Of course it doesn't help that CEOs have gone from making about 30 times what the lowest-paid worker makes, in decades past, to HUNDREDS of times what the lowest worker makes.

I’m a proud member of uaw local 2209. I’m so relieved we finally have a union president that’s changing not only our bad reputation of corruption, but changing the way bargaining is being done. He’s keeping everything out in the open not only to us, but to the public to help restore what we stand for and how the uaw is supposed to work. And not doing the closed door deals that gets us shitty tentative agreements shoved down our throats. I was so disappointed with the strike in 19. 6 weeks out just to come back into the same issues we have today. How that last contract got passed is still beyond my grasp. I feel Shawn Fain won’t bring us a mediocre tentative agreement this round. This time around just feels different and I’m more than willing and eager to stand next to all my uaw brothers and sisters in solidarity!! We pay dues to have the ability to bargain for a fare handshake! Let’s make it count this time!!

@antionebonner86

10 ай бұрын

UAW IN SOLIDARITY

@grandche3966

10 ай бұрын

Sorry but why wouldn't those be strategies to fill up *his wallet alone? Why do you believe others in the name of Union? Last Union I heard bankrupted was called Soviet Union

I realize each company is different, but at Ford we usually have a $20 copay for office visits, up to $50 for hospital or specialty visits, and 90/10 coverage for in-network procedures and hospital visits. Prescriptions copays are usually under $20. Dental coverage is pretty good and covers routine visits with orthodontic care for anyone under 18 covering about 50%. Over 18, there is no orthodontic care. Prescription eye care you have to use SVS Vision and it usually costs around $500 for our family to get glasses. By the way, you can only get glasses or contacts once every two years. Our health benefits are in fact better than 90% of America, but it's far from perfect. On the economic factors of pay. Ford, GM, and Chrysler hourly worker's wages have been stagnant since the give backs in 2008. In fact workers have only seen a total of 4 raises total just 12% in the last 15 years. Meanwhile, inflation has risen by close to 40% in that same time. That means even the top hourly earners are making 28% less today than they did 15 years ago. As part of the concessions in 2008 hourly employees lost COLA, 1 minute of break time for every hour worked, Pensions, Retirement Healthcare, and the companies have continued outsourcing jobs to Mexico. The companies have taken profits to fund EVs under new brands to hire non-union labor and pay workers even less. As the working class, our backs are against the wall. These used to be jobs people would fight to get. Now companies are having to put signs out on the road because they're struggling to find workers.

@stevenanderson1671

10 ай бұрын

These are the things that they choose not to mention just fake profit sharing numbers smh!!!

@SSmotzer

10 ай бұрын

Which is why the unions need to go on the offensive.

@michaelwankewycz6209

10 ай бұрын

Thank you for presenting the facts. It's frustrating to read comments where people complain how the uaw workers are overpaid and lazy, but have no data to support their arguments.

@antionebonner86

10 ай бұрын

UAW IN SOLIDARITY

I found this in a comment somewhere. "My pay per hour as skilled trades in 2006 was at $34 per hour. adjusted for inflation that would be $52 per hour today. at my current rate of $37 per hour I have taken a 30% pay cut. In 2006 CEO Rick Wagoner was paid $2.2M, adjusted for inflation that is $3.4M. Mary Barra makes $29M. 8.5 times more than the ammount adjusted for inflation. My hourly pay would be $443 per hour if it was adjusted at the same rate as Barra's."

@tedg1609

10 ай бұрын

This IS a moral equivalency, but not a financial equivalency. The labor pool is much greater. Barra should still be thrown in jail for 2) theft, 2) incompetence

@AutolineDetroit

10 ай бұрын

You're only looking at Rick Wagoner's base pay and not counting his incentive pay. His total compensation in 2006 was $10.2 million. Mary Barra's base salary is $2.1 million. The rest of her compensation comes from short term and long term incentives offered to her by the board of directors.

@paulkf5pv

10 ай бұрын

@@AutolineDetroit okay fine, so she has still tripled her pay over Rick Wagoner's. we are not asking for triple the pay here. just enough to afford a home and new vehicle.

@paulkf5pv

10 ай бұрын

@@AutolineDetroit General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra got a raise and remains the highest paid CEO of the Detroit Three automakers. In fact, all of GM's top officers saw big increases in compensation last year. But the median pay for all GM employees declined in 2021 compared with 2020, largely due to parts shortages disrupting production and resulting in some workers losing hours or being temporarily laid off.

@paulkf5pv

10 ай бұрын

@@AutolineDetroit I made some adjustments of what I had copied and pasted, I did change one item in it before that was mathematically incorrect, with your input pointing out my bad data, I have corrected it. Thank You. "My pay per hour as skilled trades in 2006 was at $34 per hour. adjusted for inflation that would be $52 per hour today. at my current rate of $37 per hour I have taken a 30% pay cut. In 2006 CEO Rick Wagoner was paid $9.57M, adjusted for inflation that is $14.5M. Mary Barra makes $29.1M. 3 times more than the amount Wagoner was paid in 2006. if I were to triple my pay, My hourly pay would be $111 per hour if it was adjusted at the same rate as Barra's."

You remember what happened when the workers for Kmart and Enron owned stock in the companies they worked for during the 2008 housing market crash? That's right, they lost it all because of mismanagement and cooking the books. As far as the joint healthcare, I'm fine with it as long as it still falls under the companies control and not the UAW.

American car companies almost went out of business because of the terrible cars they made in the 70s thru the 2000s. Management caused that problem. All while giving themselves raises and asking the workers for concessions. Now, management has screwed up by not taking EVs seriously, and they're not making profits on the subpar EVs they do make.

