In 2006 the average UAW worker made $27 per hour. In Toyota’s Kentucky plant, which is where my own personal Avalon was made (and according to Toyota is a fair representation of all its American operations), the average salary (non-union) was $30 per hour. While it is true the UAW’s health insurance required no contribution from employees, Toyota employees contributed just $700 per year.

Now, in terms of the ready-to-work pool, I agree that this type of arrangement is foolish. At this point we have to look at which party is to blame. The UAW’s reason was to prevent massive layoffs/plant closures during the time that GM was ultra-profitable, but closing plants to maximize stock price. The fact that GM and Ford agreed to a deal of that nature shows the short-sightedness, because they fundamentally believed that while there would be some cyclical retraction, it would always be short-term. Their lack of vision prevented executives from seeing that a)medium-to-long term contraction was even possible and b)that a ready-to-work-pool agreement could be a serious anchor in trimming costs to remain competitive.

While you point out that the President of the UAW makes a reasonable salary, isn’t the real issue concerning compensation that many of the UAW workers were basically overpaid for the work they did? I’d love to hear some hard facts.