▪️The average wage for a car manufacturing worker is $32.80/hr according to the BLS. While it’s possible some auto workers make $16/hr, UAW workers start at $18/hr and quickly grow. If workers somewhere are making $16, it’s likely not for long.
https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iagauto.htm
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/07/gm-offers-wage-increases-hefty-bonuses-uaw.html
▪️$32.80/hr comes to $262/day, a 72% increase over 1914. Not including all the benefits which didn’t exist back then, although most workers in 1914 didn’t pay any federal taxes so they could at least keep the money they earned.
▪️Auto workers would be wise to remember the reason why Ford could increase pay to $5/day. His innovations dramatically increased efficiency, reducing the time it took to make a Model T from 12.5 hrs to 93 min. It was this change in productivity which enabled the massive raises.
▪️Also, the $5/day initiative was actually a profit sharing plan. Workers who made $2.30/day under the old pay schedule still made that wage. But if they met all of the company’s requirements, Ford gave a bonus of $2.70/day. The wage itself also incentivized increased productivity.
https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/fords-five-dollar-day/
▪️Auto workers, like so many other industries, are renegotiating contracts after wages have been eroded by inflation in recent years. They are demanding, deserve, and will likely get, significant raises. Negotiations are always contentious, but pretending like auto workers were better off in 1914 is delusional.
It’s just so wild to see these movements see saw, it feels like just yesterday that conservatives were boycotting Disney and the left was gloating.
Just incredible. After posting a meme blaming Charlie Kirk for his own murder, they post another a few hours later applauding Democrats for their civility.
Also, if you look at the Occupy Democrats timeline, their posts “denouncing political violence” were variations on “no one should be shot…BUT here’s a quote from Kirk showing he’s a terrible person.” Or sometimes they’d leave the first part out altogether and just attack him. There are no posts denouncing violence without qualifiers trying to gin up their base.
