New hires in GM will receive fourteen dollars per hour and no benefits starting last Friday. My husband works for the car industry as an engineer. I can tell you, foreign companies do not follow trade rules and nothing is done about it. I know of examples that I have witnessed first hand.
The reason Toyota pays the wages described by you is because it used to be the going wage in the auto industry. When this is no longer true...they will cease to provide this sort of compensation.
If large companies stop paying people middle class type wages then you can count on some form of national health care. What choice will their be? Do you think people making 14.00 per hour can afford health care premiums?I say give tax breaks to companies that take care of their employees in a reasonable manner and tax the heck our of companies that move jobs overseas. Also, companies that hire illegals should be responsible for their employees health care and social service costs-not the tax payer.
Companies that have the robber baron mentality-Walmart is a prime example- and do not provide any sort of health care while paying their employees low wages in order to reap very large profits will usher in a era of socialization. Their behavior is immoral if not illegal in my opinion. Corporations used to behave in a responsible manner; this is no longer true. Unfortunately, irresponsible, short sighted behavior will lead to government regulation which is never a good idea.
In my lifetime, I have seen the steel industry, the electronics industry, and the garment industry destroyed because of the dumping of foreign products. The auto industry is on the ropes and may not survive. The good jobs the global economy was supposed to provide have not materialized. Instead we see jobs in the customer care, tech and other industries being shipped overseas or we see companies using H1 visas to hire cheaper foreign workers. We see large companies like Home Depot and others no longer providing health care for their employees. McCain has said that displaced workers should be ‘retrained’. He would provide funds. I have heard this for years. My question is retrained for what- Walmart greeters? A great country must have industry to remain great. A country with a consumer driven economy will not remain an economic power.
Whew.... there’s a lot in there to respond to, nyconse....
Let me start with a coupld of qucik statements:
1) Wal-Mart indeed does now offer limited health care coverage to its employees. And, I would say, Wal-Mart’s #1 dedication is to maintain LOW PRICES, not “huge profits”. They do make money... yes... but, their profit margins are pretty tame compared to many companies.
2) The people I know who work for Toyota LOVE working there. It’s absolutely the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. If only American auto managers could steal a few ideas.
I am an engineer (Chemical type) who’s been blessed to be in the management feild for the past 15 years or so. In my experience thus far, companies aren’t LOOKING to move jobs overseas.... we’re looking to survive.. to compete. There are many, many factors that go into factory location decisions. I’ll tell you one major one that is helping right now.... The weak dollar. A weak dollar lowers US manufacturing costs relative to the rest of the world and encourages factory siting here.
Health care has become one the largest cost for many US companies. It is a HUGE problem. It is the COSTs that are causing some companies to decide that it’s just not the companies responsibility anymore. It hasn’t always been true that a job came with health care. This is a fairly new custom that developed.
Who says it’s the best way? Maybe, if no one received health care at work, we’d have a better system, with more incentive to keep cost down. I don’t know the answer to the health care mess. My plan is: STAY HEALTHY! (so far, so good). But, I KNOW turning it all over to government would be a disaster. The freebies and discounts demanded by government for the people on their dole are a HUGE part of what’s driving up the cost for the rest of us.