Posted on 10/28/2009 11:12:18 AM PDT by jazusamo
So Boeing is threatening to jilt us (again). To run out on our nine decades of marriage with someone smarter? Better? More reliable?
Nope. With someone cheaper.
Take away the heat, all the union-bashing or management second-guessing as Boeing now appears ready to move a major piece of its plane-building operations to South Carolina. At the core of this breakup drama is a cold statistic: 14.
As in $14. Per hour.
That's the average pay of the local line workers who are building the fuselage of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a Charleston, S.C., plant.
Average pay of a Boeing Machinist around here? $28 an hour. Now, these pay averages aren't directly comparable, say people in the know. Many of Boeing's workers in South Carolina are younger or less experienced (the plant is only 4 years old). So the average pay there tilts lower.
Still, the average pay at Costco stores around Seattle is $17 an hour. According to PayScale, a Seattle company that tracks wages, the average for a hairstylist in Seattle is $18.24 an hour.
So Boeing right now is paying less to build airplanes in South Carolina than we pay for cutting hair or shelving 3-pound jars of olives.
How can we compete with that?
"It's like they have people who used to work at Kmart, trying to build an airplane."
That's Jack Day, a "shaper operator" at Boeing's sheet-metal plant in Auburn. Basically, he cuts parts in exacting detail so they fit into airplanes. Everything from flight decks to door frames.
He's been doing it for 37 years. His dad was a Boeing mechanic, and before that his grandmother was a factory clerk and a Rosie the Riveter.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
LOL... not bad. Port Angels. Forks is another hour west.
That is the most illogical sentence I have ever read. If we paid the same workers 10 times as much would that make them more qualified.
The non-union workers in the south are much better workers and produce a much better product than the union workers up north. That's why all the foreign cars are made in the south—better workers and better quality.
That’s Port Angeles...... damn, I’m having a senior moment.
Very true. “Never waste a crisis” strategy comes into play and the liberals have a New Deal to “fix” the problem. A bad economy is an opening to have more government. However, I am always thrilled when unions lose.
Be tickled to death that it didn’t go to China or India, you smuck.
Will you be driving a vehicle made by non-union labor from a Southern “right to work” state?
I know that you’re right, in that conservatives will also be negatively impacted, but something very drastic needs to be done, because our election process has been destroyed by corruption.
and don’t forget.....Winchester Rifles
Model 70s were built in New Haven, Connecticut from 1936 to 2006, when production ceased. In the fall of 2007, announcements were made that Model 70 production would resume, and,
as of 2008, new Winchester Model 70 rifles are now once more being made in Columbia, SC.
and don’t forget.....Winchester Rifles
Model 70s were built in New Haven, Connecticut from 1936 to 2006, when production ceased. In the fall of 2007, announcements were made that Model 70 production would resume, and,
as of 2008, new Winchester Model 70 rifles are now once more being made in Columbia, SC.
“That is the most illogical sentence I have ever read”
No it isn’t, but this one is: “That’s why all the foreign cars are made in the south”.
Foreign cars are NOT better than domestic anymore.
While more expensive doesn’t mean better, grosly cheaper generally means worse quality.
If you don’t believe that than read a little bit about the goods coming from China where the workers get a buck an hour.
The operations, like SMAR, basically drilling holes in a sheet of metal, are largely automated. The “machinists” don’t by and large spend their days running a mill or lathe and inspecting with a caliper. Don’t forget that the IAM is now a part of the greater UAW family. How’s that for a quality-conscious bunch?
This reminds me of a similar experiment by Fruehauf.
They went to the union in Ft. Wayne, Ind about 20 years ago and asked for a $1 per hour pay cut to keep the plant open. The line workers were making about $14 per hour at that time. The head of the union said “We were going to ask for a $2 per hour raise, but since you are in trouble, we will cut that to only $1. So we have given you what you want.”
So, Fruehauf built a new plant in Scott Cty, TN. The poorest county in the state. It had nothing but the newest machinery. They were paying the people there $7 per hour. Fruehauf expected the difference in pay to make their selling price competitive.
They were wrong. Everyone knows that new people are not as productive as experienced people, but even after 5 years, the Scott Cty plant could not get their hours down to what the Ft. Wayne plant was doing when it closed. In fact, the actual cost (not selling price) of the trailer was slightly MORE in TN than what it had been in Ft. Wayne (adjusted for inflation(.
Fruehauf eventually went bankrupt, the plant was sold, then resold, then closed down.
It will be interesting to see if that happens here.
I saw my first shrink wrapped condo building in Seattle last month.
Wonder why?
Foreign cars ARE better than domestic. Even Korean cars are better than most GM offerings, and all Chrysler. The reliability over time is the difference. I know noone with a Toyota ready to get rid of it before 250,000 miles. Let’s hear from all those 4-cylinder and V-6 FWD Malibu owners who’ve made it a quarter million miles on the original engine and transmission.
Of course I would buy a car made in the south. I have nothing against southern workers or goods made there.
But, trading experienced workers for cheaper non-experienced workers who will earn 1/2 as much making commercial jet liners carying over 100 passengers is scary.
B.S.
I have a 1989 Chevy Astro with 316,000 miles.
I also have a 1996 Ford explorer with 272,000 miles.
And my 1968 Chevy Camaro will blow away any thing that’s ever come out of Japan or Korea.
Buy your foreign crap, I’m sticking to American.
I owned a Malibu and gave it to my daughter.
It’s no longer a Chevy Malibu.
It’s a Napa-Autozone Malibu.
I’ve had to replace all the Chevy parts.
With all that work, it’s managed to make it to 160K. I visit the Malibu more often than I visit my daughter, unfortunately.
Oh, yeah.
My Mazda has 180K miles and I haven’t had to do anything to it beyond a set of brakes and regular oil changes.
Boeing’s QA/QC isn’t going to be any less. And much of the difference in pay is the result of an area with lower cost of living including less taxes.
I chose my first job out of college in Houston over a higher paying job in Philadelphia because after cost of living expenses 10% more was left in my pocket.
$10 in Everett WA does not equal $10 in Charleston SC.
I owned an American car--made in Canada.
I now own a foreign car - made in USA.
My "foreign crap" is more American than my "American" car.
More importantly, my "foreign crap" is more reliable than my "American" car.
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