American Business Competition

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time a tremendous whack." Winston Churchill

There was a local story in our area about the negotiations between a company and a union. Unless there was a way to make the factory more cost efficient it would be closed down. Sounds familiar and to a point it makes good business sense. Cost efficiency makes good business practice as it means you do something that businesses are in existence for, to make a profit.

In a global economy businesses must become more efficient in their production, employees, etc. The American worker is highly productive and according to some is highly paid. Unfortunately, we appear to be too highly paid when compared to workers in other countries. When it comes to pay and benefits, it appears that ‘management’ is always looking for ways to decrease the pay and benefits received by Americans to “level the playing field”.

Ye when all is said and done management, corporate boards, CEOs, etc take a very limited view of the wage disparity between the American worker and those in other countries. You ever wonder if they look at their own salaries when they determine that wages need to be reduced in order to make American business more competitive. When the CEO of General Motors (GM) makes in access of ten ($10,000,000) million dollars compared to the CEO of Toyota makes less than one ($1,000,000) million dollars General Motors competitive?

The other part of this equation is not simply the salary of the CEO of a company, but the salaries of upper management. If the CEO of GM makes ten million dollars a year what do the other members of the board make? What about the vice presidents, directors, and managers make? How far down the corporate ladder do you need to go in a company like GM, which is continually losing its share of the market, before you make the same salary as the president of Toyota?

I wonder how the union taking a 30% pay cut will affect the workers at the factory. What concessions has the management been willing to take? HAve they been willing to take a 30% pay and benefit cut to make their factory more competative with those overseas?