Stop Blaming the UAW
“The most recent hourly unit labor cost per new car is about fifteen percent.”1 “The automakers are asking Congress for $34 billion… If the entire labor force volunteered to work for free next year, that would save [the big three] about $18 billion.” 2 Unionized labor is not to blame for the big 3′s troubles.
Yesterday (Dec. 10, 2008) Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) spoke at length on NPR’s All Things Considered about his opposition to the US automakers loan request. He used the term “antiquated” when describing unions in “today’s world.” This struck me as both naive and shortsighted.
Maybe DeMint rarely travels outside the US. Or maybe he sticks to the resort towns when venturing south-of-the-border. None-the-less, his ignorance of present day human-rights violations committed by individuals pursuing private monetary gain should automatically void his position as a US senator.
Mr. DeMint, not only have unions been responsible for creating better working conditions and fairer wages in the US, they’re also giving hope to workers around the world. Yes, unions are not free of problems and corruption. You know, unlike an under-regulated capitalist economy which favors greed over basic human rights…
1 Change in Car Production Costs: the Effects on Dm, Dl, Oh
2 Blaming the workers
EDIT (12-15): New York Times Article: $73 an Hour: Adding It Up
Along with the automakers, the union built the middle class of this country. I really think that that should be the end of this discussion. But of course it is not.
It runs contrary to the free market idealism espoused by the Foghorn Leghorn contingent of the GOP that the union should accept less than what the market can provide. I do think, however, the unions deserve their bad rap in part. My old roommate, for example, was a union worker on the line at Ford. In the three years he lived with me, he worked maybe two months. He was on disability for the remainder. See, his dad was a union rep, and got his son off on disability for – ready – high-blood pressure. And he made more than $65,000 a year. That kind of corruption runs rampant among the rank-and-file. THAT is what they need to fix, as that is, in my mind, one of the foremost reasons that the unions are everyone’s whipping boy.
Now, I only raise that as an example of a problem with the union. I sure as hell don’t agree with the Shelby-ization of American jobs.
Union reform is definitely a necessity. I grew up in a union family (father was/is a member of UAW local 400). I have enough stories of shifty union worker behavior to fill a novel. But one thing I’ve noticed from working in the corporate non-unionized world for 8 years is no company has immunity against deadbeat employees. We had someone out for 5 months collecting disability with a similar ailment to your story.
As far as The Big Three and “the union [building] the middle class of this country.” You’re %100 right, the downside of that is noted in the above NYTimes article:
That’s a lot of eggs in one basket…