29 year Ford UAW member, I work at LTP!! Wow hard to believe you worked there as well! with that said cola is VERY important. If we hadn’t lost(gave it up to help the company in their time of need)our cola we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now. The 32hr work week I could live without, i work on 4 crew already and only work 15 out of 30 days. But if cola is not given back, (which was given up in GOOD FAITH that we would get it back when the company was doing better) the next generation will be in the same position we are in now in another decade. So as much as I’d love a nice fat raise(which is way overdue) I think cola is more important. People say that’s going to be the sticking point but I think that should be one of the first things given back. Your numbers are off on profit sharing it was like 7000 grand or something this last year we haven’t seen a 10k profit sharing in a decade to best of my memory. Haven’t seen a 10-15k profit sharing in many years tho! 7-8k think a few years back GM got like 11 and we got 9 or they got 9 and we got 7 but 10-15k been awhile and most people don’t know that it is taxed with a luxury tax so the taxes were like 42-43% so you get just over half whatever it is and claim it on your taxes and hope you do well lol

@Rob2068

10 ай бұрын

Gotta get a substantial raise up front to make up for the real wage decline due to inflation, then institute cola for the future to prevent it from happening again.

That's crazy ... John's adjusted wage of $62/hour is about $130k a year, and without benefits. That is way over the average these days. WAY over. Obviously they cant ask for and get that kind of coin, but dang, quite the show-case of wages slipping over time.

@Voysh2Voysh69

10 ай бұрын

“Obviously they can’t ask for and get that kind of coin” You’ve stated the problem. Now ponder WHY it’s a problem in today’s society? John, himself, says he doesn’t think there’s “class warfare” occurring right now. But the executives see a 60% wage increase in a year’s time… while the worker’s on the floor can’t even get an inflation adjustment, and continuously see their paychecks shrink with the cost of living increasing AND the executives hiring newer workers at LOWER & LOWER wages by the year. People like John, and other talking heads, should wake up and smell the coffee. His “solution” is the union workers agree to adjust their healthcare plans, as a “mutual agreement”, to possibly give BACK money to the auto companies?… in the name of “competitiveness”? Uhh…. HELLO? Did we literally JUST FORGET THAT THESE COMPANIES REPORTED RECORD PROFITS? Am I living in the Twilight Zone?

@craighermle7727

10 ай бұрын

Is it wages slipping or just the skill set required isn't worth much more than what's being paid?

@TheBillkrauss

10 ай бұрын

​@craighermle7727 the "skillset" is the body being torn up and forced long shifts, 6 and sometimes 7 day weeks.

@redst9364

10 ай бұрын

I trained people on CNC machines delt with robots and complex camera systems so the auto industry is very different than it use to be a lot of people I work with have degrees as for wages it's not as much as you think I've been at the same wage for four years and I started at 16.50 an hour you have kids at Mc Donald s making more you can skue numbers any way you want to make something look good or bad they factor in medical benefits and paid holidays when quoting our pay to publications if you want to get down to it the guy that shut down my plant makes about four thousand dollars an hour from what we could get from public information if you factor in a company car clothing allowance gas allowance food allowance I'm sure he makes more after all he just bought a twenty two thousand square foot mansion and another one in Mexico so I think they can afford a raise for the people who actually make the money rather than the guys who shuffle paper .

@craighermle7727

10 ай бұрын

so why do you stay at a company that pays you so little, especially considering your skill set?

The amount of money I see at our campus at research and engineering in Dearborn is staggering on the cost corporate spends on new furniture , chairs and desks and cabinets for offices every 2 years . Is such a waste . Right in the dumpsters good stuff . Just one thing out of many things that could save on costs

@DeLorean4

10 ай бұрын

What? My office still has cubicles from the '80s and '90s.

@johnryan6003

10 ай бұрын

An you say “depreciation for tax purposes” ? Non-productive decisions by accounts.

@1001Hobbies

10 ай бұрын

Our plant may finally have gotten rid of chairs from 1991 that look even older, condition-wise. You can still find a few of them in various locations on the shop floor.....from when they would be thrown out and someone who needs anything to sit on would salvage it.

@thevinceberry

10 ай бұрын

Every 2 years? GM just remodel their warren buildings, but not every 2 years

FYI: According to Henry Ford’s autobiography, he raised wages after visiting the poor neighborhoods of his workers. The success of the Model T allowed Ford to raise wages. Fixing today’s wage problems should be focused on producing compelling products, not just assuming the company will survive the EV transition.

@12345682900

10 ай бұрын

There may be some truth in that, however, John is quite correct when he stated the $5 a day salary was to combat extremely high turn-over rates.

@johnryan6003

10 ай бұрын

Compelling products? Like HUMMER EV? 😂😂😂😂😂 GM stopped production of 2 well liked EVs. Most recently. Bolt. Can you say Dolts? BUMMER EV? Those are GM management’s decisions.

@gregwaldo4899

10 ай бұрын

@@johnryan6003I think GM especially is in deep trouble. They have made one bad decision after another. (Nikola, pouch cells, Volt, Bolt cancellations, expensive Hummer…)

@damham5689

10 ай бұрын

@@johnryan6003 GM could have had the EV market but in their infinite wisdom, they destroyed their EV program long before Tesla started theirs.

