But to get back to the point you were trying to make.....who do you think buys his tools? It's no different. So saying he's advantaged because dealerships don't provide tools to techs doesn't float, because he has to buy his own tools too.

His point--that he's far better off spending $4,000 in cash for tools, even if you wind up replacing them later; vs. financing $40k or $50k at 30% interest--is 100% valid no matter where someone works.

 

God I would love free tools! I just bought equipment to do proper intake carbon cleaning, where's my union to complain to that I need reimbursed!

Lol! But yeah, that's the point I was making. It's even better to just buy fewer tools on a credit card than doing what so many techs do and then drowning. It's easily avoidable. In that exact same vein the workers at UAW should instead look to perform better and have a structure in place that rewards over performance....for example you do 210% of "standard work target" you get 210% pay and 1.2x PTO.

That would force people to perform and actually give them something for it, then you fight to make sure that the rated 100% work level is a sane level unlike Amazon etc. THAT type of strike I would support 100%

 

in 1964 the 'big 3' didn't have toyota, honda, hyundai, tesla, vw, and so many other huge competitors. their prosperity then allowed them to accept extremely generous packages with unions. so comparing then to today makes no sense. nothing is the same.

your post here saying the big 3's success is dependent on how generous they are with the unions, is detached from reality and as you yourself have conceded, you don't even agree with some of the uaw's latests demands (32 hr week, etc).

so bringing up 1964 etc. is pointless. moaning about the ceo salaries is pointless (even is barra was paid nothing the uaw would still have striked). not seeing how uaw's demands will cripple the big 3... well i guess we'll see how that goes.

 

not if the union workers in the boat are intent on poking holes in it, demanding the captain be put in shackles, and basically espouse marxism.

 

Looks like the strike may soon be over. The expansion of the strike into the big and profitable Spring Hill plant may have finally forced GM into a deal....they were the last holdout.

It's shame the union had to get so tough..and that it had to come to this. All three automakers (but particulalry GM) could have saved lot of this nonsense weeks ago be simply being more conciliatory. But such is life....sometimes one has to stand up for principles and fairness.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...ys-2023-10-30/

 

I wasn’t talking about the UAW or union workers, that should have been pretty obvious. My rising tide floats all boats observation refers to society in general and the probability that we all do better when those at the lowest end of the income spectrum all do better, and the absolute reality that many people work a hell of a lot harder for $15 per hour or less than those here trying to justify it.

again, stress isn’t speaking to a bunch of accountants at a conference in an expensive hotel. How do I know? I’ve done it. stress is rent arrears, medical bills, no money for food and not even living paycheck to paycheck because you’ve payday loaned much of it away before you even get it. That’s the reality of life for many, not the life we mostly lead where we get to waste time talking about our expensive cars.

Posts here seek to validate why they are worth their own high incomes (and they may very well be) but also seek to explain away why it's OK and essentially necessary that others should make less. In other words, it's a zero sum game where for them to win the salary lottery then others have to lose. I don't see it that way. If you have the wherewithal to command a high income, more power to you. But let's also acknowledge that salary inequity is real and it is something we as a society can do something about. The starting point is the living wage, not the minimum wage.

 

working 'hard' isn't a measure of 'value'. will send you a pm.

 

Code for bowing down to the UAW. Pathetic. If they would have done that we'd being seeing at least a 40% increase in salary a 32 hour work week and who knows what else.

 

I think this process needed to carry on the way it did. It's not like the manufacturers completely showed their hand. You have no idea what they else they were holding back or what contingency plans are now in play given the tentative agreements set. If they had gotten to this point right from the jump then Fein and co. would've kept pushing for more.

 

Well hope everyone here likes even higher vehicle prices. The folks that thinks unions winning this is a good thing, time to put your money where your mouth is. They are definitely coming after the foreign automakers. This victory has emboldened to go all out.

 

Apples and Oranges. What is mostly pushing higher prices is the electrification of the industry...not worker benefits. That's not to say that higher wages and benefits will not have ANY impact, but it is minor at best.

 

And there are a lot of those $15 an hour workers that don’t work hard and are fine with it. In America if you work hard enough you can move up out of the $15 an hour wage. With some unionized workers, they don’t want to work harder or more efficient.

 

GMC Average Transaction Price Up 8.9 Percent In June 2023

GM sells very few EVs.

 

Define "minor". Here's an estimate of how much it will cost Ford:

Going forward, Fields said, the automakers are going to have to closely examine their production processes, looking for ways to increase efficiencies to make up for the added labor cost that will result from the new deals. Ford, for example, said that the contract would make each vehicle the company produces around $900 more expensive.
LINK

In the end, it will just cost future US jobs. Biting the hand that feeds is never good way to negotiate.

 

But they are spending a huge amount on their development.