https://www.startribune.com/battle-over-electric/-vehicles-is-central-to-auto-strike/600305212
There are two money quotes:
Many new battery and electric vehicle factories are springing up and could employ workers from the plants that have shut down. But automakers are building most aggressively in the South, where labor laws are tilted against union organizers, rather than in the Midwest, where the UAW has more clout. One of the union's demands is that workers in the new factories be covered by the automakers' national labor contracts — a demand that the automakers have said they can't meet because those plants are owned by joint ventures. The union also wants to regain the right to strike to block plant shutdowns.
And
Union supporters say it would be wrong to blame workers if the traditional carmakers cannot compete with Tesla and other rivals.
"If you look at the breakdown at what it costs to build an EV, labor is a very small part of the equation. Batteries are the most," Janis said. "This idea that the UAW is going to price Ford, GM and Stellantis out of the market is not true."
The quoted spokesperson was identified earlier in the item as Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, an advocacy group that works closely with the UAW and other unions.
The cutover to electric vehicles was not unforeseen, and sound planning over the past decade would have been less dividends and buybacks, and holding capital. But that would have meant less upfront cash for the bosses.
NewRepublic, in a post, "GM CEO Twists Herself Into Pretzel Trying to Defend Outlandish Salary," we learn:
General Motors CEO Mary Barra is working overtime to defend her outlandish $30 million salary, as United Auto Workers begins a historic strike against the Big Three auto companies.
Barra appeared on CNN Friday morning and was asked why General Motors workers should not get the same type of pay increases she has in the last few years.
“You make almost $30 million; why should your workers not get the same type of pay increases that you’re getting leading the company?” asked CNN’s Vanessa Yurevich.
“My compensation, 92 percent of it, is based on performance of the company,” Barra said. “When the company does well, everyone does well.”
What Barra really means is this: Her compensation as CEO is tied to General Motors’ profit margins. This means that Barra’s exorbitant salary is also a function of how low she can keep autoworkers’ wages. Barra’s salary has increased 34 percent over the last four years, while in four years workers’ pay has only increased by 6 percent.
Under the current contract, the $18 per hour starting pay for autoworkers is about 36 percent below where it would be if the 2007 starting wage had kept up with inflation. The UAW is asking for a 36 percent pay increase over the next four years, as well as improved benefits and a 32-hour workweek.
As UAW noted, during the eight-and-a-half minute CNN interview Barra made more money than any autoworker makes in a full day.
So, the bosses have contracts tying compensation to profits; go figure.
Planning out the door. This quarter sets MY pay. Fucked up? You decide.
Now, go back to that specific quote from Barra, “When the company does well, everyone does well.”
Doesn't that sound something like, "What's good for General Motors is good for the USA?" Or, when the national economy does well, General Motors does well (as does Mary Barra, socking away the wealth).
That observation goes back to where the nation's elders may recall Al Capp and his comic strip character, General Bullmoose:
Often, Capp had parodied corporate greed [...] in 1952, when General Motors president Charles E. Wilson, nominated for a cabinet post, told Congress "...what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa", he inspired one of Capp's greatest satires—the introduction of General Bullmoose, the robust, ruthless, and ageless business tycoon. The blustering Bullmoose, who seemed to own and control nearly everything, justified his far-reaching and mercenary excesses by saying "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA!" Bullmoose's corrupt interests were often pitted against those of the pathetic Lower Slobbovians in a classic mismatch of "haves" versus "have-nots". This character, along with the Shmoos, helped cement Capp's favor with the Left, and increased their outrage a decade later when Capp, a former Franklin D. Roosevelt liberal, switched targets. Nonetheless, General Bullmoose continued to appear, undaunted and unredeemed, during the strip's final right-wing phase and into the 1970s.
Forbes, in June 2020, writes of Wilson's statement more favorably than Al Capp did, in explaining:
In 1953 President Eisenhower nominated Charles Wilson, the President of General Motors, to be his Secretary of Defense. He retained a huge stock position in GM and during his confirmation hearings was asked if he could make a decision that was bad for GM. His response is still remembered forever as the classic example of business arrogance – “What’s good for GM is good for America.”
Except he never said that. Wilson – who had overseen GM’s war production during World War II – said something very different: that he hadn’t imagined the possibility, “because for years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa.” Wilson was saying exactly the opposite – that the best thing he could do for General Motors would be to faithfully serve his country, so there was no conflict. Wilson understood that business can only flourish when the country does.
In his excellent The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite, Ross School of Business Professor Mark Mizruchi describes how for the first few decades after the Second World War, the American business community was united around centrist policies that were in the broad national interest. This behavior was certainly self-interested and often pushed policies that were far more favorable to the elite than they were to the working class, but at base business leaders recognized that their interests and the country’s went hand in hand.
