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My take on it is that the UAW has to make some sort of job concessions. Every time I hear about that "Job Bank" program, it rankles me to no end! But there is more to the pay differential than has been mentioned. There is a distinct difference what the foreign car workers make depending on where the plant is located. In more "northerly" states, the workers make more than their counterparts in the Southern ones. There was a CBS Overnight segment on last night, that said some foreign car workers make pretty much the same money as the UAW with "bonuses" included, that UAW workers don't get. I also strongly suspect that if the foreign car companies had been here twenty years longer than they have, those same companies would have identical "legacy health care costs" nipping at them too!
Aren't any of you curious why those Mercedes-Benz SUVs made in Alabama cost $60,000 to $80,000? They're not made any different than an Explorer or Equinox. They shoudn't be priced like they were assembled by German workers whose benefits would make the UAW's ones seem chintzy! The most fervant opponents of the bail-out are those southern senators like Richard Shelby (who has the Mercedes plant in his own district). Maybe he wants to protect his own re-election coffers!
Finally, if some of those secondary suppliers to both the foreign and domestic automakers go under, with a big three failure, like a supplier of those plastic door panels for autos, Toyota and Honda, for example will start to have problems with their parts supply chain.
But I do think the management of the big three should go, especially GM! I look at the cars they produce and while I believe the quality of their vehicles is much better than it was, there is not one model that would I would consider buying!
Very well said emissary. They have foreign plants in Alabama with the workers making 40-45 per hour including pay and bennies. They are living like kings there because housing is about 150-250 for a castle. None of the foreign plants are up north because the OVERALL cost of living is higher.
Very well said emissary. They have foreign plants in Alabama with the workers making 40-45 per hour including pay and bennies. They are living like kings there because housing is about 150-250 for a castle. None of the foreign plants are up north because the OVERALL cost of living is higher.
very true...Mississippi I believe has a Nissan & Toyota plant..and compared to Jersey it's dirt cheap to live in Mississippi
very true...Mississippi I believe has a Nissan & Toyota plant..and compared to Jersey it's dirt cheap to live in Mississippi
njkate - Everytime I watch "My House is Worth What?" on HGTV, I get a laugh! In the South, $350,000 will get you something that wouldn't look out of place in a million-dollar area of Summit or Colts Neck. I used to wonder why we lived in a little Cape Cod in NJ with my father's mailman job and his friend who had the same job in the South lived in what looked like a mansion to my 15 year-old eyes.
Remember too, when you could get a Chevy Impala in 20 different colors and get the same color interior, not the beige, gray or occasional black choices we are now limited to! How times have changed!
njkate - Everytime I watch "My House is Worth What?" on HGTV, I get a laugh! In the South, $350,000 will get you something that wouldn't look out of place in a million-dollar area of Summit or Colts Neck. I used to wonder why we lived in a little Cape Cod in NJ with my father's mailman job and his friend who had the same job in the South lived in what looked like a mansion to my 15 year-old eyes.
Remember too, when you could get a Chevy Impala in 20 different colors and get the same color interior, not the beige, gray or occasional black choices we are now limited to! How times have changed!
em - see, i have a different view of MHIWW - i've seen every.single.episode and quite frankly my mouth hangs open when they "reveal" the list price of some houses in so called "cheap" places. there was one house - in alabama i think, TOTAL POS, but on a canal/river. i think the list price was in the $300's, but if they put $150K into it, the "realtor" said they could list for $1.1 MILLION - ALABAMA!!!! That's just one example, I've seen homes in NC, SC and I swear you'd think to get those prices it involved physically moving the house up north. i know it's a staged show, but it honestly makes me stop and wonder just how much cheaper it is down there, especially with housing dropping like a rock up here, ya know? (nice to see you posting here, btw)
Yep. Most of them get cranked on their bonuses though....just by default they feel the pain right there.
Funny, I wonder how many people moan about exec salaries and then go watch a baseball\football game where the players make vastly higher amounts. :shocked:
Agree, especially when imo the NFL, MBA and NBA had a lot of thugs working for them ...urgh another topic don't get me started
Yep. Most of them get cranked on their bonuses though....just by default they feel the pain right there.
Funny, I wonder how many people moan about exec salaries and then go watch a baseball\football game where the players make vastly higher amounts.
