Executive Pay Outrage? How about Auto Worker Pay Outrage!

Unions really annoy me. Sure they benefit the ones who are members but the rest of us, taxpayers and traders and investors pay the price. The latest example of course is the US Auto Business. Aside from airlines this has been the second biggest black hole for investor money over the last couple of decades. GM, Ford and Chrysler are a heart beat away from insolvency, driven in large part by a poor economy and from bad management but mostly because of insane labor costs. This weekend the head of the UAW, United Autoworkers Union said screw you when asked about labor concessions from the unions to help keep the Big Three alive.

The AVERAGE labor cost per hour, wages and benefits in 2006 per Forbes:

FORD: $70.51 ($141,020 per YEAR)
GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per YEAR)
CHRYSLER: $75.86 ($151,720 per YEAR)

The average pay for Toyota, Nissan and Honda was $48 per hour ($96,000 per YEAR)

The average pay and benefits for a college professor with a Ph. D is $92,973! So an HOURLY union worker with a high school diploma makes 57% MORE in pay and benefits than a College Professor with a Ph.D! And people wonder why the US is losing its competitive advantage?

Still how can we blame the UAW Head for his comments? After all we now have a Democratic Congress AND President and unions are THE friend to the Democratic party. Why give concessions when their paid politicians will just write them a tax payer check? Anyone that believes the auto companies won’t get a bailout needs to read up on how politics work in this country. You contribute money to a party and politician and you get your way! We have a country by and for the LOBBYISTS, not the taxpayer and certainly not the investor or trader.

What is sad though is that those saying not to bailout the financial sector are the same ones callings for a bailout of the auto companies! You should be annoyed too!