Shark you sound like a Union Rep.
I believe they should live up to their promises regarding pensions but not at my expense. The labor unions have painted the former Big 3 into a corner by negotiating pension plans that would bankrupt almost any company. Should I pay for their mistakes?
Joe,
I may sound like a Union rep, but you sound like an uninformed boob. You say the Union s negotiated the big three into a corner with pension plans???
This is the typical conservative talk radio jibberish expressed by blowhards who cant resist attacking the american worker by blaming both the worker and the union responsible for creating a working enviroment that is beneficial to middle class americans.
The "pensions" are NOT the reason american companies are failing to sell cars... Dont be an idiot. The price of ANY american car is structured chock full of fat, it drives up the price of cars to a point where consumers no longer want to sacrifice quality for loyalty.
In the sticker price of a new car (Maroney Sticker) , it includes thousands of dollars of built in profit centers for the dealer. For example, The retail price of the car may be 35000, the invoice price may be 31200, the dealer tells the consumer that his cost is 31200, but it isnt. There is a dealer holdback incentive in the cost price that protects the dealer, there is an advertizing charge including in that cost, there is a flooring percentage that is built into the price, There is an area dealers charge included for local advertising, there is a percentage charge to the cost for units sold.. also included is the REBATE totals that the customer is told he/she is getting which is nothing more than the customer financing thier own money. When it is all said and done, the cost of the car should actually be around 26500.
Even if you cancelled every pension for every domestic auto worker, the cost of the cars and trucks would remain the same and they STILL wouldnt sell. However, its not the price of the cars that are preventing them from being sold. Consumers are paying 40K and 50K for imports all day long my friend so the price threshold isnt the problem. You need to take a closer look.
However, since the BIG THREE decided to try and cheat thier respective way out of union contracts by outsourcing to foreign countries, thier had a short run gain monetarily yet, in the long run PAINTED themsleves into a financial disaster because they failed to realize what would happen to the pension programs that were being funded by new american employees being hired. Once new american workers stopped being hired, the companies themsleves had to contribute the money without the benefit of an employee paying into the system. (1 dollar in 1 dollar out) Now it is heavily under funded and that funding had to be switched over to the cost of the cars directly (in the sticker price)
Let me give you an example: in 1980, their were 21 million working Teamsters in the USA, when a Teamster retired, there were 15 people contributing to the pension fund thru thier paychecks. As companies began outsourcing in the the REAGAN administration, pension programs began to fail. Today, there are 1.7 million working Teamsters in the USA and for every 3 retirees there are .50 employees contributing to the pension program.
Even you can figure out that while there are 20 million fewer Teamsters contributing, the future retirees may not realize thier pensions... But this is the problem in our country today. There are many americans on this board today who believe they have a pension coming, and when they retire, they may find that thier pensions have been sent to the PBGC and there 20 years of service to a company sold out from under them.
The only people "painting" anyone into a corner is an administration like the current one who is on a direct attack against the working middle class of this country.
Profits before people, or Trickle Down economics hurts the american woker. It failed under REAGAN and its failing today.
You want to blame anyone for the failures of the big three, blame the corporations. They use the crappy parts made in mexico, the alternators that are good for 24 months because FORD uses the cheapest wiring and components possible. Take a visit to an AC DELCO plant in JUAREZ mexico and see the wiring harnesses being constructed by illiterate mexican citizens and that harness ends up in your JIMMY and you burn up on the side of the road on a long trip and you dont have any understanding why?
How about those trannys that keep falling apart? Blame a canadian. The list goes on and on.... But you my friend, want to blame the union.
There is plenty of blame to go around, but if you buy imports,, then blame yourself.
Without the backing of the american public the big three are doomed to fail, some will have to merge with Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi but then instead of Mopar, Gm & FOMOCO, youd better be ready for TRD, HRD & NISMO.
Everyone wants to take everyones pensions away and a sacrifice to the american worker and his family, then to top it off, those same people want to take social security away and medicare....what would be left?
The days of TWO CLASS America ended in 1895 MR JOE. The middle class was created and sustained by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and guys like you are not going to end it.
Indeed, you have a President who has done all he can to take American jobs and ship them overseas and replaced them with food service jobs who only hire the illegal worker who contribute nothing to the social security system... (1 dollar out 0 dollars in)
In fact, in the latest manufacturing statistics released by this administration, the manufacturing sector of this country is now 76% overseas.... it was 71% here in the states in 8 years under Bill Clinton.
This is a huge turn around and one which should alarm any american working in the manufacturing field. Companies like WALMART offer low prices, but those prices come at a cost. If you pitch a product to WALMART that you design, build or assemble here in the states, WALMART forces you to shut down your operation and move it to china. Yes, the owner benefits, but all those employees who helped make the products here in the states are now unemployed.
You call this capitalism. I call it the death of america. When we become so reliant on foreign countries to exist (BUSH HAS BORROWED 100's of billions from china) then this country is all but doomed to fail
As americans, we have an obligation to protect what is the right to have equity.
So JOE, do you have anything else you would like to discuss?
Peace.
