Battery plant loans

Source: UAW rips Biden administration on US loan to Ford joint venture battery plant | Reuters

The UAW and Senator Bernie Sanders in April criticized a General Motors (GM.N)/LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) joint venture battery plant for paying workers much less than GM assembly plant employees even though it benefits from hefty U.S. government tax credits.

The starting salary for workers at a Warren, Ohio, JV Ultium Cells plant is $16.50 an hour, which rises to $20 an hour after seven years. Union workers at a nearby Ohio GM assembly plant that closed in 2019 made at least $32 an hour.

The Energy Department last year awarded $2.5 billion to help finance construction of Ultium's new lithium-ion battery plants, including Warren, from the same program used for the Ford loan.​

I'm not terribly impressed by the union arguments. If the GM Ultium employees are unhappy and can't get a higher wage, go on strike. But without understanding what the job tasks, we are not in a position to opinion about what the wage should be. Compared to unemployment, I gotta think the GM wages are a whole lot less bad:

• $33,000 / yr = $16.50 * 2000 hr
• $40,000 / yr = $20.00 * 2000 hr
• $64,000 / yr = $32.00 * 2000 hr

Bob Wilson