Biggest U.S. Automakers Said to Study New Lower-Pay Tier for UAW
Source: Bloomberg
by David Welch & Keith Naughton
Bloomberg) -- U.S. automakers General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., heading into negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, are considering asking to create a new tier of lower-paid union workers in their U.S. factories, people familiar with the matter said.
This new pay rate for some lower-skilled jobs would help the car manufacturers lower labor costs as they compete with Asian and European rivals that typically pay less at non-union U.S. plants, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private plans.
The UAW has said it wants raises for both its top-paid $28-an-hour assembly workers and the lower-paid second tier, whose wages top out at $19.28. The union, which abhors different wages to members doing the same job, is already considering pushing to eliminate the second tier, said a person familiar with the leadership’s thinking.
Asking for a lower-wage third tier could be a tough sell with union negotiators at a time of growing disparity in U.S. incomes. UAW leaders are already under pressure from their 80,000 auto-making members to eliminate the second tier or at least get them a raise. Paying less to union members -- even newly hired workers -- isn’t on the UAW’s agenda.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-23/biggest-u-s-automakers-said-to-study-new-lower-pay-tier-for-uaw
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This issue needs to be laid at the feet of the U.S. Supreme Court, they have since 1981 when good old Ronnie got elected and ever since the worker in this country has taken it right on the chin, men and women and young adults with there rulings which were enacted to protect the worker from the 1900's through 1950's have been under attack.
This court has empowered the corporate oligarchy and the corruption of Congress to attack the Wagner Act with the Taft-Hartley Act.
And every time that a republican has been in charge at Labor and the NLRB the worker has suffered.
The race to the bottom isn't new: They establish a "B-scale" compensation rate to lower the bar as the "A-scale" employees are lessened in numbers through attrition. Very common in the transport industry.
Also, one wonders what sort of "consumers" these lower paid employees would be. Ohhh, that's right, I forgot: They will make less but it will be mitigated by cheaper goods imported from abroad. Nice timing of the TPP to bring this about. 
(per capita - 1/4 of US' population, 1/2 of our auto production). In 2014 US vehicle production was 11.6 million, while Germany's was 5.9 million. Paying workers less, which our employers always want to do, is not the answer. German automakers could show GM and Ford why that is true.
Oddly, the US is one of the few countries that manufactures more commercial vehicles (7,407,601 in 2014) than passenger cars (4,253,098). Canada is another (1.5 million vs 900,000).
Another fact, there is a strong positive correlation between the degree of unionization in a country and having a positive balance of trade (more exports than imports).
http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/03/05/myths-and-facts-unions-and-organized-labor/198343
