the costs are there but that doesn't make it my wage. Toyota workers make the same wages as uaw workers do. They just haven't been around long enough to have significant retiree costs. Toyota and Honda will have these costs in the next 20 years once their workers start to retire. Unions are why the non union workforce has paid holidays, paid vacations, paid sick days, health care, pensions, and every other benefit there is. Let the unions go away and you will see the average wage in non union shops drop 50% overnight.
Iceman,
Let me say I hope you make all the money you can. I truly wish you the best. My livin GF just lost her job Thursday. It has been brutal on her, no sleep, depressed etc. I know how these things can affect families and I truly wish the best for you and yours.
However.... In your own statement you state that your wages would be cut by half if not for the union. That confirms that you and I believe the same thing, that the wages are artificially high and if true market forces were to prevail they would drop by half. We agree. What we don't agree on is whether or not I, the taxpayer, should be the one making up this difference for you. Provide help for a while if you have a good plan? Yes, I'm for that. Unfortunately that plan will have to include returning wages to market levels so your company can survive for the long term, insuring you will have a job without moving to Mexico.
Your assumptions about health care and retirees at Toyota catching up to them in 20 years is false. Do the research on Google, its there. They are not burdened by the same contracts negotiated by Unions that the Big Three are. They have 401ks and defined benefit plans etc. That is why you must fix your model today to insure your future.
Again, I ask you, do you think its a coincidence that all the new plants choose to locate in right to work states, away from the main supply chain of parts? It would certainly be easier on them to not locate away from suppliers. They do it because they have to to survive and thrive. Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, are becoming the new Detroit and the momentum is gaining.
BTW, if you read The Bricks post above, his insights mirror my beliefs pretty well. I too, have been hammered by this economy. I have not taken a paycheck from any of my companies since January. All of my employees have never missed a paycheck and they never will. When I did have to lay off employees, I gave them 90 days notice, and 90 days serverance pay. That gave them a half year to find other employment. I am not against employees. I am all for them. I am from a union family.
I personally think every business owner should take one month a year to live on the wage of his or hers lowest paid employee. I don't mean move out of your house, but on groceries, gas, clothes, entertainment, health care, etc, try to only spend what your lowest paid employee makes.
In closing, in no way is this an attack on you. I want the system fixed for a better America. Lets do it now, instead of doing it later. I am certainly open to the fact that my opinons are just that, opinions. I most certainly am not always right as I get pointed out to me every day by my gf! I truly wish you all the best in life.
Pekkerwood