In the 1970s, however, this elite fractured and began focusing on narrow self-interest instead of broad national ones. Mizruchi identifies a variety of reasons, ranging from victory in their battles against unions to the decline of the large commercial banks which had coordinated their activities. I’d add as particularly important the dominance of the American economy by the financial sector, leading business leaders to focus on short-term gains, and the realization by business leaders that their personal wealth benefited far more from tax cuts focused on high earners than by public investments that boosted the entire economy. The interests of the American business elite and the rest of America got divorced, and it wasn’t an amicable one. This has never been more brutally symbolized than by the last few weeks, with the market soaring while the country suffers blow after devastating blow.
The political power of American business remains formidable, however, even if it’s been misused for generations. [...]
More fundamentally, American business cannot prosper if American’s don’t. If you are willing to push for favorable tax treatment or beneficial regulation, then you can, and should, use your power to defend the rights of your fellow citizens. Your business will benefit, but don’t do it for that reason. Do it because it’s the right thing to do. If you believe that you are a leader, well, it’s time to lead. Your country needs you.
An image of Mary Barra from BusinessInsider.
A thought was to save the image, put a $ on the forehead, and caption it, "Mark of the Beast." Then, no, play it straight. She's normally greedy, but not evil.
_________UPDATE_________
With transitioning to electric vehicles, back to Strib with its NYTimes carry:
The three companies are already struggling to get their electric vehicle business going. A new GM battery factory in Ohio has been slow to produce batteries, delaying electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and other vehicles. Ford had to suspend production of its electric F-150 Lightning in February after a battery caught fire in one of the pickups that was parked near the factory for a quality check. And Stellantis won't even begin selling fully electric vehicles in the United States until next year.
[...] Despite all the money that automakers have made in recent years, their executives express a profound unease about the growth of electric vehicles, which account for 7% of the U.S. new car market so far this year and are on track to surpass sales of 1 million this year. Managers are acutely aware that traditional companies like theirs have a poor track record of retaining dominance after a big change in technology. Witness the way that Apple sidelined Nokia and Motorola as cellphones became smartphones.
[...] At the same time, union officials are aware of the changes in the industry and have said they do not want to handicap GM, Ford and Stellantis as the companies try to recover ground they have lost to Tesla, which has aggressively resisted attempts to unionize its factories. The Detroit carmakers also face challengers like Rivian, a startup that makes electric pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in Illinois, as well as foreign-owned rivals like Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, whose U.S. factories, mostly in the South, are not unionized.
And there is that non-union BMW plant in right-to-work [for less] South Carolina, the one Nikki Haley loves so much, plus - China. Geely, websearch, Wiki.
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| screen capture from https://www.polestar.com/us/ |
From online reporting, a fine automobile, Volvo moving as every other player in the auto manufacturing market is doing, with factories in China.
Those pesky Europeans. It is a worldwide game, and reporting is China has been active in batteries; where in the auto industry "Batteries not included" would not sell.
Further, Lotus; and here; and Rimac, (guess where located), here, here and here.
Globalization is as globalization does. In five years we'll have a better idea of the electric auto winners and losers. Remember Studebaker, Packard? American Motors and George Romney? The Rambler?
FURTHER: It is not an investment, but a big contract boost for a recently new player; Amazon delivery vans, by Rivian.
FURTHER: You know it is real when marquee brands move. Rolls. Cadillac. Check that Cadillac presentation. Mary Barra scripted it all by herself. No Dinah Shore singing, "See the USA, in your Chevrolet, America's the greatest land or all."
If Mary Barra had a singing voice, who knows?
Slick is the theme, kitsch is out, and good luck if you buy one. That you don't get a lemon, since new things often carry that risk. Limited production, hope for no slip-up in programming the factory robots.
FURTHER: You will know in a few years when the cut-over point has been reached. Gas stations then will be as rare as charging stations now.
____________FURTHER UPDATE__________
POLITICS:
Bernie has already spoken at an auto workers rally.
Websearch = "jeffries" "schumer" auto workers strike [timeline: past week]
yielded zippo on Schumer even voicing UAW support; and a single Jeffries item, per Politico, "Hakeem Jeffries to visit striking auto workers ‘in solidarity’ - “I’ll be heading to Detroit a little later on today,” he said."
Schumer? Readers are urged to attempt to find any online reporting of Schumer even saying a thing about UAW striking, much less showing solidarity. A/k/a Democratic Party leadership???
