Posted on 03/23/2011 6:27:04 PM PDT by Kaslin
Cities: Poor Detroit. It hasn't had any good news for decades, and now, despite a $77 billion bailout of the auto industry, its population continues to implode. The No. 1 reason: the United Auto Workers union.
Cities: Poor Detroit. It hasn't had any good news for decades, and now, despite a $77 billion bailout of the auto industry, its population continues to implode. The No. 1 reason: the United Auto Workers union.
Census data released Tuesday show Detroit's population has plunged 25% since 2000 to just 713,777 souls — the same as 100 years ago, before the auto industry's heyday. As recently as the 1970s, Detroit had 1.8 million people.
What's happening is no secret: Detroiters are fleeing an economic disaster, the irreversible decline of the Big Three automakers.
In his now-famous Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler, rapper Eminem drives up to a theater in a sleek new 200 model and says, "This is the Motor City. And this is what we do." But, sadly, that's no longer the case. Detroit's decline has been shocking.
Sure, a lot of the blame goes to a generation of bad management. But the main reason for Detroit's decline is the greed of the industry's main union, the UAW, which priced the Big Three out of the market.
As recently as 2008, GM, Ford and Chrysler paid their employees on average more than $73 an hour in total compensation. The 12 foreign transplants, operating in nonunion states mostly in the South and Midwest, averaged about $42 an hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
leftist policies
Unions didn’t ruin Detroit, Coleman Young did.
bump
The liberals have controlled DEEEETROIT since 1961.
Want to know how many have been living off the dole in Detroit? Take a look at the population minus maybe a hundred gand..
I’ll disagree. The auto unions have not done the city any favor, but it is not the root cause for the demise of the city. That would be liberalism, or more specifically forsaking conservatism. The citizens of Detroit became addicted to other people’s money. When they began forcing their neighbors to pay for the benefits they wanted to enjoy, the die had been cast.
One cannot spell "unaware" without "UAW"
Duh...Democrats?
Check the $73.00 per hour ref above ~ it's just like no one here had ever discussed it.
That wasn't $73 per hour PAY but $73 per hour COST. It cost GM $73 per production line worker hour but the workers on the line weren't getting that. Most of the money was going to support costs, which included engineers, designers, management, and retirement plans for people already retired; medical plans for retirees,retiree dependents, etc., paying coupons on bonds and so forth.
The big difference between the non-union plants in the Souf' and the UAW plants generally in the North was the fact the newer non-union plants simply did not have a large group of retirees who continued to cost the company a fortune long after they were no longer productive.
BTW, UAW and management agreed to deals both sides recognized were not economically sustainable.
Three different words, all for the same thing.
Environmentalists and Unions killed Detroit.
The Detroit River was what gave Detroit the competitive advantage in building cars, but the enviro whackos in the 70s imposed strict restrictions on dumping into the river. So the one thing that allowed Detroit to be “The Motor City” in the first place was gone.
****Detroiters are fleeing an economic disaster,****
Chief Pontiac and his Ottowa warriors will be greatly pleased. Only 250 years too late.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6WKMNmFsxM&feature=related
Enjoy. BTW, my sister in law used to live at about 28 mile road. She moved a few miles up further a couple years ago.
AND the video just about captures it. Except it does not capture the empty houses in the burbs.
> Most of the money was going to support costs, which included engineers, designers, management, and retirement plans for people already retired; medical plans for retirees,retiree dependents, etc., paying coupons on bonds and so forth.
Everywhere has these costs, not just Detroit:
engineers, designers, management,
That leaves:
retirement plans for people already retired; medical plans for retirees,retiree dependents, etc.
AKA, exactly the problem.
As far as:
BTW, UAW and management agreed to deals both sides recognized were not economically sustainable.
Management did that because it had no choice at all.
The unions simply shut the company down so the management kicked the can down the road.
Where I come from they call that Rape & Blackmail, not mutual agreements reached at arms length.
I agree, leftist policies.
A big one rarely mentioned is the CAFE standard.
Congress could eliminate this with the stroke of a pen and help the Big Three immeasurably.
Let other makers produce small cars and let the Big Three concentrate on luxury, power, and trucks.
If people want a gas-sipper it will be available. The CAFE standards cause the Big Three to sell small cars at a loss just to earn the right to sell some bigger ones at a profit. This benefits no one, really.
So, bill1952 are you the third guy on FR to ever work in a UAW plant?
Detroit’s #1 problem is that Michigan is not a Right-To-Work state. Unlike those sorry souls in Detroit, auto workers and auto manufacturers in the South are doing just fine, thanks! The Right To Work states will rise again. Oooops, I should say, have risen again.
There is a reason why rust belt blue states are rust belt blue states - forced unionism. Like, duh-uh!
Why is this so hard to figure out?
Check out the states that have gained in Redistricting - Right To Work states. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
The American diplomats in Ghent in 1814 blew it. The British captured Detroit in the War of 1812. The diplomats could have insisted that they keep it.
You raise an excellent point. Young certainly played a larger role than he is credited with, that's for sure. But don't forget about Kwami Kilpatrick and a couple of other mayors in between.
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