Ford Employees Paid $8/Hour More than Competition

If you ask anyone in the know, chances are good that they’ll point the finger of blame at the auto worker’s union as the real reason for the American auto industry’s collapse. Tying Ford, GM, and Chrysler down to extremely restrictive and almost vindictive contractual obligations, the UAW bled the manufacturers dry with exorbitant hourly wage demands that were only surpassed in extravagance by the benefits packages. 

However, when they all found themselves without jobs, they revisited the respective bargaining tables of Ford, GM, and Chrysler, with Ford being the first to reach a conclusion: a $500 million dollar reduction in labour costs. But apparently that’s not enough. According to a recent survey, it appears that Ford is still paying a whopping $8 US per hour more than their non-union-employing, foreign competition. Due in part to the $5,000 profit-sharing cheques the company made out to each employee this year, Ford’s average wage of $58 dollars per hour is apparently unsustainable in the current economy. 

What will be done to rectify the situation remains to be seen, but it will undoubtedly be the UAW’s first chance to demonstrate the lessons learned from previous mistakes.