Quote:
|
Originally Posted by VinceZeb
Kelly, why are they unemployed?
|
There are a variety of reasons that the auto industries fluctuate. I know a number of people that would get laid off during model change over for about a month every year while the engineers and millrights make their modifications to the assembly line. It's a natural part of the business. It's a fragile market. Something like the WTC getting destroyed can create reprecussions that set the market back for years. Another part of it is that foreign manufacturers have the reputation of making better quality cars right now. While I don't think that the gap in quality is a big as it used to be, the reputation persists and it may take the american market years to bounce back. Add to that the fact that the union's were probably thinking too short sighted in offering the union workers some of the wages they receive without looking to see whether the market was there for the consequently high prices (which was necessary to maintain their desired profit margin) on their cars.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by VinceZeb
What jobs did they do BEFORE the recession hit?
|
I would think that a lot of them were doing skilled labor manufacturing jobs but not necessarily so. A wide spectrum of jobs were also hit by the recession. What difference does it make? They were employed and paying their fair share of taxes.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by VinceZeb
Besides the hi-tech jobs going over to India and some manufacturing to other countries, what other skills did these people ever have? If they had good skills to begin with, they would be able to go to another job in a small amount of time.
|
What do you mean by "good" skills. Their skills ARE their job. If the market is not there, their job is not there. It's not like the jobs that, say, your mother might get for you at an assisted living place. Are you saying that they should be punished to be putting their time, money, and training into a manufacturing job? While I'm not saying that the assembly line jobs are not important, there are a lot of people that have skilled jobs like engineers, mill rights, electricians, ect that rely on the auto manufacturers for their paycheck as well.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by VinceZeb
It's just like the people at the Ford plant here in St. Louis that whine about losing their 60,000 dollar a year job to screw a nut onto a bolt while standing at an assembly line because they worked there for 20+ years and never thought of persuing their education or even thought of the fact they may lose their job and have to do something that took a bit more brains.
|
You are obviously talking in the abstract because I've known a lot of these guys and a good number of them are intelligent people ... sort of like when you were spouting off about the military ... another subject you obviously didn't know shit about other than what you'd heard or seen in the movies. If you were fortunate enough to make union wages and the union promised that you'd have it for your working life, you'd probably take the job. A lot of those guys make more money than people with a four-year degree. Hell, a lot of them HAVE four-year degrees and couldn't find work in their respective fields. That doesn't make labor a LOWER job in the heirarchy, just a DIFFERENT job. If you ever had to go out on your own and bust your ass for 40-60 hours a week, you'd know that. You're so far removed from reality ... it's ... it's just amusing really.