By DemocracyRules
h/t Captain Capitalism, Carpe Diem
One graph explains the essence of the problem:
This is not a new problem. Autoworkers have been overpaid since Henry Ford supported strong unions in his factories. He had been a working stiff himself, and he wanted to be more than fair. But by now, these crazy-high wages have produced grotesque market distortions.
The problem extends far beyond hourly pay, because huge fringe benefits and pension packages in the Big 3 bloat hourly labor costs. Even the pay at Toyota, Honda, and Nissan is far higher than these semiskilled workers are worth.
Everyone wants a free ride in life, but this is just a money grab, done at the expense of everyone else. Cars and car parts cost far more than they should, so the poor can't afford cars, which degrades their quality of life further, and they gravitate to the inner cities, which exacerbates the slum problem.
These crazy Communist-founded unions have nothing to do with protecting workers' rights. In Canada, the United Auto Workers Union abandoned the Socialist party (NDP) because they earn middle-class incomes. Detroit, and it's Canadian twin across the border, Windsor, are working class dumps that attract low skilled hangers-on who scratch to get a free ride in life by finding their way into the autoworkers' Union, instead of actually improving their marketable skills.
Unemployment, crime, substance abuse, gambling, the sex trades, the underworld, and dissolute lifestyles prevail, all because people like Henry Ford wanted to do workers a favor. The Commies grabbed it and ran with it -- right into the ground.
Pro Patria
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