Originally posted by: Zorba
Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
All of Detroit is being leeched by anachronistic UAW contracts. I read somewhere the other day that between pensions, health insurance, paid time off, etcetera GM pays 2.9 people for every 1 person who's actually working for them. Yes, Detroit has made some serious market miscalculations (SUVs instead of fuel efficiency, skipping hybrids for hydrogen, etc.) at the executive level, but I think its plight is due more to the UAW than poor management. The UAW has outlived its utility, it's now hurting the American economy by crippling one of our most important industries.
The UAW does not write their own contracts. In order for them to get paid redulicious amounts of money the management must aprove it. Futhermore, the unions walk all over Boeing just as much as they do Ford/GM, so I am not sure bringging in Mulally is going to help with that issue.
Why doesn't Detroit try breaking the Unions? Run production rates as high as they can for about 6 months to build up inventory right befoer the contract comes up, and then let them strike forever until they meet the company's demands. Cat did this in the 80s. Spirit Aerosystems was also able to get a lot of UAW last summer simply by not backing down.
I'll admit I don't know a lot about union laws, etc, just what I've picked up from working around them. But I do know that an overpaid employee is a sign of poor management.