Unions mandating pay raises regardless of you performance is one major way they have hurt many industries. This alone hurts productivity more than anything. The employees know all they have to do is enough work not to get fired, which most people could do in their sleep under a union run plant, and they are going to not only get paid, but get regular pay increases. Unions tie the hands of companies to the point where they can't even manage their own employees unless they do something considered politically incorrect.
GM and Chrysler went bankrupt because they kept making cars behind the times, not being competitive with other foriegn companies, making bad investments and high salaries. Seems to have been doing fine back in the 60's, 70's, 80's.... And unions where full swing and people were actually getting paid. It must be noted that healthcare also played a role I'm sure as most companies are having a hard time with healthcare insurance as the rates keep going up more and more. One reason why these companies need to be stopped. Reform for healthcare must happen or it will continue to get worse.
GM and Chrysler went bankrupt because they kept making cars behind the times, not being competitive with other foriegn companies, making bad investments and high salaries. Seems to have been doing fine back in the 60's, 70's, 80's.... And unions where full swing and people were actually getting paid.
I never said Unions were there ONLY reason GM and Chysler failed, but you are correct that GM and Chrylser failed because they are behind the times. The actual reason the US auto industry was doing well before is because until the 80's there weren't hardly any foreign competitors. The auto market of the 70's, which if you do a little history checking wasn't that freakin great, wasn't anything like today. You didn't have 10 different companies from overseas that sold cars here in the US. That is part of a capitolist market. GM and Chrysler failed... They didn't produce a product the people wanted. They can either change the way they do things, or go away forever. Unions just dragged them down faster.
GM and Chrysler went bankrupt because they kept making cars behind the times, not being competitive with other foriegn companies, making bad investments and high salaries. Seems to have been doing fine back in the 60's, 70's, 80's.... And unions where full swing and people were actually getting paid.
I never said Unions were there ONLY reason GM and Chysler failed, but you are correct that GM and Chrylser failed because they are behind the times. The actual reason the US auto industry was doing well before is because until the 80's there weren't hardly any foreign competitors. The auto market of the 70's, which if you do a little history checking wasn't that freakin great, wasn't anything like today. You didn't have 10 different companies from overseas that sold cars here in the US. That is part of a capitolist market. GM and Chrysler failed... They didn't produce a product the people wanted. They can either change the way they do things, or go away forever. Unions just dragged them down faster.
I'll agree foreign competition makes things harder but at the same time they pay their employee's much less and in a lot of places the cost of living isn't as much. So let me ask this, why should American workers get pay cuts and guidelines be set to make wages closer to foreign workers? Especially when the cost of living goes up and up here? So making American families worse off is good? I do think that a lot of problems do stem from providing health care for employees as the insurance companies have kept raising their rates over and over for years. I don't blame the unions for having to work with that, and the 70 or so dollars that has been spread over the media has benefits calculated in it. Just like my dad makes around 90 dollars an hour on the books at his job, it's including all his benefits. I'm sure that fixing this health care problem would greatly relieve strain companies have to deal with. GM needs to really think ahead of the times and bring out cars ahead of their competitors. The Volt is one example. That thing should have been out years ago. Even the new Nissan hybrid/electric will be a little better than the volt and probably will come out before. I know that Ford is getting things together, they re-opened an old truck plant and are make electric and hybrid cars there. Brings new jobs, and brings more power in the market. I'm eying the 11 focus hybrid.
GM and Chrysler went bankrupt because they kept making cars behind the times, not being competitive with other foriegn companies, making bad investments and high salaries. Seems to have been doing fine back in the 60's, 70's, 80's.... And unions where full swing and people were actually getting paid.
I never said Unions were there ONLY reason GM and Chysler failed, but you are correct that GM and Chrylser failed because they are behind the times. The actual reason the US auto industry was doing well before is because until the 80's there weren't hardly any foreign competitors. The auto market of the 70's, which if you do a little history checking wasn't that freakin great, wasn't anything like today. You didn't have 10 different companies from overseas that sold cars here in the US. That is part of a capitolist market. GM and Chrysler failed... They didn't produce a product the people wanted. They can either change the way they do things, or go away forever. Unions just dragged them down faster.
I'll agree foreign competition makes things harder but at the same time they pay their employee's much less and in a lot of places the cost of living isn't as much. So let me ask this, why should American workers get pay cuts and guidelines be set to make wages closer to foreign workers? Especially when the cost of living goes up and up here? So making American families worse off is good? I do think that a lot of problems do stem from providing health care for employees as the insurance companies have kept raising their rates over and over for years. I don't blame the unions for having to work with that, and the 70 or so dollars that has been spread over the media has benefits calculated in it. Just like my dad makes around 90 dollars an hour on the books at his job, it's including all his benefits. I'm sure that fixing this health care problem would greatly relieve strain companies have to deal with. GM needs to really think ahead of the times and bring out cars ahead of their competitors. The Volt is one example. That thing should have been out years ago. Even the new Nissan hybrid/electric will be a little better than the volt and probably will come out before. I know that Ford is getting things together, they re-opened an old truck plant and are make electric and hybrid cars there. Brings new jobs, and brings more power in the market. I'm eying the 11 focus hybrid.
Yea, but if you look at the sales figures, Hybrids are stacking up on lots all over the country because no one will buy them. Making Hybrids, and the government forcing companies to make them, is not the answer. I have NEVER in my life worked for a Union, but I have pretty much always been paid a fair and competitive wage for the area I live in and I've worked for some large corporations before I went into Law Enforcement. How is this possible without a Union?? I'll say it again, Unions have outlived their usefulness.
The key phrase in what Obama's administration said is PRIVATE sector. If the government has their grubby paws in there, it's not really private anymore, and that works out to be fascism. Correct me if I'm wrong there. And I agree with you kuzi, this shouldn't even be an issue, we shouldn't have to think about stuff like this.
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