GM slashing 30,000 jobs, closing plants

That rate probably includes taxes. You know that deduction of about 7.5% you pay for Social Security? Your employer matches it. The state requires your employer to have Worker's Compensation insurance in case you're injured. Your health benefits are probably costing the company twice or more than you pay with each paycheck deduction.

If the $65 is a fully burdened rate, it means the worker is making about 1/3 of that. If its only salary, taxes and direct benefits, the worker is probably earning about half of that.

Also, you may not realize this, but in my father's day it was very hard to invest. For one, you couldn't buy a mutual fund ... they didn't exist for normal wage earners. To buy stocks you had to have a broker, and could only buy in large quantities. A company pension was a benefit that was supposed to be backed by an annuity or other guaranteed investment, so people did rely on them. It wasn't "arrogance". It was, at the time, sound financial plannning.

It wasn't until the 401k and ERA provisions, made in the 1980s, that people COULD take their retirement into their own hands. And with the subsequent changes in the tax laws, the benefit of both is greatly reduced.

Its very sad to see GM having to go through this belt tightening. I don't like GM cars very much (I'm a Ford and Toyota man myself), but the loss of any of our industrial base is not a good thing. And BTW - the Toyota line workers in TN earn very good wages too.

 

Well .. after GM reneges on the pension and health benefits, they will be able to redo their accounting, and the hourly wage from decades ago will decrease nicely.

That company is **so** FOS

I like how they explain factory closings to realign with demand. How many plants in Mexico are closing down ? Patriotic spin, to the hypocritical bitter end.