I grew up 60 miles from Flint. Back in the '60s and early '70s, a lot of people thought they'd died and gone to heaven if they got a job with Ford, GM or Chrysler. It was a good wage and, at that time, thought to be guaranteed employment with a nice retirement. Unfortunately, the unions shot themselves in the foot. They kept demanding bigger and better contracts. All this at a time when quality sucked big time. These union guys wanted big pay for producing an inferior product. Remember the Vega? The Pinto? Along came Toyota, with its nifty Corolla. The American car makers couldn't compete, jobs were lost.
Wow...blaming the UAW for the collapse of the big three? Sure the union was bargaining for increases in wages...that's what unions are for.
At the same time corporate profit continued to go up. Executive salaries continued to go up. Management salaries continued to go up. Labor only wanted their fair share.
The big three was a very profitable business. Then along came the cheap imports from Japan. But calling these vehicles "cheap" only refered to the price. The cars were very well designed. They were designed completely through the manufacturing process. It was the Japanese that pioneered advance manufacturing processes and the use of robotics.
The real cause of the decay of the American auto industry was complacency within management and engineering. Labor was just doing what they were told to do, they way they were told to do it. It was management that was asleep at the wheel. Hell the Japanese proved that, and then they came here to America and operated profitable auto manufacturing using American Labor.
Certainly cost of labor was a contributing factor in the demise of the big three. Japanese labor was cheaper. But the whole industrial culture in Japan was very oppressive to the Japanese worker. Many worked 10 to 12 hours a day...7 days a week. And they did this for less money than the typical GM worker. This same work ethic went right to the top, with management doing the same long hours.
The result was a better auto for less money. It was not a result of Labor prices alone. It was the result of efficiencies in the entire business.
Another factor was that the Japanese cars were more fuel efficient as well. When the oil crunch came in the 70's, the Japanese cars were getting twice the mileage of American cars. As sales went down, the American manufacturers continued to produce big gas guzzling cars. American consumers turned to the smaller more efficient Japanese cars in droves. The market share for the big three plummeted...all the while they kept on doing things the same old way...like lemmings heading off a cliff.
In short it was not the UAW that killed Detroit. It was the big three management that killed an industry. It pisses me off that you are so glib about American labor. Americans continue to be one of the most productive workers in the world. You have it all wrong about the UAW. Your story about Unions killing the auto industry in America is not true.
But now as manufacturing techniques have matured, they can be exported anywhere in the world. Then if management and engineering is on a par country to country, factory to factory, Labor does become a factor. Quality in modern manufacturing can be held to high standards. But should we simply move all our manufacturing ability to foreign countries where people are so poor that they will work all day for five dollars? Their kids have no education, they have no health care. They live in shacks and shanties.
Is this what we want to bring to the world? Turning poor workers the world over into slaves, while corporate profits soar?
I don't think so.
Orca |
