On Feb 27, 2011, at 1:27 PM, Bob Sullivan wrote: > Frank, > I wouldn't spin it so anti-auto maker management. > Managers gave the union the wage and benefits packages they wanted, > then passed the costs onto the consumers. > Low priced cars like the VW Beetle made inroads in the US market. > Customers began to vote on price and managers responded. > Unfortunately the rush to take costs out also affected quality.
And the cost of doing business with heavy union obligations made it impossible to build cost competitive cars with the quality the market place required. > Eventually the foreign makers were shipping in cars created > with better quality by employees paid a lower wage. > High trade barriers would have been the only chance to keep > the high US union wages, but foreign workers wanted a share of that > prosperity. And to eliminate any possibility that the U.Sl unions might eventually insist on trade barriers, foreign automakers built plants in the U.S. in "right to work" non-union states. Their labor costs, particularly for retirees, are far lower than those of the union shops. > Why would you favor American workers over Foreign workers? :-) > Regards, Bob S. > > On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 11:51 AM, frank theriault > <knarftheria...@gmail.com> wrote: >> On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Paul Stenquist >> <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> wrote: >> <snip> It was also necessary due to onerous obligations to the union. >> >> Heaven forbid we should pay workers a fair wage... >> >>> Many of those agreements were made at a time when the Detroit automakers >>> monopolized the U.S. car market. The union would strike, and the automakers >>> would give them whatever they wanted and roll it into the price of the >>> cars. That usually meant taking quality out. >> >> Hey, don't blame the unions for the decision of the automakers to make >> lousy cars. They ~could~ have said, "We'll just keep making the best >> cars we can, whatever the price may be (or even better, at a reduced >> profit), because the consumer doesn't mind spending a fair price for a >> quality product." >> >> But no, they thought more about short term gain than long-term >> customer satisfaction. The consumers (not such a stupid lot after >> all) voted with their feet. They bought foreign quality, even well >> after the price gap between domestic and foreign was minimal to nil. >> >> The other thing you're not factoring into the equation is how Detroit >> handled the rising price of fuel in the 70's along with government >> enforced safety and pollution standards. (which standards wouldn't >> have been necessary if Detroit had "done the right thing" all along >> and made safe, clean cars). Detroit's downfall began when they >> stopped doing what they did best (front-engined rear-wheel-drive >> vehicles) and tried to out-Japanese the Japanese with small cars that >> were simply pieces of crap. Can you say "Firenza"? >> >> Those were management decisions, not union decisions. >> >> The unions didn't kill Detroit (as we once knew it), Detroit did. >> >> cheers, >> frank >> >> -- >> "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. >> > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
