The life of a real auto worker
Today, the government agreed to bail out Citibank, putting in $45 billion and backing $300 billion in “high risk” loans.
There was no discussion of whether the CEO flies around in a corporate jet, or whether he makes too much ($3.16 million in 2007 plus an agreement to provide him with a further $102 million in the future; and that’s for the new, “rescue man” CEO. The outgoing CEO got $41 million in 2007).
Nobody asked the tellers to take a pay cut, either. That stands in stark contrast to the autoworker bailouts, where most columnist, bloggers, and politicians seem to agree that the UAW should either be crushed completely or agree to slash members’ pay to levels below nonunion workers at import plants.
We posted the following back in 2004 or so. It seems the average American still has no idea what happens inside a car factory. By the way, it is getting somewhat outdated, since Chrysler is now trying hard to use the intelligence and wit of its workers to fix problems without management interference (that’s the team-based work system).
Think for a minute about the average “UAW autoworker”… What do you visualize? Perhaps some fat, lazy slob who is paid $25 an hour to torque four screws every two minutes? Most likely, since that terrifyingly unfair stereotype of the drunken, lazy bum who whines about everything has existed for decades. I’ll be the first to admit that these kind of workers do indeed exist, but they exist everywhere, not just in the auto industry. But the truth of the matter is that they are few and far between nowadays.
Truthfully, the vast majority of people that I have worked with are drastically different than that awful stereotype described above. We are a very dedicated force of hard workers who struggle endlessly to do the best job we can do. We face the constant onslaught of job cuts, outsourcing and plant closings, causing us to endure frequent layoffs and getting us yanked from plant to plant while losing our seniority. We fight an uphill battle to build the best quality vehicle we can against nonstop changes that impact our job. We are always seeing the workforce trimmed down and thus having more operations added to our job. The line speeds keep getting faster and faster, giving us less time to do even more work. Our jobs are constantly “time studied” to see how much more work they can add to each job in hopes of cutting a few hundred more jobs in the plant. The engineers who devise our operations never have to actually do them, and no “flunky” line worker is ever going to convince them that it’s messed up. So what if we tear out our tendons or endure stress fractures from trying to do some screwed up operation that some industrial engineer came up with? It’s not their problem now is it?
Management exists for two purposes… to cut jobs and fire a worker whenever possible. Most of these managers have never worked a day of manual labor in their lives, and God only knows where they find some of them. They don’t care about anything except making their number for the day. God forbid the corporation actually used the skills and experience that their employees posess, because that might make them look bad. No, we’re simply human robots. We’re not allowed to have feelings, dignity or any kind of common sense. And personal problems?? Leave it at the door, buddy!
I think back to the days growing up with a father working in the auto industry. My mother didn’t have to work. We owned our home and cars outright and never had bill collectors calling to bother us. But it’s not like that today. To have anything to show for the gruelling work we suffer through means we have to be in debt up to our eyelids. We get squeezed from every direction by steadily increasing prices for products and services of rapidly declining quality. Durable goods used to be designed to last a lifetime; now, we’re lucky if they’re still in usable condition when they’re finally paid off. I used to think that having a job that paid $25 an hour with benefits pretty much meant you were set for life. Haha… I sure got a swift kick from reality there, huh? Nowdays, it’s hardly enough to raise a small family on without having a wife that works 40 hours a week as well.
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Last, I have to say that there is one thing that I find to be incredibly demoralizing and insulting… that is when people say that autoworkers are “overpaid slobs” and even say such absurd things like we deserve to lose our jobs. Excuse me??? Some sleazebag CEO can rape a company for a year and bail out with a multimillion-dollar “severance package” yet I’m overpaid at $45k a year?? Some thug-wannabe can grab his privates and cuss into a microphone and make millions of dollars a year, yet I’m overpaid?? Some punk can make millions playing athlete in “pro wrestling” but I’m overpaid for doing an honest day’s labor??
I don’t know if you feel that way because you have no skills or work for $6 an hour or whether you’ve lost touch with reality and feel anyone without a Master’s degree and seven-figure annual salary is human garbage, but simply put… YOU’RE OUT TO LUNCH! My wages are barely enough to raise a family on in this day and age. I can’t honestly comprehend how anyone can raise a family on any less than that. Thank God for the medical benefits, or we’d be $90k in debt because of the heart attack I had while working on the line two years ago! I honestly pity those fellow human beings who are struggling and suffering in the non-union shops for less pay and benefits. I don’t know how they can survive, because I’ve been there before myself.