@AutolineDetroit

10 ай бұрын

"According to Henry Ford’s autobiography, he raised wages after visiting the poor neighborhoods of his workers." That's Ford propaganda. Go back and read original sources from 1914. After Ford started using the moving assembly line, workers so hated the tedium that they quit. Ford started raising wages to stop the turnover, and it went through several wage hikes before it finally decided it had to offer $5 a day to prevent the turnover.

I work at Chicago assembly plant and one thing we suffer the most from is absenteeism . I had an idea that gave works rolling raises in a monthly wage increase for perfect attendance. Like if you came in everyday and say your schedule to work 16 days that month you get a penny a day if you hit the full month it locks in . If you miss a day even a vacation day it rolls back for the month .

If upper management and CEOs of corporations didnt have the wealth and connections there would be a lot of them in jail for corruption too.

@toyotaprius79

10 ай бұрын

Truth

@JonathanRootD

10 ай бұрын

Corruption is illegal in unions and legal in corporations.

@JohnPMiller

10 ай бұрын

They would also be in prison if they hadn't thought of hiding in musical instrument boxes and fleeing Japan for Lebanon.

@Godcreatedmj1

10 ай бұрын

Agree it’s time to expose them 😡

@Godcreatedmj1

10 ай бұрын

⁠I like the way you explained this one!

Caterpillar, a UAW company, has had a stock option program for all employees since the 80s. And it's one of the most profitable and stable manufacturers in the world.

@markkeating3609

10 ай бұрын

Good only if the stock is worth somethimg. Ford stock has never recovered from splitting decades ago.

@shou635

10 ай бұрын

@@markkeating3609dividends

They should get their cost of living increases back.

@dotlaroc82

10 ай бұрын

We will 🦾

@sleepyhead8636

10 ай бұрын

@@dotlaroc82yes we will my brother in solidarity from local 51 🤛🏽

@kaseyc5078

10 ай бұрын

Not fair to not have union workers not suffer from Biden’s inflation

"Full pensions, retiree healthcare, ..." You mean like people who work for the government? What Fain is suggesting is not unheard of.

@alanlight7740

10 ай бұрын

Yeah ... and we really need to fire about 80% to 90% of government workers, precisely because they are a parasitic load on the economy.

@tedg1609

10 ай бұрын

That’s why they call it Government Motors. That and it keeps getting bailed out of bankruptcy by the government.

I wish people understood the pace at which we work. Better yet, the ratio of labor per $, or labor per hour. Literally we are providing labor EVERY second we are at work, minus breaks. The amount of actual work that we accomplish per man-hour is unrivaled. Every step we take, every hand movement we make, it’s all timed out; and you better believe if there are an extra couple seconds left over before the next vehicle gets to your work area, they will add something else to fill it. Oh, and whenever they decide to increase the line speed, nothing is coming off your job, so you’d better get used to it. I often challenge people with this statement: name me any job, in any industry where literally every single second of your time is mapped out and you are physically doing something the entire time. Construction worker: nah, they stand around plenty, and can stop shoveling or screwing boards for a few minutes if they feel like it. Office workers: nah, they do personal shopping and plan vacations while they’re “working,” probably only completing a few actual work tasks an hour. Scrolling through tiktok while at your desk isn’t work. Plus, they all can go to the bathroom whenever they need, without having to wait 30 or 40 minutes and risk soiling themselves. They can take a half-day or leave a couple hours early if they need to make it to an appointment. Auto workers do actual work every second we are at work, and there’s no stopping so you can do something for a minute, there’s no leaving a couple hours early. Hell, we don’t even get to use our vacation time when WE want to. While we’re at it, name me any job in any industry where the starting wage has actually gone DOWN over the last 15 years, and the top wage has stayed stagnant during that same 15 years. Meanwhile, vehicle prices have gone up by around 40-60% during that time. So don’t let them fool you and claim that if they give us raises it will mean an increase in cost to consumers, they’ve been raising prices anyways.

@LightMike4u

10 ай бұрын

The companies set these outrageous prices. Labor for each car company only costs them 7-10% on average. It's sickening how much corporate greed there is! How do these companies expect people to afford things on living paycheck to paycheck? All while their CEOs keep getting even richer. This shit has to end & it has to end NOW!

@peterthomson7135

10 ай бұрын

It's also important to remember that it's not just about raises. All three have developed new vehicles to be built in other labor markets, while at the same time planning to mothball plants in the U.S. So there's a need to get some kind of job security guarantee. At the same time, where I work we spent twelve months in 'launch mode' which meant up to10 hours a day, up to six days a week. Just as we began to see light at the end of the tunnel, they put us in 'critical mode' which means up to 10 hours a day, up to seven days a week, for 90 days. Ask any doctor what that's doing to a person. I don't expect a 32 hour week but unions fought for a 40 hour week over 100 years ago, so why is 32 crazy while 60 and 70 don't raise an eyebrow? I don't think anybody expects to win all of these demands, but you don't get good contracts by starting low and then negotiating down. Stellantis made record profits in 2021, broke that record in 2022, and has set a new record for six-monthly profits this year, their offer involved cuts to health coverage, cuts to 401K contributions, cuts to the profit sharing formula, a new tier of employees who would qualify for less paid time off, and contract language that would make it easier to mandate overtime. I think good contracts are doable here, but it's pretty telling that nobody is talking about what we've been offered by these companies after years of watching them grow while we struggled.

@chriswooten8426

10 ай бұрын

There is NOTHING in these contract negotiations that isn't warranted!!!! We deserve EVERYTHING that is being asked for. And honestly, it's not going to hurt any of these companies to adhere. If anything, it will guarantee that absenteeism is minimalized, and profits will favor from actual employees being able to afford to buy what we build!!! I do see a strike as the only way to wake these greedy corporations up!! And it needs to be a strike of significance!! So, yes, all three companies need to walk together at the same time to make an impact!

