UAW Strikes Push Automakers Towards Bankruptcy

In this video we go over the recent strikes by the UAW against the big three US automakers: Ford, GM, and Stellantis. We look at what this could mean for non-unionized automakers like Tesla as well as the US auto industry in general.

0:00 - 2:43 Intro
2:44 - 5:53 History of UAW
5:54 - 10:35 Transition to EVs
10:36 Tesla



#Wallstreetmillennial #uawstrike #tesla #automobiles #electricvehicle

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Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0
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[comosellama]

GM spent $2.5 billion on buybacks in 2022, while Ford spent $484 million. They can give their workers a raise.

[jonjimihendrix]

If the US automakers go under, it will be due to decades of stagnant underperformance on product design and quality. It’s irresponsible to blame line workers for a management culture that excessively rewards mediocre work at the top.

[dosmastrify]

3:45 paying too much to their workers?! You know these companies are spending billions on stock BuyBacks right

[benharris]

Its important to note that the car companies include the cost of pensions for former employees in their compensation numbers. They pump out propaganda saying it costs them $60 per work hour or whatever, but they pay less than $20 per hour for entry level jobs. Experienced workers get $30 per hour, but they are very valuable and more than earn their wage.

[jonm]

I’m usually down with your takes here WSM, but honestly as a millennial myself, I’m personally not going to take the, “wahhh, it’s just too expensive” crybaby mentality the corporations take. Crying like babies while taking in bailouts, subsidies, and keeping wages depressed while not investing into the future of electrification and battery/storage tech in the freaking 70s when EVERYONE knew what sticking with oil would do. Seems like they’re gonna need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, (a impossible task I might ass), and hunker down for the long haul of the rebirth of labor.

[QE]

And let’s not forget the union workers took a big pay cut during the 08’ crisis and was promised to be repaid once the companies got “back on their feet” but that never came.
The workers deserve to be made whole based off their sacrifices years ago

[somethingsomethingsomethingdar]

My question is, if inflation is due primarily to increased cost of labor…. Then why has labors wage been stagnant since 2008?
Let’s be clear they are trying to outsource NO MATTER what the unions do. They have been slowly closing factory lines in the US for decades under the guise of competition. Will this accelerate the moves? Perhaps. Will it make it clear that the big three are no longer AMERICAN companies? Yep. Corporations have been fleecing the American people for years by building products in poor undeveloped countries, then selling them at regular prices here in the US and pocketing the difference.

That works as long as the American consumer can afford to pay those prices. But EVERY corporation has gone and done that and are STILL trying to sell to the consumer as if they were still making the same wages. At SOME point American workers will have to take a stand or watch their pay dwindle to “inflation”.

[flantc]

Is CEO pay a drop in the overall budget? Yes. Are the big three CEOs paid far more than CEOs are their competitors? Yes. Have CEOs at the big three given themselves huge raises over the past few years.? Yes. What the unions are asking for might be unreasonable, but the CEOs and executives only have themselves to blame for their poor decisions. Management acts like the company is theirs to make themselves rich while ignoring the workers. When the workers notice this, do you blame the workers for paying attention or management for their arrogance?

[MidnitePizzamon]

When you hit the mark, you hit WSM but when you miss, you miss badly. This is is your worst miss (yet).

[creedolala]

We're so used to the corporate minset of "figure out the absolute highest amount we can charge for our product, before people decide it isn't worth it, and look for alternatives." But if workers apply the same ruthless mindset to their employers, some people get pissed.

[warrengardner]

"it's a rounding error" When the highest paid employees ask everyone else to make the sacrifices, that causes problems beyond the numbers.

[elymanic]

Compensations is less then that of 2008. That's a stagnation of 15 years as everything gets more expensive

[GR-ktlc]

This commentary is very interesting, the lack of depth in understanding the UAW side lacks all empathy.

Imagine getting paid less in real wages now in 2023 then you did in 2008, while your CEO pay has increased 40% while your company is making record profits with no COLA. Plus while the same CEO has private plane perks, stock compensation, and full benefits. The only people on your side are the CEOs meanwhile they keep getting pay raises while their workers are getting paid less in real wages.

[thetrainhopper]

You need to look at the workers at the bottom. You know, the ones starting out at $36k per year. That isn’t livable anywhere in the country and a 40% raise wouldn’t even put them over $50k. It’s not like they’re asking for a mansion, just to not live with their parents or work a second job. Wages are 5% of the cost of a car, they can kick it up to 6% and be fine. Boohoo if it hurts their profits a year. They’ve raised car prices through the roof since 2021.

[Topscura]

Your spin on the is issue is a joke. Either stay neutral in reporting or, at the very least stop shilling for the automakers. Tax payer dollars bailed them out and instead of fixing their issues, they paid their execs bonuses and elevated salaries for basically poor performance.

The automakers will NOT go bankrupt if they agree to the UAW pay increases. They will have less money for the executives and perks, that’s it. Now, the 32 hour work week has more of a negative impact as it directly correlates with productivity. How did you not mention this??

[aone]

UAW knows the big 3 is full of it the labor cost only factored in to roughly 5% overall in production costs

[loudmanCA]

What a joke to completely gloss over the inequity of executive vs. worker compensation by saying that executives’ comparatively large pay packages amount to a rounding error

[michaelsulkoske]

Wow dude….you did a great job of stroking it for the Big 3. Considering only about 15% of a new vehicle sticker price is due to labor, I’d say you missed the boat on this one. It must be nice if you can say a compensation of $29M per year isn’t that much. I didn’t know there was that much money making YouTube videos.

[olganovikova]

So, as usual, management is slow to adapt to changing market and we are going to blame unions? Got it! LOL

[Nick-ueiw]

Funny, I remember cars in the 2000s being a LOT cheaper then they are today, despite the UAW having higher wages. How is that I wonder?