Auto Work Force Gets Dividend From Industry’s Rebound

[SpartanDem]

Source: NY Times

DETROIT — The sweeping overhaul and surprising recovery of the American auto industry is about to pay off handsomely for the blue-collar workers at Ford and General Motors.

The two big Detroit carmakers will announce profit-sharing checks this month for their hourly workers, perhaps the largest in a decade, company officials and industry analysts say.
.....

But both G.M. and Ford enjoyed strong years in 2010 and are expected to report big profits this month. Industry analysts estimate that Ford’s 42,000 union workers will get profit-sharing checks of at least $5,000, based on the company’s performance last year in the North American market. That would be the biggest payout since the $8,000 checks that Ford handed out in 2000.

Workers at G.M. are likely to get less than their peers at Ford because the company didn’t do quite as well. Also, G.M. has a bigger pool of union workers — 54,000 — to compensate. But to rank-and-file employees who lived through the company’s financial collapse and subsequent government rescue, the checks will be tangible evidence that G.M. is well back on its feet.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/business/13auto.html?src=busln

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After this I not sure how there can be any doubt that saving the auto industry was the right thing to do.

[dotymed]

1. I agree,

unfortunately, from personal observation, most of the once well-paid auto workers were laid off and replaced with "union workers" willing to work for a fraction of the original workers pay. Sadly, where I lived, the auto-workers were laid-off or forced into early retirement and replaced with workers whose starting pay was $9.00 an hour.
The benefits of the already retired workers were drastically cut also.
What the heck, the CEO's kept getting great bonuses for cutting these "costs."

[PassingFair]

2. This looks like a bribe.

But being I'm from Detroit, we'll
take what ever we can get.

[bikesein]

3. My Dad

Received a little bonus on his pension check in December of some sort. He is retired a retired UAW auto worker. It was not much, but it surprised him. Does not quite make up for the changes they made in the health insurance plan but oh well.

[Lions_fan]

4. This area needs it

You can buy 2 houses for $5000

[Still a Democrat]

5. Saving it was correct, but watch out for the backlash

Hundreds of millions in bonuses this soon might not sit well.