In an ideal system a full time job meeting specific standards should pay you enough to live a good life regardless if it is a cop, a teacher, or an autoworker. Now we can argue about that.
UAW members have never been paid $70 per hour (as far as what I've read) although their total compensation including benefits could have approached that at one time. Actual hourly wages run $14-19 per hour. The Heritage Foundation (conservative) likes to spout that the UAW makes almost triple what private sector workers make. Yeah, $5 per hour is reasonable... :smiley24:. I counter that the private sector needs to do a better job with compensation, but this is always effected by what kind of job is being talked about including the profit potential of the company in question.
And while the HF bemoans auto worker wages, have they ever bemoaned skyrocketing CEO and top management wage increases and stock awards? There is only so much money in the pot. As management increases compensation to management wages and owner profits to what I would describe as unreasonable levels, this directly comes out of the benefits offered to rank and file workers. What is equitable is determined in the eyes of the beholder. Maybe there are still business leaders with scruples, but in the current climate, with manufacturing jobs being sent to the lowest wage, least regulated country, big business seems to be ok with pollution and virtual slave labor in the name of maximized profits.
