Entrepreneur: Boost Calif. wages to $12-an-hour

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democrats across the nation are eager to make increasing the minimum wage a defining campaign issue in 2014, but in California a proposal to boost the pay rate to $12 an hour is coming from a different point on the political compass.

Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire and registered Republican who once ran for governor and, briefly, U.S. Senate, wants state voters to endorse the wage jump that he predicts would nourish the economy and lift low-paid workers from dependency on food stamps and other assistance bankrolled by taxpayers.

A push for bigger paychecks for workers at the lower rungs of the economic ladder is typically associated with Democrats — President Barack Obama is supporting a bill in Congress that would elevate the $7.25 federal minimum to over $10 an hour.

Labor is one of the smallest costs per “widget” manufactured, even if the factory is in the USA.

This is where you are wrong.

Labor is not just what the wage the worker is paid, it is the associated costs of employing him.

First, the is the basic wage is based on production vs return.

Then you must factor peripheral costs such as, payroll tax, liability insurance, health care (now that includes maternity leave, substance abuse, I can't cope), vacation time, workman's comp, UI, my dog got hit......ad infinitum.

All of those fall under employee costs or LABOR.

Your statement that labor is the smallest "cost per widget" is total bs.

You full of it. Vehicles produced by union labor, worst case scenario, labor is only 8% of vehicle cost. I will not do research for you bit I recommend you do some looking into it.

In the US, it takes about 30 hours total, for the body, engine, transmission, assembly, paint, etc. doesn't include things like outsourced parts and mining the ore (or recycling old cars). the labor costs from $55-$70 per hour including benefits so about $2100 per car, or roughly 8% the cost of the average car.

Me full of it, what accounts for the other 92% of costs?

The rule of thumb is that it takes about 30 hours to make a vehicle, You can multiply the 30 by $70-$100 depending to come up with the total labor. The other 92% is material costs, marketing mgt. overhead transportation etc.

In 2009 issue of Oliver Wyman's automotivemanager, there some interesting facts regarding the gap between automakers, which you can read below.

“Of the six largest automakers in North America (General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chrysler, and Nissan), the gap between the most and least productive is now just 3.5 labour hours per vehicle, or about USD 260, down from 10.51 labour hours, or USD 709 per vehicle in 2003. Chrysler showed the biggest improvement, cutting its total manufacturing labour hours per vehicle by 8 percent to 30.37, approximately the same number recorded by Toyota. Performances of the other four companies were all similar: Honda, 31.33 hours; General Motors, 32.29 hours; Nissan, 32.96 hours; and Ford, 33.88 hours.” *

“In Europe, the gap between the most and least productive remains wide (from less than 20 hours per vehicle at the best plants to more than 60 at the worst). Some automakers have made substantial progress toward the types of sustainable manufacturing processes that characterize the world’s best competitors. Others have only just started or are just starting to implement the most basic tools of lean production.” *

So now, you can understand the price difference between a BMW 760Li and a Rolls-Royce Ghost. Achieving the highest level of quality and craftsmanship requires a lot of time and this is what you pay. A BMW 7 Series requires an average of 51 hours in order to be built, while a Ghost... 20 days! A BMW 760Li costs in Germany (base price) €121,260.50 + VAT, while the base price for a Rolls-Royce Ghost is €213,000.00 + VAT (the Ghost borrows 20% of its parts from BMW F01 platform underpinning the 7 Series, while it has a wheelbase, roof height, bonnet height and track widths all of its own).

“OTOH, Unz was largely responsible for getting rid of Spanish only classes for Hispanics if public schools.”

He started that crusade a few years after he had openly joined forces with the millions of illegals marching in the streets of California waving the flags of Mexico demanding amnesty.

That particular bit of treachery earned Unz a lot of ill will among Californians who voted for Prop 187. Unz realized that his political ambitions had just taken a serious hit so the campaign against bilingual education was designed to cover up what he is and to fool people into believing that he supports the interests of middle America. He doesn’t.

He then went on to purchase The American Conservative magazine in order to further enhance his phony public image. He’s as little a conservative as he is an American patriot, but he works hard at having you think otherwise.

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