Lowering the ceiling is as important as raising the floor. Negotiate for lower executive wages as well as increasing hourly wages. Both executive pay and worker pay need to be more tied to profits and the LONG TERM viability off the company. Incentives are important! Everyone needs skin in the game. Hourly employees need to decrease absenteeism!! UAW worker’s medical coverage is better than any other employee I know. I worked in the automotive and aerospace industry for over 40 years including a union shop. Union rules made it impossible to help each other. This is ridiculous! As an engineer, I was written up for helping a technician carry pipes downstairs. They claimed I was taking work away from someone else. I was trying to help the tech and the company, which I feel is how a work environment should be. A medical cooperative is also a good idea.

@kastellolo5212

10 ай бұрын

It's unbelievable you were written-up for being supportive. Anyways, you did the right thing.

@sillystuff6247

10 ай бұрын

Legacy automakers already have some of the worst managers in America. Will lower pay attract better managers?

@sillystuff6247

10 ай бұрын

How about if UAW buys Ford & GM to show everyone how to profitably make vehicles?

@kylerobinson7572

10 ай бұрын

@@sillystuff6247 I’m sure there are people of integrity and intelligence willing to work for millions of dollars/year :-)

@kylerobinson7572

10 ай бұрын

@@sillystuff6247 Skin in the game is what matters. Unfortunately the integrity of previous leadership has been lacking.

it is class warfare, this guy talks like a politician.

And, look at what poor management did to the legacy OEMs. They have paid $ BILLIONS in Reg credits to Tesla. Basically funding about 30%. That was all given away because the legacy OEM continued for the last 10 years to refuse to make attractive higher mileage cars. Their hybrids used battery to boast acceleration, not really miles per gallon. OEMs delayed plug in hybrids even while the after market showed people wanted them.

@johnryan6003

10 ай бұрын

30% of cap Ex while Tesla had poor bond ratings.

My husband has been at Ford for 19 years. These workers work themselves into so many health issues. My husband has carpal tunnel,arthritis in his hands and knees,sciatica,back issues, trigger finger and Im sure I'm missing a thing or two.He walks over 12 miles a day. THEY WILL NOT GIVE UP THEIR HEALTHCARE!!!!! They give their bodies to that company and the Big 3 should absolutely pay to fix them!!! NO CONCESSIONS!!! #unionstrong #solidarity #wedontwanttostrikebutwewill

Honestly don’t know too many ppl who would just let their job make them work consecutively 90 days straight long hours just to live paycheck to paycheck that’s insane

'Dramatically' is an understatement. Executives are making amounts of money that is unconscionable evil. The companies can afford to pay living wages to employees, and need to start doing so.

@dotlaroc82

10 ай бұрын

Right

@bobmister250

10 ай бұрын

$150,000 per year isn't a living wage in Detroit? I live in Metro Detroit and $300,000 buys a nice house in Detroit. Don't tell me they're underpaid. They do the work of McDonalds workers and get paid almost as much as doctors. Fire all of them and send the jobs to Mexico.

@rwdplz1

10 ай бұрын

@@bobmister250 You think Mary Barra deserves $20,000,000+ a year sitting on her behind letting her minions do all her work?

@Dularr

10 ай бұрын

@@rwdplz1 CEO work for the stockholders. If they don't like her performance, they will vote her out.

@davidmccarthy6061

10 ай бұрын

UAW leadership also makes gobs of money and their have been union scandals. Are you holding them accountable?

Inflation makes a 20$ an hr feel like 10$ an hr.

@dotlaroc82

10 ай бұрын

Facts

@toyotaprius79

10 ай бұрын

Profits begets inflation, it's macroeconomic Inflation reduces the profits Value of profits decreases with inflation, causing those who set prices in preservation of profits to increase prices

@Carguytct

10 ай бұрын

It was just a few years ago that fast food worker demanded &15.00 an hour. They got their wish which cause prices to go up. Like you said, even $20 now feel like 10. The more everyone demands, the more inflation will go up. If you want higher pay, you have to better your skills to get higher pay. Demanding higher pay for everybody only causes inflation.

@JohnPMiller

10 ай бұрын

You're supposed to call it Bidenomics, and it's supposed to be a good thing.

@davidmccarthy6061

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, and every other job is immune to inflation?

"UAW is worried that the workers can become interested in the financial health of the company" (if they get stock options) An eye opening view - at the moment they are not considering if the employer can go under?

@brunoheggli2888

10 ай бұрын

Bullshit!

@dotlaroc82

10 ай бұрын

Nah

@toyotaprius79

10 ай бұрын

Ever heard of democracy in the work place?

The way you can be competitive in the market is having the laws of supply and demand determine labor costs. You can't wave a wand and give lower wage workers a bigger splice of the pie and expect people at the top to expect less. That's just not in the reality we live in. You have less value if more people can do the same job.

Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, Volkswagon, BMW, Mazda and of course Tesla all have automotive plants of various types in the US. I believe a Toyota Camry has more domestic content than a typical GM pickup truck. Of course, none of those companies are Unionized. Somehow they get by with reasonable quality. They somehow manage to balance pay/benefits with employee turnover. Can someone explain to me how those other companies can survive without a Union, but the legacy US companies need a Union for some reason?

@polo3433

10 ай бұрын

If Toyota, Tesla, etc had plants in the early 20th century they would have to deal with the UAW as well. Once a company become unionize it will be very difficult to decertify them.

