GM and the politics thereof

[TenPenny]

I saw one woman interviewed at shift change; she said, "I make over $65,000.00 a year. Where else can I make that without going back to school? I'm a single mother".

So the impression given by the workers is that they are very well paid, considering.

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: GM and the politics t

Wanting to make a middle class living and be able to retire one day is unreasonable?

What do these guys make, 70, 80,000? I thought you NDPers would consider that rich.

Are you kidding me? The powerhouse of influence for the NDP in my neck of the woods isn't the poor, it's the union people like GM workers making (with overtime) 80K and teachers etc. What pisses me off the most about this is they want free heath care too. I call them greedy socialists who cost us more than they should.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: GM and the politics t

Call them whatever you want, Jay. They are intelligent enough to consider the source.

$65k or $80 is middle class. It's not a huge income, especially in Southern Ontario. The healthcare issue is one of the factors in getting plants here because it makes us a cheaper place to do business than the US.

Those that would blame the unions for this should a look at what GM pays their executives and what kind of benefits and bonuses they make. Those are the guys who are living in mansions. They aren't the ones being laid off though, even though it was their management decisions that created the cars that nobody wanted. They'll get transferred or, if they do leave GM, get huge golden parachutes.

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: GM and the politics t

Call them whatever you want, Jay. They are intelligent enough to consider the source.

$65k or $80 is middle class. It's not a huge income, especially in Southern Ontario. The healthcare issue is one of the factors in getting plants here because it makes us a cheaper place to do business than the US.

Those that would blame the unions for this should a look at what GM pays their executives and what kind of benefits and bonuses they make. Those are the guys who are living in mansions. They aren't the ones being laid off though, even though it was their management decisions that created the cars that nobody wanted. They'll get transferred or, if they do leave GM, get huge golden parachutes.

On the point of wages in southern Ontario....80k is a substantial amount of money if you don't live in Toronto. And we have to consider the fact that is one income out of two. In most families here, there are two incomes.

A more common occurrence than you would think is, two teachers get married. They both earn (at the public school level) 75k. Times that by two.....that is a lot of public money this family makes. And they will bitch about wages and want their health care for free. I would suppose this is a very big reason I don't like or trust what I call socialists.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: GM and the politics t

So teachers shouldn't be allowed to marry each other because GM is laying off workers?

 

[LeftCoast]

RE: GM and the politics t

I don't know where you find classroom teachers earning $75,000. Accourding to the Educations Resource Centre as of 1999/2000 the minimum teacher's salary in Ontario was $31,681 and the maximum was $55,044. I would find it hard to believe that in the last 5 years Ontario teachers salaries went up by 50%.

 

[Jay]

Look again.


I have the distinct advantage of knowing the inside scoop cause my wife is a teacher in Ontario.

55k is what she makes after 5 years of service.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: GM and the politics t

55K is 20k less than 75K and I don't think your wife is married to another teacher, Jay.

I really want to know why we should be worried about personal financial advantages when one teacher marries another though. Why would that come up? Does the value of their work go down because they are married?

 

[Ten Packs]

As others have said, GM (AND the others of the Big Three) have sat on their fat asses and not kept up with what the public wants. In fact, they have actively marketed to get people to want what they make, rather than change. I offer as proof, the Mother who uses a two-ton 4x4 (in Atlanta Georgia, fer Kryssakes) to pick up Junior from school and stop at the store for some Milk and a box of tampons on the way home - WTF is THAT?
From personal experience - just try to FIND a 3/4T SINGLE-CAB, 2-wheel drive truck! I'm sure you'd have to factory-order one, if you can get it at all. Everything is a Super-cab, if not a Crew Cab, and 4x4, A/C and all kinds of other crap that only drives towing capacity down, and the price UP.
AND THAT IS NOT THE WORKERS! They build what they are told to build.

NOW, along comes the Gas Crisis, and what can they do about it? It takes 4-5 years from design, through re-tooling, to production..... look what happened in the mid-70's. What did Detroit respond with? The Pinto, the Vega and the K-Car.... eat my shorts.



Now, look at Toyota - thirty years of building (and selling!) what the Public wants, and ONLY RECENTLY do they feel comfortable enough to get into full-sized trucks and/or "luxury" cars, and even that is only a sideline for the time-being.


GM should stand for "Getta Mind".

 

[Jay]

It is just to demonstrate the kind of money were are talking about, and the demands of those type of workers. I'm sorry; I thought you would be able to see that.

Let's forget that this "married" things happens, and concentrate on the 75K figure.

 

[no1important]

RE: GM and the politics t

I don't know why they call GM, Chrysler and Ford the big 3 anymore for as it is not the case.

 

[Jay]

"eat my shorts."

:lol:

I thought I was the only one who said that.

 

[Reverend Blair]

From personal experience - just try to FIND a 3/4T SINGLE-CAB, 2-wheel drive truck!

I know where there's one, but it needs an engine, transmission, and rear-end. Oh, and the floor has been cut out...not sure why. You can likely have it for free though...I know my brother is less than pleased about having a "parts truck" up on blocks in his driveway. He wanted it gone when I was out there this fall, and he's still bitching about it.

Seriously though, Ten Packs...call up your dealership and tell them you want a standard cab WT. When one comes in, they'll give you a call. From what I know of your truck, you're likely better off hanging onto it though.

 

[LeftCoast]

RE: GM and the politics t

Sorry Jay, do you have figures indicating that classroom teachers earn $75,000 in Ontario? That is not what the CTF says.

 

[Jay]

Don't be sorry.


I have found references to support those figures on the internet before, and I believe I have posted them here on this site. (Look for expected teachers wages in Ontario in google...maybe)

I'm not willing to post my wife’s pay cheque stubs.

I asked my wife for a quote that I could place on the Internet about “The top high school Teachers wages in Ontario” and she said “Top wages in Ontario for High School teachers in Ontario is around 76K”.

 

[Jo Canadian]