bullypulpit
02-21-2009, 11:02 PM
In passing the loan to America's auto makers, GOP talking points were centered more on trying to break the UAW than on any truly constructive action. As the "Big Three" come to Washington once more, hat in hand, the GOP is sure to dredge up their fairy tales about how union workers make $73 an hour, or more, how the costs per unit for union labor ad a gazillion dollars to the cost of a vehicle...blah...blah...blah...blah...blah.
Let's dispel these myths, shall we?
<blockquote>• U.S. manufacturing workers are not overpaid. Of the 20 richest countries tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States ranks 17th in hourly pay for production workers in manufacturing. This group of trading partners accounts for almost half of total U.S. trade flows.
• U.S. manufacturing workers are highly productive. Of the 16 nations with higher compensation for production workers in manufacturing, the United States ranks behind only Ireland (a nation with a manufacturing
workforce less than 2% as large as that of the United States) in terms of “value-added per employee” (a rough measure of productivity).
• Pay and productivity levels should translate into a competitive edge. The combination of relatively low compensation and high productivity means that U.S. manufacturing leads the world in terms of competitiveness of per unit
costs of manufacturing output.
• The overvalued U.S. dollar hurts U.S. competitiveness. This competitive advantage has, however, largely been offset in the past decade by the overvalued dollar. Exchange rates in the last 10 years have essentially given U.S. trading partners a 10-16% cost advantage compared to the previous decade.
• Health care costs hurt U.S. manufacturers. If average health care costs in the United States were the same as those of its comparable trading partner, U.S. manufacturing workers could earn what they do today and still reap a 4.6% cost advantage relative to our major trading partners.
• U.S. managers are overpaid. If the wages claimed by managerial and non-supervisory labor in the United States were the same as the median of comparable countries, U.S. manufacturing would have a 6.4% cost advantage over major trading partners. - <a href=http://epi.3cdn.net/170ac22fe87bb82346_idm6ivvgk.pdf>Squandering the blue-collar advantage</a></blockquote>
The dirty little secret the GOP is sitting on here is that a national health care plan and caps on executive compensation will do more to increase the profitability and competitiveness of US auto, and other, companies than all of the concessions granted by the the UAW and other unions.
Let's dispel these myths, shall we?
<blockquote>• U.S. manufacturing workers are not overpaid. Of the 20 richest countries tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States ranks 17th in hourly pay for production workers in manufacturing. This group of trading partners accounts for almost half of total U.S. trade flows.
• U.S. manufacturing workers are highly productive. Of the 16 nations with higher compensation for production workers in manufacturing, the United States ranks behind only Ireland (a nation with a manufacturing
workforce less than 2% as large as that of the United States) in terms of “value-added per employee” (a rough measure of productivity).
• Pay and productivity levels should translate into a competitive edge. The combination of relatively low compensation and high productivity means that U.S. manufacturing leads the world in terms of competitiveness of per unit
costs of manufacturing output.
• The overvalued U.S. dollar hurts U.S. competitiveness. This competitive advantage has, however, largely been offset in the past decade by the overvalued dollar. Exchange rates in the last 10 years have essentially given U.S. trading partners a 10-16% cost advantage compared to the previous decade.
• Health care costs hurt U.S. manufacturers. If average health care costs in the United States were the same as those of its comparable trading partner, U.S. manufacturing workers could earn what they do today and still reap a 4.6% cost advantage relative to our major trading partners.
• U.S. managers are overpaid. If the wages claimed by managerial and non-supervisory labor in the United States were the same as the median of comparable countries, U.S. manufacturing would have a 6.4% cost advantage over major trading partners. - <a href=http://epi.3cdn.net/170ac22fe87bb82346_idm6ivvgk.pdf>Squandering the blue-collar advantage</a></blockquote>
The dirty little secret the GOP is sitting on here is that a national health care plan and caps on executive compensation will do more to increase the profitability and competitiveness of US auto, and other, companies than all of the concessions granted by the the UAW and other unions.