Quote:
Originally Posted by Independent
Remember that, according to the UAW, their wages and benefits only amount to 8.4% of the final retail cost of cars. I'd guess that's 10% of the wholesale cost. So a 30% cut in total compensation only equals 3% of gross revenue. That's not trivial, it's tough to be profitable when you start 3% behind, but I keep looking for bigger numbers somewhere.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by . . . Yrs to Go
I hear them say this, but it doesn't jibe with the oft-quoted statistic that GM pays $1,500 per vehicle just for health care benefits.
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Yes, I'd like to see the numbers also.
I just spent a bit of time at the UAW site. They seem to like to talk out of both sides of their mouth. Right from their FAQ page, they link to this info:
About - Frequently Asked Questions
Research Bulletin
Quote:
How does union pay compare to non-union pay?
The latest data from the BLS show that union workers in the private sector earn significantly more than their non-union counterparts. As the table below shows, the union advantage in wages and salaries was $4.11 per hour in March 2004; that’s worth over $8,500 for full-time, full-year workers. The advantage grows to $9.66 per hour ($20,000 per year) when benefits are included in the calculation.
Average Hourly Compensation – March 2004
Total Compensation
Union / NonUnion / Union Advantage
$31.94 / $22.28 / $9.66
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That is
43.36% union over non-union delta.
So that's the data when they want to show all the good the UAW does for it's members. But, when they want to downplay this for the public, on the home page of the same site, they say this:
Save Auto Jobs: Debunking the $70-per-hour myth
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More important, and contrary to what you may have heard, the wages aren't that much bigger than what Honda, Toyota, and other foreign manufacturers pay employees in their U.S. factories.
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average wages for workers at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors were just $28 per hour as of 2007
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the best estimates suggests the corresponding 2007 figure for these "transplants" -- as the foreign-owned factories are known -- was ... most likely around $24 or $25..
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So, now they cherry pick the year and the basis (excluding benefits) to come up with a
14.3% union over non-union delta.
And neither number appears to include legacy costs, so these are more representative of what an employee is actually receiving in compensation (wages plus benefits).
So, I would be interested in knowing how these figures break down on a per car or per $ basis. But I'm not going to accept any number w/o some background to understand what that number represents.
- ERD50