Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?

or entierly a consequence of the financial crisis ? Ford wasnt exactly on the verge of bankruptcy 2 years ago. It sells well here in Germany and is as known as VW.Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?Management and the financial crisis must share in the blame of the fall, but the biggest factor is the UAW. Domestic companies must learn that unions do nothing but sap profits from the bottom line. The average union worker costs GM approximately $75/hr. The average worker at Toyota costs approximately $42/hr. Plus, it would take three union workers to perform the same task in the same amount of time as two Toyota workers.

I'm not suggesting we all run out and purchase Toyota's. I'm a lifelong GM owner and can't see myself changing.

I just believe that if there is an automotive bailout, that the unions are abolished.

If Toyota %26amp; Honda can do it, why can't the big three? Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?
Toyota pays about $48.00 per hour. the "Big Three" pay about $79.00 per hour. Government forces EPA standards raising costs. Unions force big retirement plans and health care plans and frequently require US companies to pay non working employees when a plant is shut down.. I think you can thank the unions and government for the mess.Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?The union issue is really just a cover-up for a much more substantial issue, that of executive pay. Take the top 10 executives of either of the auto companies and you will find that their salaries dwarf anything the union workers make combined.



While Toyota does pay its workers well, the difference is merely one of not having negotiators with any real muscle. Of course, the good pay by Toyota and other non-union companies is directly related to the unions as well, since it prevents their workers from being tempted to unionize. The simple fact is, that without the unions, all those workers(including non-union) would receive at least a 50% pay-cut while the execs gave themselves another modest raise.



Trombass... which is why I indicated going down the line of the top paid execs, not just the CEO. and the fact remains, Toyota and Honda employees have the UAW to thank for not being paid in peanuts. Union contracts, in my experience are merely based on the net profit of a company, and utilizing only a smallish fraction of that profit, it would be extremely unlikely that the worker's pay is dragging the companies down. (especially if you know what they were talking about 25 years ago)



The simple fact remains, that these companies have no scruples about using slave labour to further increase profits. Unions plus tariffs limit their ability to utilize such labour. and unions encourage other companies to pay their employees a decent wage to avoid unionization altogether, which itself costs significant quantities of money.Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?
The executive culture and live style in America is the root to our problems, and can only be described by the way the ruling class managed things in 1700's France!Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?It's a consuquence of two major issues.



1. The financial crisis played a big role in why they can't get the money to survive so that they can see the benefits from the previous UAW deal.



2. The United Auto Workers union is by far the most powerful in the world. If you knew what they had done in the past to get the salaries and benefits they have now, you would be thinking twice about that last comment you made. No one even dares to mess with that union. These guys are like legalized gangsters with the way they act.



One more comment on the unions. I highly doubt that the German unions have actually done some of the things the UAW has to get what they want.



And Ford actually had a decent amount of money two years ago that they were still burning through. The problem now is not only are they burning through money to get to a financially viable place (something to do with the UAW's health care that they agreed to in the last contract) and no one is buying anything. This makes it even more difficult.



Mick: The executive pay doesn't even come close to what the difference would be if the union was paid to scale. If they cut the pay down to where non-unionized auto companies paid their employees, as well as stopped paying non-working employees (those that ended up in the job bank), you could pay the CEO's salaries 3000 times over.



Irish Sean: Ford can't, at least not yet. They have it in the contract with the UAW that every blue collar worker becomes a member of the UAW, no matter how many years they have in the company. GM probably could if they want to start a war with the UAW. They actually can open plants in places and not have to pay union salaries to those employees.Is the crisis of Ford and GM a consequence of management company policies ?
People who blame the UAW ARE IDIOTS... European UNIONS ARE EVEN STRONGER - AND THEIR CAR COMPANIES ARE NOT GOING BANKRUPT!!!



UAW didn't:



- design the Expeditions, Escalades and Explorers of the last 20 years.

- didn't cause health insurance premiums and medical expenses to skyrocket

- didnt miss the forecasting.



THAT WAS MANAGEMENTS FAULT.



In the past 20 years US cars have caught up to European and Japanese on quality. That means the UAW did its job: MAKING THE CARS MANAGEMENT DESIGNED!!