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Unionized workers in the US saw record raises, while nonunion workers' pay barely beat inflation over the past 12 months
Same tired headlines about how good the unions are for the Labor, but ignoring how bad this is for both union workers and consumers, but also the U.S. economy in general, including loss of jobs, increase in overall COL and inflation.
From the same article: |-------
The sharp increase in compensation, particularly for union workers, may bolster the argument that the Federal Reserve won't cut interest rates soon and remain on hold for longer than had been anticipated.
Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note to clients that "we think that the actual news is even better" because the latest wage data is "a lagging indicator because union workers tend to have longer-term contracts that delay their wage adjustments to past inflation spikes."
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You all are looking and cherry-picking ONE, single variable - wage increase, yet make a long-term economic conclusions based on it, while oblivious to other factors and the fact that unions' influence and numbers - absolute and percentage of total labor force - have been declining steadily, and latest activism of Shawn Fain is good for Shawn Fain but will only accelerate the trend of industry downsizing, outsourcing, automation, layoffs and reduced hours for remaining union workers. Those who lose their jobs will be a drain on unions' resources while nominally remaining a union member for a while, so total numbers may not change immediately, but in a year or a few the number of union autoworkers will be lower.
GM's contract, the first one to be ratified, was only ratified by 55%, and their major TN plant rejected it - they saw that Shawn Fain overpromised (Ford and GM offered essentially the same contract before the strikes and layoffs) and Stellantis was already readying second round of permanent layoffs. Ford and GM are now already idling some plants and delaying production of some models, particularly EVs and hybrids, to 2027 and later.
Volkswagen in TN employs 4300 workers, their plants in Pueblo, Mexico employ 16,400 and produce parts for other plants, including TN plant, as well as more than 3x the number of US-made cars, for a lot less money. Do you think VW need all 4000+ workers in TN to watch robots putting the shipped parts together to make a car? US market for VW is 3.35% of VW worldwide production, total would account for 60.5% of all cars sold (not even made!) in the US in 2023, so they can easily follow other automakers and increase the prices for US-made cars, not worrying about losing tiny share of what for them is a small market. Their EU plants are all unionized, so they didn't care much or actively tried to resist TN unionization, i.e., it was the 'easy mark' for Shawn Fain to get a "win" under his belt.
Actual -- Expected -- Prior
Productivity - Q1
0.3% -- 0.8% -- 3.5%
Unit Labor Costs - Q1
4.7% -- 2.5% -- 0.0%
Hollywood's production is down 16% already this year, after last year unions "wins". CA has the highest minimum wage... and highest unemployment (5.3%), highest gas prices, one of the highest homelessness, highest budget deficit etc. - so looking at a single supposedly "positive" [for fewer number of people] variable, ignoring all the negative effects for everyone else is "blind leading the blind."
Maybe people in some RTW states are happy enough with slightly "lower" wages if they know that their COL will not be increased and they may keep the good job and hours their skill set couldn't get anywhere else.
You can ignore reality, you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.
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