NYT: Unions Yield on Wage Scales to Preserve Jobs

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/business/20wages.html?_r=1&hp

By LOUIS UCHITELLE
Published: November 19, 2010

MILWAUKEE — Organized labor appears to be losing an important battle in the Great Recession.


Gary Tramontina for The New York Times

Matthew Levatich, president of Harley-Davidson, left, and Bill Peek, owner of Heart of Dixie Harley-Davidson in Pelham, Ala.


Even at manufacturing companies that are profitable, union workers are reluctantly agreeing to tiered contracts that create two levels of pay.

In years past, two-tiered systems were used to drive down costs in hard times, but mainly at companies already in trouble. And those arrangements, at the insistence of the unions, were designed, in most cases, to expire in a few years.

Now, the managers of some marquee companies are aiming to make this concession permanent. If they are successful, their contracts could become blueprints for other companies in other cities, extending a wage system that would be a startling retreat for labor.

Though union officials said they could not readily supply data on the practice, managers have been trying to achieve this for 30 years, with limited results. The recent auto crisis brought a two-tier system to General Motors and Chrysler. Delphi, the big parts maker, also has one now. Caterpillar, back in 2006, signed such a contract with the United Automobile Workers.

The arrangement was a fairly common means of shrinking labor costs in the recession of the early 1980s. At the end of the contracts, however, wages generally snapped back up to a single tier. At G.M., Chrysler, Delphi and Caterpillar, the wages will not be snapping back.

FULL story at link.

[EarthFirster]

1. What do you expect?

They have outsourced to China, all the middleclass jobs. We going down baby....

CALL YOUR SENATOR ON SB510!!

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/4548062-sb-510-a-food-safety-bill-or-something-else-entirely

[xchrom]

2. Recommend -- we created this 'reality' - we cam

Create another.

A better one.

But it takes the Party of ThenPeople to remember who
They are.

[rhett o rick]

3. Unions today have no leverage. nm

[eilen]

4. Well, I know that plenty of Democrats are just goofy

with the success of the Obama lead government bailout of GM. With GM paying back all those billions and on their way to profits, what are the chances the workers will see a return to their previous pay and benefits? Oh wait....

"The arrangement was a fairly common means of shrinking labor costs in the recession of the early 1980s. At the end of the contracts, however, wages generally snapped back up to a single tier. At G.M., Chrysler, Delphi and Caterpillar, the wages will not be snapping back.

They won't.
Also, if you read farther down the article, it is even worse as there is even a third tier that doesn't get benefits, are paid even less and are only temporary.

IBM did this before they left the Hudson Valley in the early 90's. (yeah, those big boom years for the "information worker").

Now my newly elected Democratic governor is ready to take on the unions in NY.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/nyregion/25cuomo.html?pagewanted=2&sq=labor%20unions&st=cse&scp=1

So, my question is.... what exactly does the Democratic Party stand for in regards to the worker? Is the United States ready for a Labor Party or do they need to be ground down, laid off, find themselves begging to be exploited by TPTB/Big Business. Will the Chinese Worker (being communist and all, you'd think they have this in the bag) lead the way for workers rights while we lay down and take it with a big scoop of "Thank You Sir May I Have Another?"

Now on another thread, it was opined that the young, the 30 year olds should be just fine retiring later as they have the time to plan (while we keep voting extra tiers, screwing up any hope for their pensions, education, healthcare and handing them an economical shit sandwich). Yay future taxpaying workers!. I think they may eat the old when they get hungry enough.

[SocialistLez]

5. That was such a sad read for me today at work. I didn't even read it all.

::sigh::

[Crazy Dave]

6. They really don't get much of a choice

They get told to take a pay and benefit cut or we'll shut the plant down and move overseas.

The only thing the unions can negotiate these days is how much of the worker's pay they'll let the board members and the shareholders take away for themselves.