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Say Hello To The November 21, 2024 Orientation Class! - 7 hours ago
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You Can Serve On The UAW Member Advisory Committee! - 2 days ago
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November Retiree Meeting: Retirees Recognized, Officer Nominations, and Dinner Plans - November 19, 2024
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Tier 2 Retirement Option Disappears - November 17, 2024
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More Billionaires = More Problems - November 17, 2024
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You Can Help a Kid This Holiday Season! - November 15, 2024
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November Union Meeting! - November 14, 2024
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Video: Why American Cars Are So EXPENSIVE… - November 14, 2024
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SAP Phase 2 Is Here! - November 13, 2024
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Tax Cuts For The Rich Create Debt, Division, and Despair - November 9, 2024
Happiness Is Owning Your Own Sports Team – Maybe
The St. Louis Labor Tribune has my latest, Happiness Is Owning Your Own Sports Team – Maybe.
WAGES
Wages will be a primary focus of this year’s negotiations.Of course, like the sun rising or an executive getting a golden parachute after bankruptcy, the companies will be claiming poverty when it is time to sit down and bargain over hourly pay.
Never mind that vehicle prices, profit margins and executive compensation have all gone up. Ignore the news that GM reinstated its quarterly cash dividend and authorized a stock buyback of $5,000,000,000 (about $15 per person in the U.S.)! Stock buybacks increase the value of the remaining shares including those of company executives. Most of all, please forget that GM CEO Mary Barra, in early 2022, stated the company would “consider all opportunities to return excess capital to shareholders.”
HYPOCRISY
During the Town Hall, UAW leadership highlighted the hypocrisy of company efforts to plead poverty. This was done with a simple graphic that every sports fan can relate to. In the last 10 years, the Detroit 3 have made profits of almost a quarter of a trillion dollars. That is $250,000,000,000 (about $770 per person in the U.S.). That is enough money to buy every team in the NHL, NBA and Major Leage Baseball. After all this they would still have $50 billion!