@tedg1609

10 ай бұрын

Sadly, the unionized plants have much lower quality (and usually lower wages) than non-unionized plants.

John, the last time I remember you guys talking as much about union negotiations, etc. was way back during the great recession and companies like GM Ford and Chrysler are looking for possible bail outs from the government. The reason I mention us is because you are commenting on the tactics that Sean Fain is using to draw attention to the UAW side of negotiations. Sounds to me like it’s working in some fashion.

@pnortey1477

10 ай бұрын

Ford was not nor did not take a bail out The people who worked for Ford was they bail out

Decent suggestions. I'd also add that after they get their improved contract (which they will, it's just a question of by how much) they need to work on unionizing more plants of the other automakers.

@1001Hobbies

10 ай бұрын

They have ben working on that for more than a decade. Just do a search of UAW and Nissan, Volkswagen, BMW, and more.

The auto companies need to run their own hospitals. Kaiser created a big health system during WW2, and here in the bay area, Kaiser is the largest biz, and the shipyards are long gone. The auto companies also need to trim the management fat. Too many layers of administration; too many paper shufflers. Very sensible proposals put forward here. Sadly they will be ignored. The UAW leader is a fanatic, and if not restrained by other union leaders, he could destroy our auto biz. The auto companies are not in good shape. The Chinese competition is brutal.

@rwdplz1

10 ай бұрын

Just like auto dealers, all the smaller health care systems are getting bought out by the larger conglomerates, forming local monopolies.

GREAT TO SEE JOHN ON ALL THE NEWS OUTLETS LATELY 👏👏.... LOVE THESE SATURDAY VIDEOS TOO.... HAVE A GOOD DAY EVERYONE ✌️

The majority of us now, are the workers after the 2007 contract. I'm the first group of tier 2 ever hired. $14.28 an hour my first 3yrs as a permanent (never a temp) hourly worker

Let the CEO and VP's lower their salaries first. The concessions can't be all on the workers.

About 1970 GM worked about 550,000 employees, now they work about 170,000. There will probably be less in the future and there is no way they can give legacy benefits to workers who retire in their mid 50s. Hopefully they can work something out that will be mutually beneficial.

@JonathanRootD

10 ай бұрын

There is no way that we can match benefits from the past with less workers and greater productivity? Seems this race to the bottom has fattened the execs and wealthy shareholders at the top.

@ejd1984

10 ай бұрын

The 1970 UAW strike really damaged the US Auto Industry, and the effects to this day can still be felt. That striked really opened up the door for the Japanese to get a foothold in the North American market, and I'm afraid that could happen again allowing the Chinese autos to move into the newly opened void.

@grandche3966

10 ай бұрын

​@ejd1984 more to be disclosed? What do you think of Japanese car intrusion? I might used the wrong word considering the relationship between u.s. and Japan, but do you or workers in auto industry felt the pain or benefit with more Japanese cars in the U.S. today?

Stock buybacks to fudge EPS seems more important to Wall St. And the Boards. It cripples the funding of transition to all aspects of EV. The contracts are negotiated. Management can not blame workers for prior better compensation including benefits. Those were negotiated and management felt they were ok for the corp. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy during the “great recession”’no one could get car loans. Not union wages.

This is pure gaslighting, almost comical. Your acting as if the UAW is asking to make every blue collar worker a millionaire 😂. Profits are at an all time high for the big 3 and you want to defend capitalism. But when a recession and losses came in 2007 they were HEAVY on socialism then. What exactly are bailouts again? We temporarily suspended pensions and accepted lower wages all in the name of helping the big 3, now when we see record profits we’re not supposed to benefit at all?

Hard to compare the past when there was more monopoly in a less globalized world. we ase competing with 3rd world companies with 3rd world wages and 3rd world employee protections

John you are a wealth of knowledge. I can’t believe you haven’t been swept up by a big corporation. Keep it up with these weekend clips. They are pure gold. Thank you!

3:10 "... and yet they showed up for work every single day." Didn't you just do a video saying that on any given day, 20% don't show up to work? Please clarify.

I am a GM employee at Arlington, Texas, and I think you have some great ideas. I did want to clear something up though, we do have co-pays. I think maybe you meant to say we don't have a deductible.

I'm a Ford employee currently....the numbers you have for an average of profit sharing is incorrect sir...

@sillystuff6247

10 ай бұрын

Please provide _correct_ numbers.

John, your comments-on all automotive issues-are always so on target I wish you were KING of the automotive world.

Today I learned that the UAW actively discourages its members from becoming shareholders in the companies they work for, precisely because that might incentivize them to care about the health of the company. That is one of the most perverse things I've ever heard. In theory I could support the idea of unions, but I can't support the reality of unions in the U.S. They prey not only on the companies they ostensibly work for, but also on the general public that has to pay much higher prices for inferior goods as a result of their prioritizing short term benefits for their members over everything else - including their own future. I've worked alongside union workers before. Most were decent enough workers and decent enough people. I don't dislike the ordinary union members themselves, but there are just too many perverse incentives at play where unions are involved. (More than a few of the union members I worked alongside of were not at all pleased with their unions, btw.) And of course one of the other perverse incentives is that unions delay improvements to productivity because they prefer to maximize the number of workers in order to maximize profits for the union leadership. In doing so they cripple the companies they work for and thanks to various protectionist measures force ordinary consumers to pay for it all.

Universal healthcare would be benificial to companies and workers alike.

