Posted on 12/11/2005 11:18:40 AM PST by Brilliant
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) -- At least a thousand people rallied in central Indiana against steep wage cuts proposed by auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Workers say the proposed cuts -- from $27 an hour to between $10 and $12.50 -- are unfair, especially as Delphi has given bonuses to managers and other executives. United Auto Workers officials have said a strike against Delphi appears increasingly likely.
"To the Delphi workers here and everyone else, there are 380,000 union workers in the state of Indiana who will march in this battle with you," said Indiana AFL-CIO President Ken Zeller. "You are not alone."
Workers carried signs that read, "Delphi cooks the books/Workers get BURNED."
Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams declined comment.
One in three jobs in Kokomo is tied to manufacturing, and the Howard County community is poised to take a heavy blow as its two big employers -- Delphi and DaimlerChrysler -- eye layoffs or pay cuts.
Delphi has been operating under bankruptcy protection since October and is seeking to cut hourly workers' wages by more than 60 percent.
Based in Troy, Mich., Delphi has about 6,000 employees in Indiana, most of whom work at the company's Electronics & Safety Division headquartered in Kokomo.
The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from General Motors. With 185,000 workers worldwide, Delphi is the nation's largest auto supplier.
You are paid by what your job is worth, not what you are worth.
.....Does $10 an hour sound reasonable for someone who has worked 30 years in manufacturing?......
Why does seniority matter? Most of what he knows is obsolete and he is really no better that nsomeone who has been there 5 years.
A 30 year union worker has learned better how not to work and is a handicap rather than an aset.
Many years ago I had to do a study, as a part of a course, on wage rates in the auto industry. I could never figure out why, the wage rate was so high for essentially unskilled labor. Still puzzled.
It was like that too when I did get a union job early on in life. The work was simple and not too demanding. If you did any more than the minimum required, you immediately got a bad reputation with your co-workers. "Don't kill the job," was the common refrain. Young whippersnappers who were too eager quickly got put in their place. According to union rules, you couldn't lift anything over 35 pounds, you couldn't work more than so many hours a day, you couldn't show any initiative at all without first running it by the union bosses.
My experience with the union job soured me on unions forever. It is an ugly atmosphere and it smacks of socialism/communism.
I was an Assistant Business Agent in a Very Large Electrical Union, I looked around, the Aholes that I was defending, the political pressures, this was the early 80's, and the fact that you could not be a Republican in a Union that your family founded, as Republicans, I quit took a management job.
$27/hr??? For assembly line labor???
Dream, on, crybabies, the party is over.>>>>>>>>>>>
I don't think all those jobs were simply assembly. The sad fact is that $27.00 an hour before taxes is not riches any more. That is $1080. before deductions for forty hours, enough to support a family in most areas but certainly not wealth. I know plenty of couples who make $1200. to $1500. a week between the two of them and they certainly are not running out to buy mansions. $10. to $12. an hour will buy less at the grocery store than the 1963 minimum wage of $1.25 an hour would buy. Sadly, this same thing is happening at a lot of companies and I say that the idea that the average worker is better off now than twenty years ago is a grievious error. I can't speak for other parts of the country but you would have a hard time convincing people in the Southeast that things are only getting better and better.
I have never been a believer in the minimum wage but the current $5.15 federal minimum is so low that it should be scrapped altogether, it only serves as an excuse not to pay. There was a time when someone who made double the minimum wage could support a family, now someone who makes double the minimum can barely support himself. I fully intend to make my own way without help from the government or anyone else but I don't kid myself that $27.00 an hour is an enormous paycheck any longer.
In my experience most executives are not worth as much as the janitor.
To your points:
1. Workers (should) get pay and/or raises based on their ability to add value. These guys unfortunately have found that they add no value at $27/hr. A rational manager looks at the bottom line for every employee.
2. 600 executives/$500M is part of the problem, but the UAW aren't executives and don't get to decide how that money gets distributed - whether ill-advised or not - and that's the problem with Unions, so worried about what someone else is getting instead of doing their jobs to the benefit of their employer.
"In my experience most executives are not worth as much as the janitor."
That statement sounds like it comes from a janitor.
It was my wife that got laid off. She made about $60K to my $40K at the time.>>>>>>>
So you were still left with $40K, there are those on this forum who seem to think that $40K is still riches and it is still a lot more than $10 to $12. an hour.
No, sysadmin. Trust me on this.
"No, sysadmin. Trust me on this."
Then who's fault is it that you work for a company that could be better run by a janitor?
What it sounds like is class envy. Someone has more than you and you don't think they deserve it. Do you have any idea what it takes to run the company that cuts you a check every two weeks?
Sometimes leadership in business isn't all about golfing and junkets and riding around in limos. Sometimes its long hours, gut-wrenching decisionmaking and high-stakes risk-taking.
If Delphi could find that one executive who could bring the company back from it's present state, that person would be worth a LOT more than they'd be getting paid - whatever they were getting. (hint: they wouldn't be a janitor)
. Perhaps we college educated folks should take a drastic pay cut to reflect that fact.>>>>>>>
In case you haven't noticed that has already happened, it was once possible to go out with a high school diploma and earn a living, it now takes at least a four year degree and a lot of those with the degree are having a tough time. As a twenty five year old with only a high school diploma I was able to rent a decent apartment, drive a new full sized car, go out to clubs three or four nights a week and eat most of my meals out and still put money in savings. Most of the twenty five year olds that I know now still live with parents because they cannot pay their own way. I was considered to be backward at that age because I did not already have a wife and children. Now anyone who is married before twenty five is a rarity in this area.
So. Whatever. No one is worth what they pay executives these days. J. P. Morgan would never pay the plant manager more ther 20 times he paid the lowest wageed man on the shop floor. They are robbing the shareholders blind.
"No one is worth what they pay executives these days"
Would you rather invest in a company that has the lowest paid executives, or the highest paid executives?
I don't know if I'd invest in the latter, but I darn sure wouldn't invest in the former.
At 25, I was not making enough to pay all of my own bills even with a masters degree. It's that way for most people in my area. Jobs just don't pay as well now>>>>>>>>>>
I am in agreement with you but there are some on this forum who think we are nuts and everyone is making higher real wages than ever before, personally I think they are nuts.
Talk about a bunch of brain dead folks!
These people are going to end up singing Solidarity Forever in an unemployment line.
Likely more than that if it has a defined benefits retirement plan. If they could cut ALL benefits and keep the wages the same, the company could probably be saved... ain't gonna happen.
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