That's kind of a harsh title for this blog, don't you think? I don't. In fact, I don't feel sorry for any of those people at all. In fact, I am going to go so far as to say it is their fault [and only their fault] the auto industry in the United States is ailing right now.
The purpose of a successful business model is to make money and create wealth. That's it. I have yet to hear of a business plan with the mission statement: "to provide high paying jobs which provide outstanding benefits to a person who works less and less each year for more and more." You do not go into business to create wealth for other people; other people work for you so that you can create a profit. Period.
According to the December 22, 2008 issue of Forbes magazine, on page 34, you will see that the average hourly compensation for a General Motors (GM) employee is approximately $78.00 per hour. That $78.00 is broken up into their hourly wage ($28 per hour), benefits and payroll tax ($33 per hour), and health care for current and retired employees ($17 per hour). That is approximately $162,240 per year in pay and benefits. And it's still not enough.
We often hear of corporate greed, but I am going to suggest a different, more serious, form of greed. I call it "Middle-Class Greed". Because of middle-class greed, GM is not able to remain solvent and no bank in the world is willing to give them a bail-out loan. Every year the employees at GM want more, and if they do not get it, they hold the company hostage by striking until they do. And when you give in to terrorist demands for too long, this is what happens...a collapse of the system. The employees of GM have been bleeding the company dry from the inside and now, because of their recklessness, their very jobs are at stake.
I have not heard a single soul speak those words because it is about as voodoo as the word "nigger", but I just can't help it if it's the truth. The failing of the auto industry is the result of greedy employees with insatiable appetites for more. For some reason, the workers at GM feel that they just deserve a nicer home, more cars and money to take a vacation. I have news for you: you don't deserve a damn thing!
These are the same people complaining about their high management taking vacations in the Bahamas and getting $150 an hour massages when the economy is doing so bad. Maybe you forgot this, but that is the whole point of being the boss! That is why they own and run the company and you don't...so they can do these things. They are living the American Dream and you are supposed to help them do it!
The needs of these workers are not as exigent as they would have you believe. The basic human needs have not changed: nutrition, asylum, and clothing. To take it further, anything above the basic needs in each of those categories is simply luxury. I am going to use myself as an example.
I sleep on an air matress that I bought for $40 at the NEX four years ago. No doubt, in four years I have made enough money to buy myself a bed and a matress, but I really don't need more than I have now. When I am asleep, I am not concerned with what the instrument of my sleep looks like. I have yet for somebody to intellectually explain to me the useful functionality of a headboard. What purpose does it serve? Sure, it may be appealing to the eye, but it is really no more than a decorative ornament in your room. What is wrong with simply buying a matress and setting it on the floor? Does a magnificent quilt with dynamic colors and images serve a more esteemed purpose than the blanket I've been using since I was 10? Again, no.
When it comes to middle-class greed, the problem lies with the middle-class itself. We have all learned about the boundless opportunity for success in the United States, but we were never taught that we had to work hard for it. John Rockerfeller, Henry Ford, the Walton Family and Bill Gates did not arrive at the pinnacle of success because they let the world around them run it's course. They were all entrepreneurs, taking nothing more than an idea and their own spirit and determination and made something tangible out of it. THAT is how the true American Dream is attained. Not by bleeding the company, but by building the company.
There is little telling what the future of GM or the larger auto industry in America will look like in the near or long term future. One thing I will guarantee is that is people's attitutes and expectations do not change, the entire United States is next. In all honesty, that is the real point I was getting at, but I could not start out that way.
What is happening to General Motors is just a miniature version of what is happening to the entire United States. People want more and more for less and less. They want health benefits, they want money for school, they want police, fire and military protections...but no one is willing to pay for them. We have become a nation of losers.
My grandparents were part of the last great American generation. It was by their determination and hard work that we have all that we do. They could have never seen that by creating a better world for us to live in, we would simply develop a lazy attitude toward work and national progress. I want to live back in the days when we redirected rivers from their natural flow and dammed them up for water supply and power generation, when we built the railroads and auto industry to what it is.
We have all been spoon fed for so long, that we have forgotten to take care of ourselves. Goodbye America, hope to see you soon.
©2008 C.M. Padilla, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Monday, December 15, 2008
Last modified: Monday, December 15, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of C.M. Padilla only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. C.M. Padilla is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: trd
Date: 2008-12-15 14:03:25
Padilla:
I totally understand your point. After working as an direct employed Engineer in Chrysler and GM I witnessed first hand what you are describing. The entitlement mentallity of the workers is horrible. But don't just blame the UAW or their workers. The entitlement mentality is there at ALL levels whether union or non-union, janitor, worker, wleder, Engineer, accountant, managers, directors, execs all the way to the CEO. Therefore is actually worst than you think. The hierarchy is horrible. The un-necessary levels of useless management, the high paid execs even when turning the company downhill the damn inflexible union.... etc...
At some point there were even janitors getting paid $28 per hour for them plus the benefits etc...
Too many times I have heard employees inside there, whether union or not, stating how the company owes them big time because of all the years that they have served, blah blah blah. Then I tell them: "Other than the stated pensions, if you have any, the company does not owe you anything. They have paid for all your time and services as wages. So all their bills towards you are already PAID"
Then you have a lot of managers (and there are a lot of unnecessary management some even managing zero people) who still to this date have a benefit of getting a new leased car every four month (GM pays for the lease of the car, the gas, the maintenance, the tires, the insurance and even car washes). After these four months, the new car is not new anymore and these cars are then sold as used cars through the dealership netwrok. Whenever these managers ask their employees for suggestions on cost cutting all of those without that car benefit will say that the company must get rid of it. Yet all these useless managers said that they have earned such benefits because of all the years of service, blah blah blah.
Also, the Union is really bad, but I am also pissed at the execs and CEOs that approved their outrageous contracts so that these execs can keep their high pay salaries even when the company is going down the toilet.
So what I am trying to say, Padilla, is that what you are describing about the workers is true of almost every direct employee at the Auto Industry at all levels. (except me but I am no longer there)
Posted By: daddysteve
Date: 2008-12-15 14:07:11
If the unions would go after the real reason they need to stick up the employer for more money every year (the federal reserve and inflation) then labor relations would probably run a lot more smoothly. And contracts could be longer in term.
Posted By: David S
Date: 2008-12-15 23:59:35
Before I answer this I have to make a disclosure; I'm a retired engineer from the auto industry and I collect a pension from my former employer who also covers about half of my healthcare insurance cost.
Padilla I find myself agreeing with much of what you say. But on the other hand isn't greed the motivating force that drives us all? Isn't that why we get out of bed in the morning and go to work? Isn't that why we spend 1/3 of our lives working instead of being with our families? Isn't that why we put up with bosses who are absolute assholes? Isn't it natural that we should seek to get the best compensation we can get for ourselves and our families?