Quote:I don't agree. The difference in wages between the US and say china/india etc. is so huge that the small influence that unions have on getting better working conditions and salary does not really make a difference for the shareholders when they have to decide if a factory has to be moved to another country.
In fact it is just pure capitalism where one seeks for the cheapest way of producing something. So Americans should be happy about this because the consumer also notices the price difference.
First off, if the issue at hand was about moving factories over seas you'd be correct. The amount of money a minimum-wage US worker makes is far greater than the working wages of other countries.
With that said, once you narrow the scope and take 'moving the factory to another country' off the table, the disparity between Union Wages and cheap minimum-wage hourly labor is nothing to laugh at. And within that issue, I agree completely with Mavfin.
The union members at domestic car makers have demanded higher wages and benefits, while at the same time domestic car companies have been losing their market share to foreign auto companies.
Unfortunately we're starting to really scrape the bottom of the barrel. The companies aren't trying to squeeze a bigger profit to pad their CEO wallets anymore - they're trying to stay afloat. And while I don't necessarily agree with the company's move to push out high-paid union workers, I'm not sure I have a better solution.
Quote:So Americans should be happy about this because the consumer also notices the price difference.
I wouldn't jump to that conclusion so quickly, Eppie. There's hundreds of thousands of US blue-collar workers at those plants, and not enough other jobs laying around in those areas to absorb the impact and keep their families' fed. I've lived in a town where a GM plant shut down. Needless to say the entire town economy was destroyed over a slow 5 year period, one that we and many other people didn't stick around for.
Lower prices are great. But lower prices doesn't mean jack if there isn't money in the pocket to buy it.
Cheers,
Munk