A Normal occurrence
The American auto industry was in trouble before fuel prices spiked, and there are some folks out there who place the entire blame upon the United Auto Workers and their ongoing pigheaded recalcitrance, or some such verbiage. I usually ask them which union officials approved the Pontiac Aztek and then wait for the crickets.
That said, the UAW isn’t exactly known for being either foresighted or conciliatory. But life is full of surprises:
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s union workers in Illinois agreed to accept lower wages and pay more for health care to secure jobs under a new four-year contract at the Japanese automaker’s sole U.S. plant.
The agreement ratified Oct. 4 by about 1,260 United Auto Workers members at the Normal, Illinois, factory trims production employees’ hourly wage to $24, a drop of $4.75, and to $28.50 for the maintenance staff, a $4.79 cut, according to details e-mailed by the Tokyo-based company. The union also approved making higher payments for medical benefits.
This will keep the plant open at least through 2012. What Mitsu really needs, of course, is a new Galant; the current version has been around since 2004 (the concept version appeared in 2000) and is sadly dated. (Believe me, I know what it means to be sadly dated.)
Edward Niedermeyer at TTAC notes:
Incidentally, this story explains with the utmost clarity why Detroit and the UAW joined forces to make a run on the federal piggybank. Otherwise they would have had to face the music and make an unpleasant but ultimately sustainable compromise like this one.
I’m just gratified that reality checks occasionally do clear.
fillyjonk »
8 October 2008 · 8:36 am
Heh. A title that I “get.”
(My parents live in the same town as the Mitsu plant. They’ve noticed a definite downturn since its “glory days” after it was first built. There are also fewer wealthy Japanese families in the area than there once were.)
Mike Pechar »
8 October 2008 · 2:19 pm
You’re not “sadly dated” if you have a new walker. On the serious side, I’m surprised that the union went along with the pay cuts. Historically, that would never happen.