With the onset of the 35th UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit Michigan, it only helps to remind us that, as working people, we have much more in common than we have as differences.
As I read about the new deal, in Michigan, to have teachers retire early and hear about the attempts to lower their wages and pensions I can’t help but wonder how many people realize this all started years ago when our UAW Brothers and Sisters at Delphi had their wages cut in half. Subsequently all UAW members took concessions concerning hourly wages and benefits and the International UAW accepted total responsibility for the UAW Retirees Health Care through the VEBA Fund.
There are some absolutes in this area that have not changes over the years: 1) As the UAW contracts go, so go the wages and benefits of every local business and their employees. 2) When the Big Three are hurting everyone else in Michigan feels it. 3) Building automobiles brings incredible wealth and value to the region where the manufacturing is located. Weather or not you support the efforts of the United Autoworkers; their success will make life in Michigan better for you.
These things also work in reverse. When the manufacturing is moved overseas, the wealth and value goes with it. When the wealth leaves an area, without something to replace it, services provided by government employees and others will quickly become unsustainable. Welcome to Michigan! We are laying off cops and firefighters in droves and now it’s the civil servants and teachers’ turn. No one will go unscathed by this shifting paradigm. Many small businesses have closed or moved already. Take a look down your street at the homes for sale or just boarded up and abandoned.
Where will this all end up? The autoworkers have given up anywhere from 10 to 50 percent in wages and benefits and new hires are brought in at about half of what they used to be hired at. The companies are clamoring for a third tier of even less compensated employees. My guess would be to stabilize Michigan and get everyone back to work we will be working for about 2/3rds of what we used to make and our homes will settle in at about 70 percent of their former value. This might show up in wages, benefits or future benefits like a pension but understand, it will show up. Again, no one will be protected not Doctor, not Lawyer, or Indian Chief; we are all in the SS Michigan together. We might take some solace in the fact that most of the rest of the country has lived with this level of compensation forever and some are lower still.
What can we all do to stop the wage creep? Is there any hope for future pension or increase in benefits? Well yes. I have to believe that we all know in our hearts what we have to do. Run right now out to your garage and look at the nameplate on you car or truck. If it is not built by a company that the UAW negotiates with, you are hurting the cause. Some will say that the transplant factories build their cars here so those vehicles are American Made. The truth is, for every plant the foreign manufacturers have opened in this country, the Big Three have closed one and for every person they have hired we have let one go. Clearly, there has been no net gain with transplants coming to America and as we can now see; it is lowering everyone’s wages and benefits, especially in Michigan.
Michigan can be a great auto-building powerhouse again but we will need everyone to pitch in. The UAW negotiates agreements at factories that produce over 80 different models in this country, many of them right here in Michigan. We should all be able to find a desirable car or truck, in our price range, among 80 models. If everyone in our state, who is in the market for a new vehicle would make a “homeboy” purchase, perhaps a few years from now we can be talking about increasing the number of teachers or police officers. When is the last time we all had a raise? The United Autoworkers can’t do it all by themselves. All Michigan citizens need to talk well about our state and do their part to make Michigan’s future brighter. After all, we are all in this boat together.
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