At least I am being shown some sort of entertainment with athletes. If the CEO's had Sunday "duel to the bloody death" matches to justify their high salaries, I would be tuning as well.
em - see, i have a different view of MHIWW - i've seen every.single.episode and quite frankly my mouth hangs open when they "reveal" the list price of some houses in so called "cheap" places. there was one house - in alabama i think, TOTAL POS, but on a canal/river. i think the list price was in the $300's, but if they put $150K into it, the "realtor" said they could list for $1.1 MILLION - ALABAMA!!!! That's just one example, I've seen homes in NC, SC and I swear you'd think to get those prices it involved physically moving the house up north. i know it's a staged show, but it honestly makes me stop and wonder just how much cheaper it is down there, especially with housing dropping like a rock up here, ya know? (nice to see you posting here, btw)
tahiti - I saw that episode the other night. It wasn't in Alabama but Florida. I don't think you could get $1.1 million for the statehouse in Alabama. But that Florida house, though very nice by anyone's standard, didn't seem to me to be worth that kind of money! The couple who owned it looked ecstatic. I find myself looking at the end of the show for the copyright date of the episode and was shocked that it was made in 2008! I thought Florida was one of the worst places for real estate in the country. But I wonder what they'd get if they actually sold it! Maybe not so rosy a price! I'm waiting for those 2009-2010 episodes which feature people who bought a house in 2005-2006. The SanFran couple who bought the $750,000, 500 sq ft condo and think it's worth $825,000 will be told that it's worth $575,000. The look on those peoples faces will be considerably different than the "worst case" episodes we see now who are getting $25,000 less than they thought!
Not to get too far off our auto-related thread, there was guy interviewed on NPR that bought a $74,000 Escalade with all the bling possible, who tried to sell it a year later and was offered $35,000 by the dealership he bought it from. He still owed over $60,000 on it. I guess we can conclude that as bad as real estate can get, it still is a better investment than a pricey car!
They have foreign plants in Alabama with the workers making 40-45 per hour including pay and bennies. They are living like kings there because housing is about 150-250 for a castle. None of the foreign plants are up north because the OVERALL cost of living is higher.
Gee - might that have anything to do with the inflated salaries up there?
If the average autoworker in the South earns 45K, average home prices will adjust accordingly. If the average autoworker in Michigan makes 90K, home prices will adjust accordingly as well.
No one who works in an automobile factory should expect to live like a king anyway.
tahiti - I saw that episode the other night. It wasn't in Alabama but Florida. I don't think you could get $1.1 million for the statehouse in Alabama. But that Florida house, though very nice by anyone's standard, didn't seem to me to be worth that kind of money! The couple who owned it looked ecstatic. I find myself looking at the end of the show for the copyright date of the episode and was shocked that it was made in 2008! I thought Florida was one of the worst places for real estate in the country. But I wonder what they'd get if they actually sold it! Maybe not so rosy a price! I'm waiting for those 2009-2010 episodes which feature people who bought a house in 2005-2006. The SanFran couple who bought the $750,000, 500 sq ft condo and think it's worth $825,000 will be told that it's worth $575,000. The look on those peoples faces will be considerably different than the "worst case" episodes we see now who are getting $25,000 less than they thought!
Not to get too far off our auto-related thread, there was guy interviewed on NPR that bought a $74,000 Escalade with all the bling possible, who tried to sell it a year later and was offered $35,000 by the dealership he bought it from. He still owed over $60,000 on it. I guess we can conclude that as bad as real estate can get, it still is a better investment than a pricey car!
nope, this was a different episode, i haven't seen it in awhile (i tape every one, lol) - i'm pretty sure i know the one you're talking about. this was definitely in alabama or mississippi. i'll have to find it, it was so outrageous because the house almost didn't have a functioning bathroom!
what's going to happen in the 2009 and 2010 episodes - they won't feature homes purchased during the bubble - they'll focus on ppl with significant equity (and drive home the fact that "real estate doubles every 10 yrs"). they'll throw a bone once in awhile, but guaranteed the majority will be people who have been in their homes awhile. the premise of this show when it started was people who bought when the market was hot and "oh! look how much you can make in real estate in such a short amount of time!". a look at pilot can tell you that (a woman in Miami who wanted to tap equity to do more renovations and buy a bigger boat - she was told she could list for a few hundred thou more if she dumped $75K into it)...crazee.
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They make millions and the stiffs making 50 or 60 grand are the culprits.
