Pissed in Michigan

[Nancy]

I know a lot of you live outside of Michigan, but do you really think the auto workers earn $70 an hour?  Do you really think that if the auto companies are allowed to fail, that it won't trickle down to your or your spouses jobs?

First off let me give everyone one fact, and pass it on, the average US auto worker earns a little over $28.00 an hour, the average US Toyota worker earns a little over $30.00.  Also the UAW is ready and willing to make compromises as always.  But the union will not be broke as some in Washington would like to happen.

Fact: Volkswagon was paid somewhere around $500 million dollars from US taxpayers to build here in the US, while asking their own government for money to help them in hard financial times. 

Fact:  Look into how much was given to the foreign car makers in Alabama to establish themselves there.  It is somewhere around $350 Billion of your money.

So if any of you or your friends think auto makers should not be helped think again.  If they go under, manufacturing loses, people lose jobs, when people lose jobs other services go away.   

[Audrey]

Nancy,

I knew none of this.

[Nancy]

There is a lot more that I could say on the subject Audrey, that has been said to deliberately mislead the American public about the auto industry.  We here in Michigan do not depend on the auto industry for our jobs, however, it is a large segment of the economy.

The handful of Senators that voted down the loan, not bailout as they would have you believe, are all from the southern states, Tennessee, Alabama and I believe South Carolina.  They have come out publicly and said they would like the UAW to fail, and that an auto worker in this country gets paid too much.

I would have loved for my husband to have earned $70.00 an hour, but in truth he never came close even with benefits and he was a salaried worker. 

All of the concessions that Congress wanted are already in the works, and have been.  But it takes time, nothing happens within a week!  An entry level auto worker on the assembly line gets $14.00 an hour, that is lower than its foreign counterparts.  And yet they want these men to accept a lower wage.  You can't support a family in the midwest on those wages!  You couldn't do it in California either. 

It has also been mentioned by Congress the "legacy" that these companies have.  Meaning retirees.  Well why don't they do something about health care?  Medicare is a joke!  Ed paid into his pension and retiree health care for 33 years out of every paycheck.  And yet Congress wants those benefits cut.  That is my money!

As you can tell I am really hot about all of this.  And I am not the only one. 
If you want to read some interesting facts about the auto companies then go to my senior blog. 

[Happy Momma]

It's amazing how the media portrays things so much differently than what is really going on.  And the sad thing is- there are so many families with the same story as you.

[Nancy]

The LA Times wrote a good article about this whole thing this morning.  It is on the web at: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-gopunions13-2008dec13,0,7065427.story

[Audrey]

I didnt know that's what your husband did. Trusting the media has not been possible for many years so reading that they are misrepresenting this is just par for the course.

[Nancy]

It is too bad we can't trust the media anymore.  But I really feel that investigative reporting is no longer a requirement for the job.  You have to be good looking, have blond hair if you are a woman, and be able to speak reasonably well, oh yeah, be able to read from a que card the sound bites your owner or producer wants you to read. 

Audrey, my husband was an Industrial Sculptor for 33 years.  He made life size models of the auto from drawings in clay.  By the way he now suffers a lot of pain from Carpel Tunnel (spelling?), and surgery is not an option.  His hands freeze up on him sometimes and it is very painful.  My youngest son does the same, that is before he was laid off from GM.  My daughter is also in the industry as an Design Manager for Cadillac.  She is in charge of all the small Cadillac interiors that you see on the road.  She told us yesterday that the President idea as a requirement for the UAW to take the bond and stock option instead of cash for the retirees health care will break the Union and all retirees will lose their health care.  She had a lot of GM stock in here 401K, given to her as bonuses by GM in lieu of money.  At the time it was given it was worth $97 a share, you only have to look at today's stock market to see what it is today.  So essentially in order for GM to survive it is on the backs of the retirees who cannot afford to purchase their own health care. 

I know concessions need to be made on both sides in order for these auto companies to survive.  My problem is no concessions were made by Wall Street and look how much they have wasted of the TARP money.

[Candid Carrie]

I stopped believing everything I read shortly after I started writing. 

alright, it was before that but I haven't believed mainstream news for decades. 

[Audrey]

Nancy,

It is scary indeed. I know in some ways it barely appears we are in a recession We had dinner out the other night and the place was PACKED. We actually had to wait.

Then I hear on the news that more people are being laid off.

Will be interesting to see what a new president does for us.

[Nancy]

I just hope it is not too little too late for the industry and its people.

[Aimee]

I hate not being able to trust the media anymore. Actually I don't remember a time when I could trust the media! LOL  I feel so bad for anyone that has been affected by the financial problems our nation has been having, and know that 28-30/hour is not a lot to live off of...