The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
marketwatch.com
The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
1–10 of 293 posts
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#2In the 70s, there was a widely promoted theory that Detroit had invented carburetors that would make cars get 100 MPG, but they were suppressed by some Big Oil - Big Auto conspiracy. (It was partly promoted by people selling aftermarket carburetors that claimed to, but never did, improve mileage. Some of them used magnets to straighten out the fuel molecules, or something.)
But here you can see actual evidence of a similar phenomenon. Slowing down emissions reductions for short-term incentives.
Ouch, my poor planet.
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#3Just fire them.
It’s painfully obvious they’re attempting to hold back progress that would be beneficial for the entire world.
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#4One person’s right to keep a job is not greater than humanity’s right to reasonable progress.
It’s cases like these that give unions a bad name.
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#5Related: “Autoworker union anxiety about EV-related (and smaller, more fuel-efficient car-related) job loss has been a thing for the better part of a decade... but it's been widely ignored, probably because it is so politically awkward ”
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tweetermeyer/status/1177562016539...
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#6One person’s right to keep a job is not greater than humanity’s right to reasonable progress. It’s cases like these that give unions a bad name.
When shipping firms moved to shipping containers mid 20th century, the productivity gains were split between corporations and the union to buy out longshoreman so there was a graceful transition out for these folks who were no longer needed. (Check out the book “The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition”, which goes into some detail about this)
It’s not having systems in place like this that give our society a bad name. The US is one of the richest country in the world, no lies needed to say we can’t afford it (we can afford it) or don’t have the legal framework in place to institute it.
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#7Is it? I found this linked from uaw.org:
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-why-i-strike-201...
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#8Just fire them. It’s painfully obvious they’re attempting to hold back progress that would be beneficial for the entire world.
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Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#9I'm skeptical that the labor differential is as big as this article implies frankly. This strike is pretty straightforward in cause, GM wants to pay less, and wants their employees to cover more of their healthcare costs, the Union isnt okay with this.
Working in an auto plant is hard, backbreaking work that will leave you physically broken by retirement - and while the transition to electric cars may slightly reduce the amount of labor needed, it won't change how hard or backbreaking the work is.
Re: The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars
#10Just fire them. It’s painfully obvious they’re attempting to hold back progress that would be beneficial for the entire world.
Yeah, let them eat cake I guess ...
It's painfully obvious you have no idea how life is hard down there for people that can't do better than a factory job.
There's surely a third way, and we should at least hear them (if you don't want something even worse than Trump in 10 years).