NIGHTTRAIN

Harley Davidson Executives, Investors Wear Generational Blinders

Every person I know who rides wants to own a Harley. This article is yet another fantasy by Seeking Alpha. I have never met one person who rides who doesn't want to own a Harley eventually. Not one.

What's up with the bias against American Auto companies?

Autoworkers' Pay Only Small Factor in Detroit's Problems

The $12/hr in benefits includes that workers retirement costs. The &16/hr is the cost of EARLIER retirees. That is the point of the whole article, which you apparently did not read.

Also, the average professor makes much more than the average autoworker in wages and benefits. It is laughable how you just made up a "fact" and posted it. Grow up.

On Dec 10 01:14 PM ts2 wrote:

> Wages ($29) + Wage related ($14) + Benefits ($12) = $55 per hour
> or roughly $100,000 per year.
> The workers also get the retiree benefits of ($16) not now but when
> they retire.
> These UAW wages are also for janitorial, landscaping and cafeteria
> workers, items that Japanese automakers contract out for less money.
>
> The average janitor at a UAW plant makes more than an average professor
> at a college.

Detroit Calling Washington's Bluff

Also, it might be time to review our nation's archaic labor laws to examine why it is that the UAW has not been able to organize foreign auto factories. The NLRA is now used as a hammer by business, rather than the shield for workers that it was meant to be.

Unfortunately, the workers will continue to bear the brunt of short sighted management decisions at the Big Three. Let us all remember who it was that suggested the domestic auto companies make smaller, fuel efficient cars almost 40 years ago--the UAW.

We should also remember the massive concessions given the Big Three over the course of the contract just ratified last year. Again, the UAW. These workers, who make around $40/hr with benefits included, have proven over the course of time that they are willing to sacrifice for their employers.

Let us remember who wanted to tie wages to profits--the UAW. The Big Three in their greed and shortsightedness denied this request years ago.

The problems with The Big Three are simple: they ignored the car market for years to focus on SUVs. No one denies this, now, when they are in the middle of a massive restructuring (many of these execs are brand new, something that is NEVER mentioned by the media), the Republican created economy, that relies on speculation rather than production, has dried up. Of course, none of these anti-bridge loans to the Big Three people has any problem with throwing a Trillion dollars at bankers and stockbrokers. Those companies have completely collapsed because of mismanagement (no union to blame there) and continue to get government handouts that dwarf that of the requests made by the Big Three.

One Trillion for (nonunion) bankers and Wall Street, nothing for Main Street.

Detroit Calling Washington's Bluff

These figures have been debunked several times, by several sources besides the UAW, and the UAW has posted those sources on their website. they don't need to, as i'm fairly certain that the UAW knows what their membership makes at the Big Three, but to appease you, and the thousands of republican apologists out there, they have done so. They also do not include the massive concessions given in the last contract. Get your facts straight and stop reposting already debunked figures.

On Dec 03 10:54 AM Mike_I_N_Mich wrote:

>
> Here is a couple year old analysis of UAW wages.
>
> www.cargroup.org/pdfs/...
>
> It includes 2003 actual and 2007 projected values. See page 31 of
> this PDF for the original. For convenience of readers I typed the
> 2007 projected values below:
>
> I’ve been to the UAW website and they are denying the $70 per hour
> figure, and alleging that money for pensions to retired people are
> allocated to the current workers. They would indeed be an unfair
> comparison. But the below figure of $4.94 per hour seems reasonable
> to fund a working persons 30 and out pension. The figure for health
> care of $13.38 looks high, but the UAW has only 5% co-pay and probably
> wastes a lot of services.
>
> If the UAW does not like the $70 per hour figure being floated then
> they should publish a revised figure that shows all of the below
> categories for actual workers only, instead of blowing a lot of smoke.
>
>
> Wages:
>
> Wages and Cola (28.44),
> Overtime (3.90),
> Vacation (6.62),
> Bonus (0.60),
> Other Misc.( 2.09),
>
> Total Wages( 41.65)
>
> Benefits:
> Pensions (4.94),
> group life (1.40),
> healthcare (13.38),
> FICA and UC (3.26),
> other misc( 0.35),
>
> total Benefits (23.34)
>
> Grand total (64.99)