The Failure Of Labour Unions In North America United Auto Workers’ Short-Sighted Negotiation Strategy Screw Over The Paying Union Members – February 15, 2024
I am reminded of an event I had in my life in which I realized that my OPINION was not welcomed into certain circles. This was in my younger days, and I had read Rich Dad Poor Dad, front to back, at least 50 times at that point.
The people I was talking to were trying to solve problems regarding training the youth for the real world, and I said, “We should focus on financial education so the youth will know when they’re being manipulated!” Everyone in that group laughed at me!
At that point in my life, I hadn’t realized that everyone hadn’t been consuming the same material I had been consuming, and so they imagined problem-solving differently. Anyway, I ended up basically retiring at 29 years old, not having to work a 9-5, because I learned the difference between an Asset and Liability.
Also, Robert Kiyosaki goes into detail on using DEBT to your advantage, so even in periods in which I was in debt, I knew how to leverage that debt to be cash flow positive. If this is flying over your head, sorry to say, but the best advice I can give is to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
I bring this up because although I’m against Labor unions if you’re going to join one, you should be smart enough to comprehend when the leaders of your labor union are short-sighted.
With most labor unions, the heads prefer their members to be ignorant about negotiations. By ignorant, I mean they rarely talk FINANCES to their members. Most union people imagine, for example, that Ford is a billion-dollar company with UNLIMITED resources; these people imagine that no matter what deal the labor union signs with Ford, Ford will be able to pay them their wages.
A lot of people who join labor unions believe in FORCING the owners of the company they work for to give them all the money they want, regardless of how productive the workers are.
In general, most unionized employees care little about the profitability of the company they work for, which is entirely different from the people who FINANCE the company these unionized employees work for.
If you’re not financially educated, for example, you won’t invest in stocks or start a business. If you never start a business, you’ll completely ignore the COST of operating a business, which is similar to the COST associated with operating your life.
The exact details of the deal Ford signed with the United Auto Workers are unknown to me, but I’ve been saying for years that the reason U.S. Auto manufacturers are getting their asses whooped by European and Japanese auto manufacturers revolves around the labor unions.
Again, I’m not a fan of labor unions. However, the German Labour Union model is far superior to the Auto Unions in North America. At least with the German model, they’re still concerned with the profitability of the German Automakers.
In North America, listening to labor union complaints sounds utterly ridiculous; it makes it worse when you see how Obese most of the auto union workers on strike are. I’m seeing a lot of women on the picket lines lately as well, and I know that female unionized workers tend to take more vacation and sick days than men.
When you’re not working, and the employer is still paying you, that’s cutting into profits. I’m not letting the men off the hook either, because men are the root cause of the labor union movements.
Now that women are involved, you’re seeing the inefficiencies in the unionized private sector accelerate while costs explode, and consumers don’t want to pay a premium for an inferior product. With that said, the current Ford CEO is warning Detroit auto workers that the company will rethink where it builds vehicles after last year’s UAW strike, and I believe him.
When I listen to both Donald Trump and Joe Biden talk about unionized jobs, they both sound like they have a magic quick fix solution, based on my research, private sector labor unions in North American have a SYSTEMATIC problem, that needs to be DISSOLVED. Because it’s headed for bankruptcy, I don’t think the private-sector labor union movement would survive in the modern day without the help of public-sector unions. Last time I checked the United States is over 33 trillion dollars in debt.
Interesting times ahead!