Lies, statistics, and anti-union propaganda
Do unionized auto workers make $75/hr on average, while their non-union counterparts only make $40/hr? Does this prove that unions are killing American manufacturing? Will the auto bailouts only help to keep the pampered UAW workers in a life of luxury?
Actually, no. The $75/hr statistic is misleading because it includes “legacy costs” — the cost of health care and pension paid to former employees. Current employees don’t see a dime of that money. There is a great article that explains how the myth that UAW auto workers make $150,000 per year on average. It shows how a lie has wings, and will travel all around the news media without being questioned. A story in the Business section of the L.A. Times explains that:
But some Republicans framed the UAW as the villain, criticizing what they called lavish wages and benefits that they said had driven General Motors, Chrysler and, to a lesser extent, Ford to their knees.
“I’m sure that I’m going to be asked, ‘Congressman, I work at Honda’ or ‘I work at Mercedes. I get $40 an hour. Why are you going to take my tax dollars and pay it to a company that’s paying their employees $75 an hour?’ ” Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said last month.
That wage figure — widely used by opponents of the auto industry bailout — is not in fact the wage paid to current workers. It is an approximation of the costs of salaries and benefits for current and retired workers. After wage concessions in recent contracts, the UAW says its workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler plants range from $33 an hour for skilled trades to $14 an hour for new hires.
Precise wages and extrapolated benefits costs for U.S. workers at nonunionized foreign companies, such as Honda and Toyota, are difficult to ascertain, but Block estimated salaries for current workers are approximately the same.
Unions aren’t perfect, but they shouldn’t take the all the blame for the decline of the American automotive industry. There’s plenty of blame to go around.