Sergio Marchione want $45/h from unions

[Schulmann]

Sergio Marchione wants $45/h from unions

Fiat CIO want the Chrysler's union to give up the 75$/h that they cost and to be as competitive as the Japonese automaker in the State meaning the employees should not cost more than 45 $/h. I think it is a right start but until Chrysler or GM really fails the unions will not give up a single bite of their big pay.

The problem is that the unions are very stubborn. Just to-day the local union in Boisbriand (old Camaro factory employees) made a big demonstration to ask the government to insure they will get their $60000 yearly retirement pay even if GM fails.
$60000 !!!! That's more than some hard working guys are making. The old GM Camaro union has still a big 3 floor high building in Boisbriand. The factory has closed many years ago but the union still gets its money from GM.

I don't know what is the situation at Chrysler but I presume the union is as stupid as at GM.

 

[GTSnake]

It was inevitable that the union would start to crumble. The way it was structured before was not sustainable under global competition. Like you said they're very stubborn. Who in their right mind would voluntarily give up all the high pay and benefits without a fight. Everybody would love to get paid something for nothing. It's a huge burden that the US OEM's have had to carry for years. It's now finally come to a head. Hopefully after this all gets broken down and rebuilt the US auto industry will emerge more efficient and competitive on a global scale.

 

[99 R/T 10]

The problem is/was that the Unions were and still are a huge burden on the auto industry and effectively killed it. Basically slowly killing the hand that feed it. Hopefully the companies can come out of bankruptcy and get rid of the unions all together too.

 

[RoadiJeff]

The union pay scale is a bit overinflated. I worked at Chrysler for 25 years in skilled trades, earning the highest union wage scale within the company. I would have enjoyed earning even half of the $75+ per hour that the media claims.

Much of the higher union costs for the U.S. automakers has to do with the retirees. The Big 3 have a lot more retired people on their books than the import companies. Someone has to pay their pensions and related costs.

In order to eliminate those costs a quick solution would be to adopt a policy like in the movie "Logan's Run", where everyone was exterminated after they reached a certain age. I doubt that this would pass through Congress but with the current administration you never know.