America's Other Auto Industry - WSJ.com

News Type: Opinion — Seeded on Mon Dec 1, 2008 8:16 AM EST

Article Source: Wall Street Journal

business, economy, cars, gm, ford, unions, toyota, auto-industry, pensions, car-makers

As a result, for every UAW member working at a U.S. car maker today, three retirees collect benefits; at GM, the ratio is 4.6 to one.

The international producers' relatively recent arrival has spared them these legacy burdens. But they also made sure not to get saddled with them in the first place. One way was to locate in investment-friendly states. The South proved especially attractive, offering tax breaks and a low-cost, nonunion labor pool. Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina -- which accounted for a quarter of U.S. car production last year -- are "right-to-work" states where employees can't be forced to join a union.

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bgates43's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Heated Debate, Left of Center, Open Minded, US News and Views
Regions: Detroit

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{"commentId":4244624,"authorDomain":"bgates43"}

bgates43

For weeks I've had the feeling anti-union sentiments fueled a considerable amount of opposition to bailouts for the Big Three auto makers. There's nothing in this Wall Street Journal article that discourages that feeling, although the article contains a lot of useful information about the current state of auto making.

{"commentId":4244624,"threadId":"431435","contentId":"2164696","authorDomain":"bgates43"}

1 vote

#1 - Mon Dec 1, 2008 8:20 AM EST

{"commentId":4246423,"authorDomain":"PartysOver"}

PartysOverDeleted

{"commentId":4267942,"authorDomain":"mfk"}

mfk

this article and ones like it are from idiots. what are the workers at them plants in the south going to do work till they die? you think there are going to get enough money to quite the job noooooooooo

{"commentId":4267942,"threadId":"431435","contentId":"2164696","authorDomain":"mfk"}

1 vote

#3 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 10:18 PM EST

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BGATES43

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America's Other Auto Industry - WSJ.com

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