Before you start jumping to conclusions, let me just say that we don’t live an extravagant lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination. You’ll find no mall-rat materialism and expensive indulgences around this house, buddy! There’s definitely no Caviar in our refrigerator… We rent a modest apartment, we have no yacht, snowmobiles, or big screen TV, and we drive 12 year old vehicles. I don’t do drugs, I hardly ever drink, and I don’t hang out in strip clubs. Yet, we’re on the verge of bankruptcy just trying to live day to day… and you think autoworkers make too much. Until you have worked on the assembly line yourself, you have absolutely no right to tell me I’m overpaid. I have just as much right to earn a decent living wage as you do, regardless of what kind of work I do to earn it.
I have a question on the auto bail out.
Would each automaker get $25 billion OR would they get $8.33 billion on the bailout?
And for the retooling loan, is that $25 billion a peace also?
I agree 100%. I am not an autoworker, but a tradesperson.
It’s all based on stereotypes, and believe it or not, in a society where prejudicisim is by large
becoming a thing of the past, its rearing its ugly head in another form. Prejudice: an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
And thats the bottom line.
I hope all you autoworkers out there come out of all of this O.K. I hope the government will help
with the bailout and you get to keep your jobs. You earned it.
As for all you other SOB’s stating your mis-informed opinion on those blog sites, just remember one thing; “What comes around, goes around.” What kind of human with emotions would not try and help a person keep a job and feed their family. What kind of sick society are we living in that people would actually admit to saying that they don’t care about this, or they think someone/all deserves it. Wake up you morons! These people built your Country………Don’t forget it!
The government should supply the loan, no questions asked. It’s a big part of their fault too. Too many years of not paying attention and bribery have caused this mess. Not because “they didn’t build a small car.” The government let foreign countries thrive here with their businesses, sight unseen and little to no control. Meanwhile, the good old Japan is protecting their country by making sure this country don’t sell too many cars there. They let foriegn countries buy up as much real estate as they can. Is there anything protected here? Hell, the Chrysler building is not even owned by a U.S. firm anymore. If you knew how much real estate is owned in the U.S. by foreign investors or firms… The government should have stepped in when Daimler wanted to merge/buy Chrysler. They shouldn’t have allowed it. Now Budweiser has been bought by a foreign company. Both of these companies were very healthy companies when this was happening. Government should have put their foot down. The Japenese are doing it!
If we can bailout all of Bush and Paulson’s rich Republican buddies on Wall Street that make “nothing”, if we can re-build Iraq, which I wouldn’t give you ten cents for, we can help the auto industry in this country. Let’s quit talking about it and do it.
Well said. I work for my money on the line. Like anyone else who goes to work, we go to earn our paycheck. Put us out of work because we simply make too much money for somebody’s liking. The grass is always greener on the otherside!
“Would each automaker get $25 billion OR would they get $8.33 billion on the bailout?”
Both packages are $25 billion TOTAL. Chrysler’s share would be around $7 billion.
There are two problems to the issue and Management is one of them. The reality is Chrysler, GM and ford are facing a very real problem of going under. But when the head of the UAW states they are not going to make any concessions and continuing the “gimme” mindset, it’s no wonder people are less than sympathetic.
UAW workers aren’t the only people out there that work for a living, everyone does. But if management has to get past their “Corporate” mindset, the UAW needs to get past their 1930’s “us vs. them” mindset. Part of protecting and employee should be that he/she will still have a job and not help to create or continue conditions that could ultimately eliminate it. As much as you hate upper management, it’ a fact of life that you work for them and not vice-versa. I find it interesting that the UAW can spend Millions in political donations to just about every Democrat out there but hasn’t even considered investment in the same companies they work for. That’s would be one way to have a say in how the company is run rather than having to depend on politicians.
First of all I’d like to say thanks for your eye opening comments about auto workers. I would have to say I was one of those that had believed many of the stereotypes that you described. But after your article I see autoworkers in a different light. I am a production worker but not in the auto industry. But I can certainly relate to downsizing and increased workload.
I do have a couple of followup questions that also have to do with the stereotype of the UAW autoworker. I have heard that autoworkers have extremely good health care with little or no cost to the employee. Is that true?
Also, I have read much about the jobs bank. Do you think the rank and file would be willing to give that up if Congress stipulated such for the bailout?
One final stereotype that I would like you to comment on is how it seemed that there used to be so many plants that would go on strike. It just “seemed” that union workers were never happy and always wanted more. I have no idea about this so I am not trying to put you workers down. I would just like you to shed more light on some of these issues that I hear others talking about. Thanks.
HEMIhead:
Welcome to class warfare 21st century style. It has been a part of the American experience since the end of the 18th century. It is with us still. It will be with us as long as there is an owning / managing interest that cares nothing for those that work for them.
I can’t answer the health care question but I can answer the job bank question - it’s pretty much gone now, a very small number of people are in it nationwide.