can the media please cut it

[acroyear]

with the "$50 an hour" bullshit spin on how much factory auto workers.

That number (and the higher $70 touted earlier this year) came about by dividing the labor *budget*, which includes benefits, by the active number  of workers.

That budget includes pensions and severances.  The pensions aren't being paid to active workers, but to retired workers and those laid off or who took buyout options.

Thus, the total labor cost includes a sizeable chunk of money that is not going to current workers.

BTW, this is one of those that easily disproves the so-called "liberal media bias", since the $70 comes from an unapologetic New York Times, and the current $50 figure was repeated without comment by a reporter on CBS Radio.

Now, all this doesn't necessarily mean that GM wasn't and isn't mismanaged, but how about we cite actual facts about bad management decisions than spin lies about auto-workers supposedly making more than the engineers that actually design the cars and implement the electronic systems?

Comments

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

What's sad is that is ingrained into anti-union sentiment and there isn't much you can say to disuade them from the view that union workers are overpaid and are the primary reason why the US car companies are failing, not that the US Car companies may have made deals with the union that it couldn't honor or that they've mismanaged things so bad that they are in the position that they are.

[rsteachout.livejournal.com]

It doesn't disprove "liberal media bias", it merely proves that the media is ignorant and lazy.

Thank you!

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

I get so tired of explaining this. The average worker on an automobile assembly line makes about $25/hour. Now, this is not bad, obviously ... but nowhere near what the conservatives/right wing media like to try to pretend it is.