Posted on 12/14/2008 7:36:10 PM PST by pabianice
A senior member of the United Auto Workers, working on a Detroit assembly line, makes approximately $3,270 a week in pay and benefits for a 40-hour week. After work he drives home to be with his family.
The commanding officer of a US Navy aircraft carrier makes approximately $2,900 a week in pay and benefits for a 80-100 hour week. On the job, unpleasant people he does not know will try to kill him. He has no "after work."
Please. Someone. Anyone. Explain to me again the UAW's angry rationale for their compensation demands.
It defies logic, and makes sane folk mad.
I can’t explain the UAW’s rationale, but the difference between the two is a question of loyalty.
Greed, pure and simple, exactly what they accuse management of.
The rational of the UAW is what the union wants not the members. The members would probably like to keep their jobs but the cuts means the union will make less $$.
That line, if true, is enough to cause me to say "to hell with them" re: the whole US auto industry. I own my own company. I built it up from scratch. Last year I grossed 245,000 dollars, before rent, staff salaries, and all the other expenses. I have been in this business 16 years. I have a masters degree and I am GOOD at what I do.
THERE IS SIMPLY NO EXCUSE for this kind of irresponsible, bloated wasteful salary structure, when you are begging for the kind of bailouts these people are asking for.
Let em fold. I will drive a Honda. It is 100 per cent American made.
“Explain to me again the UAW’s angry rationale for their compensation demands.”
Two things: Power and greed.
They’re Communists.
They take what they want.
My brother is retired from GM, and he gets complete Medical, Dental and Optical benefits for $10 per month, and prior to their last contract, he paid nothing....the $10 was a big “concession” that the UAW made.
I’m a retired Department of Defense employee and I pay $372 per month for medical only. Optical and dental comes out of my hide.
The only folks around here that get a deal as good as my brother are the school teachers. When they tried to make them pay $5 per month toward their healthcare, they went on strike and got their way (I’m in PA).
Detroit should have stood up to the unions long ago, but didn’t. As long as they could just jack up the price of the car or cut corners/quality, they didn’t care as long as they could still make money. Many Americans have tried to “buy American” to support them, but obviously, the favor has not been returned.
Whatever the autoworkers are making, the owners agreed to it; whatever the CEOs of the auto companies are making, the stockholders agreed to it. If you don't like union products, don't buy them. If you don't like what CEOs make, don't buy stock in the company.
If members of the US Armed Forces make less than comparable union and even nonunion workers, then we should demand that Congress and the Department of Defense take action, beginning with across the board pay raises and then perhaps indexing military salaries with the salaries of comparable civilian workers.
On the face this is an injustice; however, under most circumstances the CO of an aircraft carrier never has to come face to face with the enemy.
That said take a look at an Enlisted infantry Marine, or soldier, that maybe makes $2900 A MONTH and most certainly meets his enemy eye to eye. Oh yeah, and then have Kongress discuss cutting funding to the very war you have your life on the line fighting. You're still there, but the money isn't.
Of further disgust.... the big3 need a bailout through no fault of their own, the UAW, and most certainly NOT the fault of dems/fannie/freddie......but the war in Iraq is an epic failure and we can never admit THE SURGE WORKED
“...perhaps indexing military salaries with the salaries of comparable civilian workers. “
I don’t disagree with what I believe is your intent, but I don’t believe the infantry has any comparable civilian workers :)
They are angry because their years of manufactured lower achievement built through socialist collectivism has turned a once gold-standard industry into a second rate den of vipers.
IMHO
I was an Army guy, so I don't know a whole lot about aircraft carriers, but I suspect they are commanded by an O-6 or O-7, putting them on par with an Army Brigade Commander or Assistant Division Commander. I was never aware of any that didn't spend their time in the line...although they were no doubt, doing so at a much lower pay grade :-) That's not to say they necessarily saw enemy fire, but were certainly in positions where they could have, and no doubt trained acordingly.
You’ve never worked in a union job, have you? The theory is that a workers pay should be based on how long they’ve been working there and not how good of a worker they are or anything like that. Thus the unions believe they deserve that pay for sticking around.
Get your point. How about SWAT teams, civilian bomb squads, HAZMAT crews, smoke jumpers, undercover narcotics investigators, and jobs like that? Those guys take big risks. I’m not saying that civilian and military jobs are going to line up one to one, but at least it would give Congress and the DOD a place to start in increasing military salaries.
Greed.
They want what they have always had, and don’t want to ‘suffer’ any loss.
“You’ve never worked in a union job, have you?”
The unions also cripple production because any improvements are seen as bad. So if technology is available to allow someone to build 10 cares a week instead of 5 - that is seen as evil because it might take someone’s job away or cause more work for someone
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