“What if the UAW are right about what is good for them?” would be a lot more convincing if they were not cheering on the destruction of the industry they work in. We’re capable of recognizing CEOs as economically irrational, unions can be too.
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it's probably shouldn't surprise us that the first UAW president directly elected by the membership is going to reflect the popular sentiment of union's membership
Are they aware that once production stops, they don’t have work? Are they aware how long it takes to implement and build a new manufacturing plant? Years… they’re just going to wait 3-5 years for production to ramp back up?
Being pro-union should probably be thought of the same as being pro-democracy; I want democracy even though there are outcomes in a democracy I do not support (the GOP).
16 million cars sold in the US in 2024. Half were manufactured there. Domestic content in the 8 mill. made there was as low as 40%. That's a lot of capacity to build in 3 3/4 years.
Even with a tariff wall, Chinese EVs can be so cheap and high quality that the US can't be competitive. Right now, Xiaomi is making a really slick car for 30k with 500 miles of range. At twice the price, that's a great deal in the US market.
The US can't get close on delivering value like that.
This is a new entrant to the market. They're probably not making profit at this price, but they want to build up market share in China. In five years, though? They'll be fully scaled and pumping them out extremely cheaply.
Do they really think that companies are going to move supply chains and manufacturing back to the US when the increase in labor costs is still such a larger number than the cost of paying Trump's ridiculous tariffs?
(in other words, are they incapable of doing basic math?)
there’s also no stability in terms of predicting how long those tariffs will actually last. trump changes his mind about shit constantly and he won’t be in office forever. no business can start to make long-term investments in u.s. manufacturing right now with any kind of certainty.
And even if companies did move them back, those cost increases will be reflected in prices (I hate to break it to them but two CEO's in Trump and Musk are not going to force company's to eat the cost)
Cars manufactured in the US would look like no more of a bargain than foreign ones
I think a lot of people misunderstand the role of a lot of modern American unions in American capitalism and over estimate the average working man’s mindset right now
The modern American Union (with exceptions of course) exists as a machine to legitimize the decisions of capital and give small concessions through mailable channels. It’s really easy to just compare modern uaw to its past self or any of the labor unions of the early 20th century
They went from hiding dead guys that are still yet to be found to being the lapdogs of capital, cheering as their jobs are lost because everyone who buys the cars they build can’t afford them anymore and the only cars that do get made are drunk-driven McLarens and Ferraris
Labor is an abstraction in America even when it doesn’t make sense to be. Best example is how a McDonald’s employee doesn’t get a free burger for lunch on the job but just a discount. Their work doesn’t actually correlate to hamburger it is just a vague money making activity psychologically
If only there was a Russian guy 200 some odd years ago with a cool beard that could’ve warned us that alienation from the fruits of our labor and the labor that goes into the things we get from others would be unsustainable and lead to complete social collapse, but where would we find such a hero?
“Cars becoming more expensive in a low buying power economy thanks to incredibly stupid tariffs is good”
-guys negotiating on behalf of other guys whose jobs only exist insofar as the average consumer bloc finds it feasible and worthwhile to buy a new car every few years, for some reason
What if we created similar economic conditions to 2008 (a notably great time for auto workmen) and cheered for the moron who enacted it to satisfy his extreme Sinophobia and more generalized racism that’ll go great for us
They've wanted the supply chain localized and tariff talk has always been big for them but they have to be able to realize the way Trump's doing it will just fuck everybody
I learned real quick on the shop floor that there are quite a few reactionaries and I think that’s one disadvantage common to both overly glorifying unions, and a lack of unionization in the general workplace
I was a member of UFCW 555 for over 7 years at a more general job. They never got me any raises, never attempted to strike, protected extremely bigoted members from being rightfully fired, and during covid told me to shut up when I said that employees wouldn't enforce the mask mandate.
When I worked for Whole Foods (2019-2021), most of us had come from UFCW represented stores and had stories like that. It's disappointing to know it wasn't just a local issue
I honestly think there are very few stores where this isn't the case. I got better working conditions over the years mostly from state laws passed by the Democratic Party of Oregon, all the union ever did was give me better then normal health insurance (they oppose medicare for all).
If you want to sell fucking cars, making them 10-15K more expensive is a really stupid way to do that given the average car is now more expensive than the median income.
Almost like they don't actually believe in selling cars.
What are you dedicated to?
Financial arbitrage built on dodgy car loans!
I liked it better when they tried to just sell cars to people at prices that were somewhat affordable.
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The US can't get close on delivering value like that.
(in other words, are they incapable of doing basic math?)
Cars manufactured in the US would look like no more of a bargain than foreign ones
(No, I'm not dumb as shit, this is a joke. Trump is gonna say EVs and Trains are illegal tomorrow)
-guys negotiating on behalf of other guys whose jobs only exist insofar as the average consumer bloc finds it feasible and worthwhile to buy a new car every few years, for some reason
Almost like they don't actually believe in selling cars.
Financial arbitrage built on dodgy car loans!
I liked it better when they tried to just sell cars to people at prices that were somewhat affordable.