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Meanwhile, Ken Lewis of BoA is warning of huge layoffs:
DETROIT, Mich. -- Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis grabbed headlines Tuesday after a speech at the Detroit Economic Club for comments about the auto industry and about the impending credit card crisis.
But on job loss at his own company, he said this: "We haven't yet announced the amount of job declines as a result of that, but it will be fairly significant because of the overlap."
He is talking about job eliminations inevitable during the merger of Bank of America with Merrill Lynch next year. He's always said there would be job loss, but until now, publically, had stressed the positive.
What "fairly significant" means in terms of numbers, a Bank of America spokesperson couldn't say. They say this is not a departure from a previous assessment of what will happen during the merger.
Just more bullshit. You can bet there will be significant layoffs before the merger is complete.
Use a heavily Southern drawl when you say this..."Well, if y'all had had more cannon factories instead of cotton gins, y'all maht have had a chance at winnin' the War." This usually shuts them the fuck up.
Believe me, the Japanese and European automakers were wooed heavily by people like Sessions touting the crappy wages paid in the south, and like true plantation masters, the auto makers bit.
Autoworkers at Nissan in Mississippi make $12 per hour while the supplier industries for the plant in Canton are paying $9 to $11 per hour. This was in 2006.
Source: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/3319canto...
Meanwhile with a union:
Auto line-workers under UAW union earn $26 per hour ($60,000 per year).
source: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/payne2005...
No state should take more from Washington than it sends in taxes. Let Wyoming buy their own damn roads!
The Democrats need to push the meme of "low pay Republicans" because it's, like, true.
And point out that the South actually gets more than it pays in Federal Taxes...
Fortunately, Sessions isn't that bright. All he's got is Southern Identity politics and reflexive worship of money.
Even in NC, which is becoming more progressive every year, "right to work" laws still exist. Any unions in the south have come with unionized companies from the north or west, such as some trucking companies and Freightliner, for instance. Southern companies would NEVER allow unionization, no matter how "liberal" the owners.
The truck in which Wiggins and other union workers were riding was attacked by the Sheriff of Gaston County's posse and she was shot in the chest. Even though the attack occurred in broad daylight, with witnesses, the perpetrators of this crime were acquitted and the act had a chilling effect on further organizing even during the Depression years. The textile mills routinely used local law enforcement and Pinkerton guards to keep union organizers out of their mills.
However, we need to do it on terms that favor real progress with these companies. You can't have a GM ceo making $28 million flitting around in a private jet. Instead of 72 different models cut back on the product offering and build 6 good models marketed to various income and interest levels. To hear the executives talk that we need to give them money to retool for more fuel efficient cars yet have 5 corporate jets is the language of "Fuck You Mr. Taxpayer". Our congress has shown, so far, a reluctance to build in any guidelines or controls and if we are going to bail out Detroit why don't we just give every taxpayer $50,000 and stimulate the economy it might help, it might not but it is equally as stupid as supporting industries that have lost any connection to their customers or the reality of the world we live.
The article you reference goes on to say it is a more complicated issue than just a regional difference. So I take offense at the generalization about the South and your regional bigotry. You have shown it on numerous occasions. I have lived in the South my entire life and while there are a great many things to hang our heads over there are many things to be proud of. Much like I imagine every part of the country. Often times I meet people who have come to our area to live from the northern part of the country. Most of these people bring with them the same stereotype that you are espousing. They come to my home state and bring some moral superiority because where they come from is just so much more superior to their adopted home. As if racism doesn't exist in the North. Or Nascar fans. Or rednecks. Or the "Good Ol' Boy network". You just call it by different names. Time and time again they will tell us how much better their part of the country is. How backward we are. How slow, dumb, redneck, bigoted etc. we are. Time and time again I watch as good Southerners bite their tongues and let these people look down their nose at us. Most of us have been raised not to confront these people. Mostly we just go back and talk with other Southerners about the "damned northerners" and how if they think the north is so great they should just go back. No one likes someone from outside telling them how dimwitted and backwards they are. It doesn't matter what part of the country you come from. So if you're going to go on a "The North is Better - The South Sucks" rant then all I can say is we'd like Florida back and the millions of Northerners who move here because our standard of living and climate are better can take their pasty white asses back home too. Don't move here. Don't vacation here. Don't retire here.