You would still pay over $70,000 for a pickup truck if every UAW job was moved to Mexico and they are paid only $3 per hour. If you can't pay your workers a living wage then you need a new business model. Average US home is over $400k and average college cost is over $26k per year, Gas is $3.18. Wages need to come up. The standard of living needs to come up not go down.

@josephmcclary9667

10 ай бұрын

Gas is $3.18??? Not here. It’s $4.49. And I’m NOT in California.

That profit sharing he's talking about is not between 10k and 14k.. you have to put in the hours to get that.. and 80% of the employees don't get the hours for the max

Stock shares. The Chinese are about to destroy the Big 2.5 auto makers.

Thank you John and Family for all your hard work, dedication and insightful reporting. A strong and vibrant middle class is essential to the success of any country.

Union needs to be seen to be result oriented rather than downright militant during their negotiations. One of the Employers they are negotiating with in Stellantis which is steered by PSA/FIAT. There are a lot less jobs in France and Italy because of militancy of the Unions in those countries over the last two decades. My car is made in Slovenia and FIAT have nearly abandoned Italy as a manufacturing basis for the bread and butter cars.

Good ideas! The UAW workers deserve a pay increase. But the Union needs to work with the companies to keep them competitive. Otherwise in the long run, we all lose here in Detroit.

@1001Hobbies

10 ай бұрын

The Union worked with Ford (I speak about that company because I have first hand knowledge) from 2005 to 2015 to make them more competitive. On top of agreeing to NO PAY INCREASES for 10 years, we also signed unprecedented local "Competitive Operating Agreements," DURING a signed contract era, that added even MORE concessions to the company on top of the concessions given to the company in the National contracts during that time. Even after agreeing to freeze their wages, agreeing to concessions in the National contract, and agreeing to even more concessions in additional local contracts, the company was still demanding MORE. That was when the members said "no more concessions." The workers gave until it hurt, and then until it hurt some more, and so many things to never be again....and the company wanted to continue that trend, netting all company costs savings from the 8% of the cost to build a vehicle. Why would you look to get 100% of your cost savings from only an 8% segment of your costs to build a vehicle? Because the only thing that has to happen for those savings to go into effect is for people to say "OK." To get cost savings from everything else, someone has to actually figure out how to do more with less, and it seems that is not in the company's interest.

@thevinceberry

10 ай бұрын

Also CEO needs to push to make good vehicles, not a mustang suv, new trucks that are lemons and more and more suv in their offerings

They need the healthcare because labor creates back pain, arthritis and hernias. Profit sharing has to be approved yearly.. it's not automatic.

Two points, #1, we UAW autoworkers do pay deductibles for our health insurance and prescriptions haven for the last 25 years. #2 we have not received $14k for a profit sharing bonus which is taxed 40%.

I worked for GM as a UAW skilled trade’s electrician. In my 30+ years my pension never increased one dime. ! I retired with a pension lower than Chrysler UAW workers!! The UAW failed to negotiate a decent pay raise as skilled trades jobs were decreased by thousands!! UAW ELECTRICIANS in Lansing decreased from over 400+ to less than 100 All steel stamping jobs have been outsourced to independent contractors!! GM reconstruction after bankruptcy has trimmed workers While executives and salary have received million dollar pensions!!! BS fight for every penny we can as our industry declines into a outsourced Private company

Ive worked at Ford Motor Company in Kansas City building the transit and trucks for 10 years. The starting wage is $18.....Mcdonalds down the street is making $16......People wont stay with the way things are. Shaun fain is actually undervalueing us at only 20%. When the cost of everything has gone up 50-100% in most places. It needs to be 40% with cost of living adjustment with no change to our other benefits to even think its keeping up with our cost of living. Once the contract is signed with higher labor costs your damn right everything will jump in price AGAIN and who knows where ill be at at that point. I know it wont be Ford motor company anymore. I refuse to break down my body for some old rich dead mans great great grandson and not be compensated properly

John, you are so dead on with this one, and the healthcare co-op is a genius idea. Have you offered your services as a mediator to negotiations?

John, for UAW President. Let some reason in the door.

They might devalue their stock by issuing more shares. But could be worth it given how low their stock price already is

Labor is about 7 - 8% of the cost to build a vehicle. The company is always looking for the vast majority of cost savings from that 7 - 8% rather than looking and ACTING on the other 92% of costs. This is what angers the workers. If you get people to accept less money, or no additional money, for their compensation, the only thing that has to happen is for people to say "ok." For cost savings from the other 92% of the cost to build a vehicle, someone has to ACTUALLY FIGURE HOW TO DO MORE WITH LESS, and the company doesn't seem willing to do that. I am not sure what those people are being paid for if they won't do that work.

TREMENDOUS _Practical_ *Win - Win Ideas*

550,000 to 170,000. UAW decrease in employment. While profits have soared into billions. Fight for every penny!!!!

Really good information I like these specific topic videos that you guys do

Imagine the negotiating leverage if healthcare was Universal instead of something that had to be negotiated with employers... The best part is no part.

Great ideas and perspective John! Thanks for sharing.

As long as the unions foster a culture where the average worker views "management" as the enemy I'll be anti-union. The hatred put forward by the unions must end. I would never want the union leaders speaking for me. Ask an assembly line worker in Japan for example, who is your enemy and they will respond with one of their rival competitors. Ask a union worker who is their #1 enemy and they say, it's management of their own company! Unions make workers hate their own "families" (company). Unions gotta go. Non union rivals are all on the same team.

