UAW Leader Says Starting Pay ($14 hourly) Can't Afford Union-Built Vehicles

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/news/2010/163_news100528_uaw_starting_pay_for_union_vehicles/index.html

http://image.trucktrend.com/f/features/news/2010/163_news100528_uaw_starting_pay_for_union_vehicles/33536103+pheader_460x1000/uaw-president-ron-gettelfinger.jpg
Uaw President Ron Gettelfinger

May 28, 2010
By Benson Kong

At a recent Automotive Press Association event in Detroit, United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger posed the question whether the union's starting wage could afford the vehicles built in its assembly plants.

UAW new hires start at a $14 hourly wage, the rate negotiated back in 2007 to help the Detroit Three compete with foreign automakers on production costs. The starting wage translates to an annual gross income of $28,000, before taxes, benefits, and miscellaneous dues. With economic fortunes on the rise, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors are expected to grow manpower, many at the $14 hourly rate. Tenured workers, in contrast, earn roughly twice that amount.

While the affordability question is up for debate, an index compiled by financial firm Comerica states the average $14-per-hour UAW worker can feasibly afford a $13,000 vehicle after 23 working weeks. The same Auto Affordability Index identifies the median annual household income as $60,000 and the average amount spent on a car to be $24,000. According to Comerica chief economist Dana Johnson, two-worker households could "clearly afford a new car," but it’s a "bit of a stretch" for a single, entry-level worker.

Although Gettelfinger is retiring next month, he is adamant the UAW and automakers will come up with a fair compromise and "make gains where we can" in the next set of 2011 contract negotiations, especially after the concessions made over recent years. Current UAW VP and lead Ford negotiator Bob King has been tabbed by union leaders to succeed Gettelfinger.

Source: Detroit News

[madrchsod]

1. at least ford understood his workers

should be able to afford the cars they made.

14 an hour is a minimum livable wage

[TheWraith]

2. Minimum liveable wage? Seriously?

I make $8.50 an hour, doing heavy industrial work. Where I live, $14 an hour as a starting wage is better than any other unskilled job in the county. All things are relative.