However, if you'd like to be more polite and less of a regional bigot then we'll gladly pour you a glass of sweet tea and welcome you into our home.
I don't think people including myself, gave much thought to the anger and bitterness that Southerners must feel at the difference in how DC is responding to the auto crisis as opposed to the way they responded when Southerners lower paying factory jobs were being cut off and shipped to India and China.
I think another good point that goes with this point is that it kind of shoots the Republican "blame the unions for the collapse" argument right in the foot since those factory jobs were cut even though most of their employees were NOT in unions and they were NOT getting paid the big bucks that the Republicans claim causes people to lose their jobs. The lesson here is that American workers, UNION OR NO, will continue to lose their jobs and be BLAMED for it by the Republicans until they agree to work twelve to fourteen hours a day, six to seven days a week for $20 - $40 a week with no health insurance just the way they do in India and China.
THAT is the REAL point here and we should make sure we call them out on it every chance we get.
Wonder what his Alabama worker will feel about the costs of the 2.5 - 3 million who will be left unemployed in the cascade of a major auto collapse.
I really go back and forth on this. Yes, we cannot lose the domestic auto industry, but as a consession for a handout we need to shit can the entire lot of upper management and replace them with inovative new thinkers. It is the good ole white boy club at it's worst.
One more thing... If the car companies put out a decent product, we would not be having this discussion, so blaming unions is not the answer either. Although they share some responsibility as well. Paycuts across the board if I am to give them any of my tax money.
I believe the average big three worker makes 73.00 per hour. Cut that in half for god sake. I could be wrong on that I have not verified the source.
Autoworkers at Nissan in Mississippi make $12 per hour while the supplier industries for the plant in Canton are paying $9 to $11 per hour. This was in 2006.
Source: http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/3319canto...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the wages of assemblers and fabricators at $8 to $28 per hour. I found this page very interesting.
Source: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes512099.htm
Auto line-workers under UAW union earn $26 per hour ($60,000 per year).
source: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/payne2005...
This last article comes from the ultra-conservative magazine the National Review. In it they bemoan the fact that even workers such as those cutting grass and cleaning toilets make $26 per hour. "In the real world, these jobs would be outsourced to $8 an hour, no-benefit wage earners..." In the real world, NO ONE can live on $8 per hour.
In 2006 the living wage enacted by law in Lansing Michigan was $12.50 without health benefits.
What we tell people when we okay them working for poverty wages is that we don't value their labor. Corporations never will unless forced to do so. Granted, unions overstepped in the 1980s but without labor unions there would be no minimum wage, no weekends, no overtime pay, no sick leave, etc. I really don't understand why people in the south are so anti-union.
The question was posted at Yahoo, "What is the hourly wage rate for a 25 year GM autoworker. Several answers ranged from $18 to $30.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200...
This is why I don't rely on the American media for my news. It is usually bullshit.
Four word answer: Ignorant religiously Republican sheep!
...and by "religiously Republican" I mean that they virtually worship the Republican Party. If it comes down to a difference between the moral/ethical teachings of their faith and their Party, they will go with the Party EVERY time. If you don't believe it ask the good Southern Baptists of AL, MS, GA, SC their opinions on wealth, taxes, the poor, race, gays and other social/religious outcasts, torture, war, etc. You won't find the teachings of Jesus ANYWHERE in their answers.
The question I would ask is, why the hell doesn't an American worker in Alabama have any health insurance? And why hasn't Alabama passes any laws in this regard? And you guys are bitching?
. . . . . NOT PERSONAL GAIN!
THIS is why the Republican Party has become a regional party and this is why the South, with its ignorant assholes like Sessions and the rest of the Hee Haw gang, are the face of that region AND its favored party.
Having been born and raised in Mississippi I reserve the right to talk about my native region. I just thank Jebus that my adopted state of Florida may have just started to buck the trend,
Did you drive along the Mississippi coast and see the ENTIRE coastline destroyed, with not one house, or even one light on for at least one mile inland, in many cases as much as 20 miles inland?
Was Louisiana a sponge? Why did you not call it one, is that because you, just like Karl Rove, are intensely partisan?
You owe an apology to every hurricane survivor out there that needed help after the largest natural disasters in human history! and I want it now.
Well, slick, you might want to check out what sort of tax-payer subsidized incentives (tax breaks, land deals, etc.) these states have to offer those companies to set up shop there.