@sunrisejak2709

10 ай бұрын

Unions also foster an environment of protecting bad workers and employees who need improvement. It's a bad culture when unproductive behavior and terrible attitude is rewarded. Unions must create good environment so workers respect and perform their best. Unions basically encourage the "do as little as possible for the most money" and help generate low productivity. Unions have outlived their usefulness and now are a detriment to the people they are supposed to be helping. Strike? How stupid. Let's have doctor's and nurses be allowed to strike and let people die! Of course this would not be right. So if strikes are a threat the unions should be busted and disbanded.

First off our insurance coverage is not nearly as good as he says. It won't cover allergy testing for our kids. We pay deductibles on office visits and prescriptions. There's alot it doesn't cover.

Especially since uaw members are producing so many more vehicles per day than in the past. More production less pay for laborers and than more pay for top execs.

From 2005 to 2015 Ford workers wages were frozen. No raises while giving the company many concessions.

Yes, Ford LEGACY workers have great insurance, but they DO have co-pays. You said they do not, but that is not accurate.

GM lost more on the last strike than it would have cost to give the workers everything they wanted. They still refused... that is class warfare...

the ratio of workers to production is not what it used to be. Automation has gotten rid of lots of workers, volume and production is at an all time high, each worker is more productive than ever. wages should reflect that

The UAW is concerned that an incentive might make it's members consider the financial health of the company. Yet if the company fails financial health then they go out of business and stop paying the workers that the UAW are supposedly fighting for. They are in it for themselves more than the management of the companies they battle against.

Thank you John for making this video to share your knowledge and insight. I am a huge fan of the combined medical insurance concept. Just like if the government ever removed the burden of medical insurance from businesses back with national medical care, they have to make sure it us managed correctly. No matter private sector insurance or government managed, it is the people running it and the systems they use to run it that make the real difference. The bonus for workers is if you become unemployed you still have the medical coverage. You can change employers and still have same medical coverage. Employers can stop paying for medical insurance management companies and paying into medical premiums. It all gets taken off their back. We make our medical care system too complex and for the benefit of a select few. I am very tired of the saber rattling by the UAW leadership. If they go for a strike, it will only hurt their workers. The way our laws are written, they could shut factories forever, get a write off, and build a new factory outside the UAW control. Plenty of anti-UAW states, let alone countries that would welcome a factory. The UAW needs show why they are an asset, not an enemy. I 100% believe none of the top executives at the builders are worth their insane pay. Much of that is driven by Wall Street. Where I disgree with John is the stock idea. Employees should have great stock packages. This notion of employees getting to worried about the financials seems silly to me, which I am guessing is an outdated concept of what corporate leaders think. Business is driven by money. If employees see stock prices rise based on cost saving and better productivity, that will create a better culture for the company. Tesla employees are mostly cost focused. Not everyone there is, but they have a bunch of employees who want to save money and grow the business. I have spoken to Fremont factory workers talking about getting rid of slackers and doing things better. The stereotype of a UAW employee is they collect their checks and fear improvements in efficiency since it could end jobs. If employees have a chunk of shares in their 401k, they may be more driven to drive down costs. Guaranteed wages is an old concept that needs to replaced with performance based pay. Just like the medical insurance concept, it is rhe people and management systems used that will make all the difference. Unions and legacy builders need to shed outdated and bulky systems to survive.

I sure hope SOMEBODY is listening and taking notes......

The cost of living was never given back after we gave it up to help the corporation through hard times. Raises did not keep up with inflation. The two tier system was a slap in the face to new hires. I voted no when I had a chance. You talk like you're on the company teet.

shawn fain is just asking for the most....gm will come in with the lowest. then they will bargin to the middle. this is the way negotiations work. hes not being unrealistic...this is how it is.

I loved this video. You know, I was thinking the *exact* same thing about giving shares to employees too. I'm so happy someone else brought it up. I've looked at the Wikipedia pages of quite a few companies in France, such as Airbus, Safran, Air France, Engie, and so many other companies in France, and the rest of Europe also let their employees hold shares in the company they work for. I don't understand why it's not more popular. It gives employees a direct incentive to care about the performance of the company they work for. If union leadership doesn't like that, that makes even less sense to me.

The unions' demands are little more more than a dead cat bounce on compensation for the auto workers. These terms won't mean too much when they are laid off in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks John to tell the truth that auto workers needed for public to know.

Why isn't anybody's idea of freeing up the money to pay the UAW members have anything to do with not paying it to the CEO's and stock holders? That is the basis of the argument. They give the bulk of their profits to everybody but those who really earn it for them. Share the wealth.

I have a better idea. If it’s costing 23k a year in healthcare cost for each autoworker why not just eliminate the healthcare and give us an extra 23k a year to buy our own insurance? Also with the shares of stock, how much would you have today if say you worked for GM in 1985 thru 2005 and you accumulated stock for those 20 years and never sold a share? Keep in mind these shares were accumulated starting in 1985 and you got your last shares in 2005. How much would you have today????

Good suggestions John - but the likelihood of the UAW adopting any of your ideas is less that the chances of me falling pregnant - I'm a 70-year-old heterosexual male.

@tedg1609

10 ай бұрын

Confused. Would your odds go up if you were homosexual?

This is class collobaration bs. Your employer is not your friend

Ecellent points John. *IAFF Local 34 member 👍

I like you take on the situation and your possible solution. Hope the UAW leaders have the smarts to solve it without a strike. In my opinion the management of the auto companies should chip in as well, no one is worth $40M + income per year. Without the worker they would not have a company to run. Thanks John McElroy for your insight!