DWT, clearly partisan, posted:
75% Of Americans Say They Support The UAW Strikers-- Elon Musk, Tim Scott & Trump Oppose It
[...] Bernie: “Despite what you might hear in the corporate media, what the UAW is fighting for is not radical. It is the reasonable demand that autoworkers, who have made enormous sacrifices over the past 40 years, finally receive a fair share of the enormous profits their labor has generated… The corporate media will always side with CEOs and shareholders. Every time working Americans stand up and demand what is just and fair, the corporate media is there to tell viewers that workers are asking for too much.”
Readers can decide whether Strib fits Bernie's "corporate media" statement.
More DWT:
Grim and Klipperstein concluded that “What’s clearly changed is that the American people aren’t buying the corporate spin anymore. The people have spoken, and they are sticking with the union.” Including Biden! While Trump told NBC News that “The auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership,” Biden had a very different perspective. He said "record corporate profits" should lead to "record contracts" for workers. And yesterday he told the NY Times that “No one wants a strike. But I respect the workers right to use their options in the collective bargaining system, and I understand the workers’ frustration.”
Including Biden. More DWT:
Last night, Lucas Kunce (above), the progressive Democrat taking on Josh Hawley in Missouri, walked the picket line at the Wentzville GM plant. In a statement he said, “If CEOs at the Big 3 auto companies can afford to give themselves 40% pay raises while they’re handing out $66B in stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders, they sure as hell can afford to give auto workers fair wages and the contract they deserve. American auto workers have seen their average real hourly earnings fall 19.3% since 2008. It's criminal. I stand in solidarity with UAW and every auto worker fighting for what they've earned.” He wasn’t the only Democrat eager to show solidarity with the union members. Michigan Senator Gary Peters did likewise as did Sherrod Brown at the Toledo Stellantis plant. Today John Fetterman drove his UAW-built Ford Bronco from Braddock out to the factory in Michigan to walk the picket line with the workers. Bernie, at a UAW rally in Detroit yesterday: “It is time for you to end your greed,” Sanders said. “It is time for you to treat your employees with the respect and dignity they deserve. It is time to sit down and negotiate a fair contract... I say to Mary Barra, the CEO of GM. Last year, you made over $29 million. Since you became CEO 8 years ago, you have made over $200 million in total compensation. Do you have any clue what it’s like for one of your workers to try to survive on $17 an hour?... Let us stand together to end corporate greed, let us stand together to rebuild the disappearing middle class, let us create an economy that works for all, not just the one percent. Let us all, every American, in every state in this country stand with the UAW.”
Republicans? DWT:
Tim Scott said “We're seeing the UAW fight for more benefits and less hours working. More pay and fewer days on the job. It's a disconnect from work, and we have to find a way to encourage and inspire people to go back to work.” Señor Trumpanzee was on the same page: “I think [UAW president Shawn Fain is] not doing a good job in representing his union, because he's not going to have a union in three years from now. Those jobs are all going to be gone, because all of those electric cars are going to be made in China.”
Well, Trump was the one who pushed tariffs and "Made in America," so what is he saying if now elected? Jobs going to China? Union jobs. Forget tariffs?
Labor cost is a small part of cost of a vehicle. If China gains advantage it will be because they were thinking long term while U.S. firms were doing buybacks and pumping out dividends in order to boost their very generous CEO paychecks.
China has been working hard on battery technology and solar power. There is nothing wrong with that. They are following a responsible policy, even as they contribute a lion's share of combustion gasses to the climate, now. They see what Manchin "fails" to see because Manchin is hiding from seeing it because he owns vast coal money. The Chinese central planners see that things need to change.
Biden sees that too, but gets very much pushback from fossil fuel interests, and from Republicans allied with fossil fuel folks; e.g., here and here. Republicans appear to truly believe, or as is more likely, they see advantage to tout what Biden wishes to contain. Never mind best-for-the-country perspectives.
MinnesotaReformer:
Automakers’ record profits not shared with workers, Biden says as UAW strike launches
By Jennifer Shutt - September 15, 2023
________FURTHER UPDATE_________
"Batteries not included?" Nio, swapable batteries, you can buy the car with no battery included. Lower down payment, on payments later, not messed up in a major way if getting a defective swapped battery, vs. up the creek if it's part of the auto framing integrity - wired in. It seems a no-brainer if technical feasibility works. Reserve battery packs at swap sites can be charged off-peak, allowing a present stressed power grid to delay upgrading until, perhaps, eminent domain reform for transmission lines reduces a bottleneck. Safety is necessary, but we can see how it works in China.
A second Car and Driver item on battery swapping.
FURTHER: Reuters, "Insight: Inside China's electric drive for swappable car batteries," By Paul Lienert, Nick Carey and Norihiko Shirouzu - March 25, 2022