“We’re letting people know the right to organize and form a union is protected by federal law,” said GLR Don Barker, who is coordinating the IAM drive at Mercedes-Benz. “There’s a long history of unions helping to bring good wages, benefits and health care to Alabama workers, and we intend to continue that tradition.”
One of the few unions to be founded in the South, the IAM currently represents more than 7,500 workers across Alabama in jobs ranging from aircraft mechanics at Pemco in Dothan, AL to rocket builders at Boeing in Huntsville and Decatur, AL.
“We want the men and women at Mercedes-Benz to know that we’re proud to be a part of this community, this state and this country,” said Barker. “There are IAM members in all 50 states and we’re looking forward to giving workers in Tuscaloosa the same rights and opportunities enjoyed by IAM members everywhere.”
As a result, there's a general satisfaction, which is not the kind of attitude that leads to supporting a union.
As for our politicians, well, once the oldest generation passes on, you'll see ALOT of change in the South. It's already happening in Tennessee and North Carolina. The youth is just as tired of the old guard, it just takes time. But don't ever underestimate the contribution to the country that the South makes.
I think putting natural disaster relief on par with bad business decisions by fat cats is about as repellent as it gets. We lost a city to that fucking hurricane with most of the blame resting on the shoulders of a government that refused to pay to insure the city would survive by using tax dollars to update the levies.
Chris' argument is just another example of how ineffectual the left can be. I think this Sessions dude is repellent for other things he has said, but that doesn't obviate Chris' culpability for a lousy analogy. His argument is, in effect, blaming poor people, something I'd hope not to have to hear from people on my side of the isle.
Detroit HAS been bailed out before, remember Chrysler? Why is it still failing? Because it does not keep up with the quality and innovation of Japanese and German automakers. Chrysler has at least made a step towards positive with Daimler, but frankly, a baby step. GM is on the verge of making a BIG step with the Chevy Volt. I would welcome government investment in that, but certainly not to keep the GM truck line in place. Let's look at reality here. GM, Ford, and Chrysler kept their money invested in gas-guzzling trucks and SUV's which eat gasoline and diesel. Why does it have to take a gas crisis to force Detroit to change?
Now, back to that question...I wonder what the Bible has to say about greedy, selfish bastards. Anyone?
I believe the correct answer is ...The greedy, selfish bastards, shall inherit the earth.
If you or I were on the ropes and needed to raise cash to survive, we'd probably sell something, even at under-market prices. One must eat after all, and that big-screen plasma TV is just a TV, right?
GM has lots of international operations and won't sell any of them, yet continues to whine about poverty to Congress. Last week, German SolarWorld offered GM $1.3B for Opel (remember the Kadett?). GM said it wasn't interested in selling.
So, here's where Congress can get tough. Tell GM and Ford they can get their loan, but they must first shed overseas operations and make cars for America.
Lest we forget, the government is just as culpable for caving to the auto lobby when they should have been cracking down on CAFE and forcing these automakers to make good on their promises, which are more than 20 years overdue.
"But?"
Seriously?
How do you justify willfully allowing the economic devastation of an entire region--and the subsequent costs THAT will foist on all of us--jsut to make sure ignorant execs don't get a "hall pass?"
We taxpayers should get SOME SAY in how the company runs. The owners always have a say in how their company runs.....
He was not a man who was easily scared, but he said he knew every time he went to the south to organize he was taking his life in his hands. They were somewhat successful, and unions were fairly common during the 1960s and 1960s in the south. Most of those textile, mill, and other industrial jobs lost in the South in the 1970s qbe 1980s were union jobs. Their loss coincided with the rise of Republicanism in the South. The corporate owners moved their businesses to India, Macao, and other third world countries and blamed the unions for their inability to survive (even though union wages were not appreciably higher than non-union wages). It kept them from being blamed for the massive outsourcing of American jobs, when the real culprit was corporate greed.
Unions made great targets. With their membership decimated, there was not much they could do to defend themselves. And the racists that had long resented the Unions' making if possible for blacks to move into the middle class got their "revenge," even though it decimated state economies. As the Republicans allied themselves with the religious right, the bashing of Unions became orthodoxy in many southern churches. That has produced the phenomenon of poor white southerners voting regularly against their own interests and terrified of the very thing that might help them attain a middle class lifestyle.