1:56 Yeah, because the buying power of a single dollar has plummeted to near Weimar Republic levels since then. A person COULD pay off their own education, purchase real estate, and start a family all within what was considered the living wage back then. Now the average American can only pick two of those things.

A 45,000 vehicle will always be 45k, wether it's made from toothpicks, steel, aluminum.. it doesn't matter because it's built on a class system not material.

The suggestion to merge health plans sounds very union-like. It leverages the clout of uniting into a larger bargaining unit. But it has an interesting Canadian dimension, where I don't fully understand the details and implications. Canada has a single payer system, I believe, I don't know where the provincial health care providers stand vis-a-vis that system. I don't know if there are legal impediments, but it would be interesting if the joint healthcare plan could negotiate with the Canadian provincial health care providers, which so far only sell services to the Canadian health system, to also start providing services in Michigan and other US states. This may involve setting up subsidiaries employing US-licensed health professionals. These health-care provider companies would know intimately the cost of pharmaceuticals in Canada and they could in turn bargain hard with their suppliers (like pharma companies) to get closer-to-comparable costs in the US.

I worked in a union shop all of my life. Unions are NOT the end all be all. I never agreed with taking away worker pensions. You can't work these jobs until you are 70 and just have social security to live on.

@WhittyPics

10 ай бұрын

We have taken these tax cuts for the rich too far. Philip Morris USA is starting it's new hires $24 an hour now

I like how everyone thinks that MY job and wages are THEIR dam business. 🙄

What happens to the profit-sharing when Ford goes out of business?

This is a pretty typical proposal for stock compensation used in the tech industry. There's a couple of schemes like this, like RSUs and ESPPs. The only problem is, F and GM stocks don't go up very much year-over-year, whereas Google, Apple, and Amazon do. So when Amazon offers you $1k in stocks, it's probably better than cash. But if GM did?

It is called NEGOTIATIONS You always ask for the most you can, BUT YOU WILL SETTLE FOR LESS - IF IT IS A GOOD OFFER THAT IS FAIR AND CAN GET RATIFIED

This guy is right. We need to organize a nation wide labor strike until we raise the minimum wage to $62 an hour.

Thanks for bringing some sanity to the conversation, John. Both sides are unrealistic and Shawn Fein specifically is just playing tough without any concept of what is really possible or fair.

@sillystuff6247

10 ай бұрын

_Both sides are unrealistic_ ❓ How have Ford, GM, and Stellantis been _unrealistic_ ?

Great video up to till the end. We can not give up our health care.

As always, great video John and Autoline team. Really enjoy your well thought out perspective. Something to think about. I'd assume Shawn Fain and UAW is aware of this perspective and likely agree to some extent. Where I disagree with is the narrative of UAW asking for too much and they need to concede. In my opinion, that is the gripe within the union that they always concede. It's an easy excuse from the automakers [and investment community] that their costs are too high with labor. Having worked at one of the Detroit Big 3 for several years in engineering, I'd argue there's room for improvement here (i.e. warranty costs and overdesigned platforms) and these cost factors don't nearly get the attention it needs. In my opinion, the automakers need to show a bit more on how they plan to reduce costs here before they throw in the towel that labor costs are what will make them uncompetitive.

The UAW should follow one simple rule for its workers: do not protect lazy, drunken, dangerous, incompetent, and crooked workers. Why? Because you want to protect the JOB, not the worker. Worker steals? Fired and replaced. Worker is frequently absent? Fired and replaced with a worker that shows up. Worker fakes time cards? Fired. The UAW should represent only GOOD WORKERS. Do not protect losers. Replace them. The UAW’s competitiveness should come from providing the BEST WORKERS, not protecting the worst.

@MarcoBrolo

10 ай бұрын

You’re talking about stealing time cards 🤣. Jfc you don’t know what you’re talking about

@heywoodjablowme9239

10 ай бұрын

That's used to happen...it's not a option anymore...no timecards...it's automated at a turnstile

@lol-xs9wz

10 ай бұрын

>Tesla opinion discarded

I buy $85 of GM stock every month, which turns out to be about two and a half shares per month, I'd agree with this as an option, but I don't see the ceo's agreeing to it. In their eyes, it'd be possible for us to gain a level of control in the company. Why shouldn't we be concerned with the financial health of the company we work for? Having a stake in the company makes me feel like my specific job matters, the few dividends I receive are nothing compared to them. Also, we pay copays sometimes when we see doctors ($20). It's $50 for urgent care and $100 if you go to a hospital and NOT admitted. So it's not what most people think, we're not swimming in pools filled with money.

Maybe these car companies could sell more cars if they made cars that people people could actually afford, $100.000 pickup trucks is insanity and if they could sell more trucks then maybe paying workers better pay wouldn't matter because sales would offset the pay increase or the CEO's can continue to play the it cost too much money card and then watch the assembly lines go silent and then nobody makes money. And to be clear regardless of what the title says I personally don't think that you support the UAW at all, but that's my opinion.

@dub795

10 ай бұрын

Agreed either you’re with the UAW or against

If automotive management truly cared about being competitive they wouldn't keep upping their pay and hiding that fact. The competitive argument only comes out for the hourly workers. The need to skip their bonises for a year. This would more than cover the hourly raise.

Respect on everything you do and know but I have to clarify the wage comparison even further! The comparison of $5 a day to $19 an hour. It's not about a 1:1 comparison of dollars but a comparison of purchasing power. $5 a day was the equivalent to $19.90 an hour going strictly by inflation but it bought you $299.86 worth of goods which is equivalent to $37.48 an hour!