augustus

It is not as bad as it appears. They have been getting profit sharing checks for years since then. The average profit sharing check for a GM worker in 2022 was $12,750. For every $1 billion in profits GM makes, they give the workers $1,000. In 2022, GM made about $13 billion. Stellantis paid out $14,670 per worker in profit sharing in for 2022. This is on top of their wages and other benefits. That chart is extremely misleading and doesn't tell the full story.

Irony bonus: EVs can't and won't move the needle on climate change one single iota, this was all a feel-good exercise for the wokester elites. Little do the poor dupes at the UAW and elsewhere know. Consumers have the choice to buy vehicles from non-union producers with lower prices and better value and not buy vehicles from UAW factories. People can barely afford groceries and now this nonsense!

The striking workers can’t sell new cars to Americans that are remotely affordable. Do they really think demanding outrageous wage increases will help them sell product or generate buzz from the public? At some point no one will buy their products or support their business. A stripped Dodge Ram is minimum 70K! Then they will look to the taxpayers for a bailout like in 2008-2009.

Agreed. Just look at many of them on the picket line. Many display physiques which have to tax the company’s budget for health insurance benefits.

The UAW just rejected a 21% pay offer. This strike is going to flop for the same reason the Hollywood strikes are flopping: Nobody wants to buy their products. A $80,000 pickup truck is just as unaffordable as a $20 movie ticket. Everything's unraveling, and we're entering the era of "smash and grab." The flash mob robberies in California and New York are metaphors for what's happening to our whole society. Everybody is grabbing what they can and running for the exits.

A very deceptive chart. Why is the trend from 1990-2005 supposed to be the Rule, while the flattening out after that is supposed to be the deviation that needs correcting with a 40% pay rise? What is the trend from 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, etc.? Are the profit-sharing checks or enhanced benefits taken in account? (No).

Which is true overall BUT, rising interest rates can cause problems in the economy and especially in the financial sector. We don't know what is going to break. I think real estate is going to take a big hit.

GM never repaid TARP money of over $10 billion from 2008-2009 AND was allowed to walk away from tens of billions of dollars in bonds, much of which was owned by retirees and small savers. These kind of handouts to some, but not others, is obscene. I believe you are right, they should have gone bankrupt in the early 2000's.

More facilities are being added, but not by the UAW. A plant in Kansas is now being idled because of a parts shortage and Ford will soon begin layoffs.

Eventually, the remaining auto plants in Detroit will move out of state entirely. It is the only way for them to survive. Astounding this has not already occurred. People cannot afford to pay these skyhigh prices for a product that is subpar compared to Honda, Toyota, Kia, etc.

The other detail the media fails to report on is the Union want to protect workers from being fired for "No Show" up for work. Right now any one of them can just refuse to show up for a week, never get fired, then show up and expect to be put back to work. How are you supposed to run a business with employees like that?

It is extremely coveted and difficult to get these kinds of union auto jobs in Michigan. They have great benefits, good pay (for the work they do) and the number of jobs are limited. There are thousands of applicants, and few people get in. Don't buy into the lie that these are deprived workers. The UAW is very corrupt and dozens of the union leaders have been convicted of thievery in the last few years. BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Volvo all building and expanding their plants in the South. The Big 3 will continue to lose market share. Big 3 automakers have basically ceded from making cars and moved onto SUVs, trucks and now EVs, leaving the manufacturing and selling of cars to the Japanese and Korean automakers, who make better quality cars anyway.

The UAW wants a 40% wage increase and a 4 day 32 hour work week..............ha ha ha ha ha ha. Funny. Stupid, but funny.

Michigan has been bleeding jobs for years because of these unions. $33 an hour for HS diplomas just in wages is not bad in a state with low real estate costs. It's best that these companies leave this state. There are more problems to come, like no electricity as they want to shut down the nuclear plants in Michigan and have already shut down one. Move to a right to work state.

The UAW's demands are beyond the pale of reason, without a doubt. Just move out of Michigan and be done with it. $75k for a Dodge Ram minimum. Absolutely ridiculous! The UAW workers are notorious for being entitled.

Ford's profits are down 90% amid supply chain issues and sluggish EV sales and the morons in the UAW think now is the time to demand a 40% wage increase and job security. Mostly the profits are down by the drag of over ten billion in net loss producing EV's, what utter nonsense with these EV's foisted upon the automakers by the greens. Let them starve, move the plants to right to work States, plenty of workers there that are not greedy. Yep. Bankrupt the existing company and come out the other side without a union. 40% pay raise and a 4-day week, yeah sure.

Well, it's not just San Francisco. Nike just announced it is closing the large factory outlet store in Portland because of rampant theft and the police do nothing about it. It has been there since 1984. Woke robbing from a woke company. They should replace it with a work boot outlet store, it will never be robbed.

M&T Bank (in the Northeast) is offering 5.50% per year for 18 months. Not bad at all. There may come a time, maybe soon, that locking in a long-term CD or bond will make sense. The Federal Govt's interest expense is skyrocketing this year with the added interest rate expense as they roll over old maturing debt almost every week. I'm sure the Fed is desperate to cut rates as soon as they are able to.

The display in front of The Stonewall Inn was vandalized 3 times this past June during Pride Month, until the NYPD put vehicle mounted cameras on the street. Time to leave NYC I suppose.

Bingo!

So these 2 moved out of Louisiana because the State passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors? Every state in these United States is going to pass such laws. 80% + of the population is firmly against this and the opposition is virulent even in CA, NY, NJ etc. Anyone see the thousands of people protesting the Sister's of Perpetual Indulgence at Dodger stadium this past June??

Outstanding! You are the best pic collector hands down @Danny-Darko All your photos are stupendous.

She realized she was supposed to be offended once someone told her.

You are not wrong. People just don't like hearing the quiet part out loud, especially if it goes against the grain.

EXACTLY! Well said. It's an emotionally charged event. People hug and kiss total strangers in these types of situations. Look at V-E day.