Remember the UAW strike last year? They wanted huge raises and benefits because, well, who doesn’t? Democrats rallied around them, the White House took their side and, ultimately, they won. Now, that “victory” is turning into what anyone with a brain could see coming: a future defeat.
The Wall Street Journal ran a headline, “Robots Are Looking Better to Detroit as Labor Costs Rise.” Who could have predicted such a thing? Anyone, everyone. It’s as easy as “predicting” the sun will rise in the east.
“While automakers have been moving to automation for some time, rising labor costs are poised to accelerate the adoption of such technologies, said Laurie Harbour, president of Michigan manufacturing consulting firm Harbour Results,’ the Journal reports.
The new UAW contracts brought with them 25 percent raises which, the Journal reports, “were richer than they (the auto companies) had planned for, and they are strategizing ways to blunt the increased costs.”
What will this mean for consumers? The Journal answers, “Ford said the new terms would add about $900 in cost per vehicle by the time the contract expires in early 2028. GM executives pegged the hit from richer labor contracts during that period at roughly $500 a vehicle.”
So, they “won” a raise and will lose their jobs. Congratulations?
You see the same thing with these marches for massive increases in the minimum wage for fast food workers. If a job can be replaced by an iPad and a credit card swiper, you aren’t worth $5 an hour, let alone $20. Yet, this is what these people are promising their members.
You don’t have to take my word for it, just look at California. The progressive haven should be the only canary in the coal mine anyone needs. They recently raised their minimum wage to $20 an hour because why not?
No one who voted for it in the state legislature is going to be impacted by it, one way or another, so why wouldn’t they enact something they can campaign on? All the job losses can be easily and simply blamed on “corporate greed!!!!” There is no downside…provided you don’t give a damn about people losing their jobs, which these Democrats clearly do not.
Well, it’s already happening. “Two major California Pizza Hut franchisees — PacPizza and Southern California Pizza Company — are laying off more than 1,200 delivery workers ahead of the new statewide minimum wage hike for fast food workers, from $16 an hour to $20 an hour, starting April 1,” reports the Nation’s Restaurant News.
It doesn’t matter if delivering pizzas was your main job or a side-hustle, you’re screwed, and not a single politician gives a damn about it.
In fact, not only do none of those politicians give a damn, members of their party are actively working to screw over more people across the entire country.
In another bad idea that came from California, the Biden administration is replicating the state’s moves to kill “gig work,” things like driving for Uber of Lyft, Door Dash or Instacart.
How? By making the companies that contract with these at-will, work when it is convenient to them workers be treated like full-time employees. That means added expenses like health insurance, worker’s compensation insurance, 401(k)s, etc. You may hear that and think, “They should, it’s only fair,” but a lot of people don’t need or want those things.
Gig workers work when it is convenient for them, for as long or as short of a time as they want. It’s a string-free gig that can easily fit in around someone’s life and other job, probably a full-time job. If they are forced to be treated like a full-time employee, that will come with requirements for hours, schedules, etc. – the exact opposite of what makes the gigs appealing.
Democrats don’t care. The Biden administration is taking this nationwide by executive order, largely because they couldn’t get it through legislation when they controlled the House and Senate (which should tell you something).
People are getting screwed, people will continue to get screwed, and not a single Democrat will give a damn.
Democrats will praise themselves for higher wages and more benefits for “workers,” and will ignore the actual consequences of their actions. Union leaders and left-wing activist will cheer because that’s what they do. And real people will be worse off than they were before. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.