Will UAW Strike?

[Torvy]

A rising tide lifts all boats.

Toyota is raising the wages of its factory workers — all of them non-unionized — after the UAW strikes at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis culminated in pay hikes for unionized employees.

Why it matters: After reaching tentative deals with the Detroit Three, the UAW is setting its sights on organizing non-unionized automotive plants in the U.S. — with Toyota a possible target.

https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/toyota-raises-uaw-strike-ford-gm

Yup that is how inflation works. The purchasing power of the workers will not change. There will be another ripple in the system coming from the west as the fast food $20/hour goes into effect in CA.

 

[ruffdog]

Yup that is how inflation works. The purchasing power of the workers will not change. There will be another ripple in the system coming from the west as the fast food $20/hour goes into effect in CA.

Would you work in a fast food joint for $20/hr?

 

[ultrarunner]

Would you work in a fast food joint for $20/hr?

Had worse... helped out for free too.

 

[ruffdog]

Those jobs are being eliminated. Either through automation or taken off-shore where $40k a year jobs are highly desired.

I worked decades ago to do just that. One machine that cost 300k eliminated two union jobs. We had five work stations and 4 shifts. Cost us $2 million (added a spare machine and spare parts) and eliminated 40 production personnel. Added 2 maintenance people.

I do understand that decades ago, with the automation boom, much of the body shop has been automated. The weld guns operated by people are mostly long gone now. It will be much harder to eliminate humans in Trim or on Final though. Automation does need skilled trades to install and perform maintenance to a higher degree.

 

[Torvy]

Would you work in a fast food joint for $20/hr?

Now, or when I was 16-20 and had no skills or experience?

Not all jobs are supposed to be careers. All this nonsense does is escalate inflation further. If fast food pays $20, who is going to legally work for less?...puts upward pressure on wages, which puts upward pressure on prices...voila! The numbers get bigger, but the purchasing power stays the same or worsens. That doesn't even take into account the reality that it provides incentive for owners to take other actions like closing, reducing operating hours or automating.

We have been playing games with this since the 1930s. It has not solved anything because it violates the basic laws of economics.

 

[ruffdog]

We have been playing games with this since the 1930s. It has not solved anything because it violates the basic laws of economics.

You must have a pretty special job if you consider auto workers have been "playing games since the 30s". These hard working people have to eke out a living just like anyone else. I would rather raise people up instead of tear them down because of jealousy.

Everyone knows a strong economy is driven by a strong MIDDLE class. The auto industry and unions helped form that.

 

[Torvy]

You must have a pretty special job if you consider auto workers have been "playing games since the 30s". These hard working people have to eke out a living just like anyone else. I would rather raise people up instead of tear them down because of jealousy.

Sorry for the confusion...I'm talking about minimum wages. It's not the workers playing games it's people in state houses and DC. Of course, for some union contracts the pay is tied to minimums, so they would get raises, too. (Lots of variables there, though)

 

[bigtiller]

Ever work piece rate jobs? Both of my in-laws would do that in their spare time. You get paid per piece that you complete. Mom worked at South Bend Toy Company making croquet sets piecework. She also did piece work assemblies at the AM General plants. Dad worked at Rayco making electrical boxes and other assemblies piece work. You can work as fast as you want. So you could make considerably more than other folks if you were good at it. At my last job, we'd sometimes do piecework assembling pre-print insert packages for the Thanksgiving day newspaper. It's kinda fun.

I did for a dozen years or so, but I never thought it was "kinda fun".

I made 324 "mini standards" every day, 5 days a week for a few years. They paid 3.5 hours for every hundred I made.

 

[milkman636]

Now, or when I was 16-20 and had no skills or experience?

Not all jobs are supposed to be careers. All this nonsense does is escalate inflation further. If fast food pays $20, who is going to legally work for less?...puts upward pressure on wages, which puts upward pressure on prices...voila! The numbers get bigger, but the purchasing power stays the same or worsens. That doesn't even take into account the reality that it provides incentive for owners to take other actions like closing, reducing operating hours or automating.

We have been playing games with this since the 1930s. It has not solved anything because it violates the basic laws of economics.

The rising wages are a symptom of inflation, not the cause. If inflation wasn’t eating away at real wages these guys wouldn’t be willing to walk off the job for more.

The real cause of inflation is federal monetary policy and the federal reserve system. Look up the time frames for the Fed. Money is devalued at a much higher power than a burger flipper possesses.

Please also take a moment to consider how much prices of automobiles have risen without any large wage hikes. Labor cost is not the cause of inflation.

 

[ruffdog]

The rising wages are a symptom of inflation, not the cause. If inflation wasn’t eating away at real wages these guys wouldn’t be willing to walk off the job for more.

The real cause of inflation is federal monetary policy and the federal reserve system. Look up the time frames for the Fed. Money is devalued at a much higher power than a burger flipper possesses.

Please also take a moment to consider how much prices of automobiles have risen without any large wage hikes. Labor cost is not the cause of inflation.

Not only that, Fed Chair Powell warned congress in 2019 about rising inflation.