Video: Ford's most advanced assembly plant operates in rural Brazil

Congress should see this and consider it when making their decision on the bailout. 

The UAW has repeatedly made concessions that have helped companies like Ford work toward solvency. What this piece is condoning is a dramatic drop in the fair wage that is possible under the UAW's protection from bloated management.

Remember that unions protect the worker. The Labor Movement is to thank for the weekend, the 40-hour week, basic worker benefits, workplace safety standards, and many other labor guarantees we now have in America. Are you in a position to give up those guarantees in your workplace?

I don't really understand the term "lean" as it is used here. When our bodies are lean, we assume that means health. When the means of production in a business is lean, it only amounts to health if the workers are paid a living wage. It makes the least sense for America if the workers are forced to become lean while upper management becomes fatter and fatter.

Additionally, are we to believe that a plant like that in the U.S. would mean a better life for the workers? The only job of the UAW is to advocate for a better life for workers. Driving down wages on the line will not bring that about.

Finally, yes; the Congress should hear about this and consider making laws that would provide incentives for Ford and others to base their operations in the U.S.

Without pressure there is no progress. Ford is threatening bankruptcy,maybe these economic pressures will be enough to build a better product, company and business plan.  I hope so for the sake of the millions who depend on the auto industry to feed their families.

Camacari is an excellent plant but it is not the UAW's fault that the plant is in Brazil.

The reason is that it is one of Ford's latest plants and a greenfield design with modern production requirements integrated into the very design of the plant.

Installing the same in a brownfield in the US would require the old plant to be torn down completely or buid a new greenfield plant beside it. Regardless of UAW, even just in construction cost, regualtory environment, labour availability etc. it would be an inferior investment when done in the US.

And even if all was equal, you will not see US management keen on building sucha plant in the US becuasa of mere country risk management reasons - the same reasons why BMW or now Volkswagen build latest generation plants in the US and not in Germany (hedging US Dollar exchange rate risk is the main reason).

Though I believe that the UAW is a significant part of the Big 3's problems, the message of the video does not capture the situation properly.

There are many sub-optimum plants in this industry and they are far away from being responsible for the existence of an auto-maker, just for the cost effectiveness in the single digit percentage range.

The existence of a car manufacturer is determined on the design-board. 

Let me clear  up a few misconceptions.  I am a UAW assembly line worker at a Ford plant in the U.S. making $ NOT $75/hour that Craig19 erroneously suggests.  I get Supplemental Unemployment Benefits to pay me when I am out of work, but this only covers 26 weeks.  So I am very motivated to get back to work when I am laid off. 

To blame the Big 3 Auto crisis on the UAW is like blaming Obama for being black.  The UAW exists as a check-and-balance to ensure that middle class workers are treated fairly.  We need time off just like everybody else.  We need healthcare and retirement just like everybody else.  We need  unemployment benefits and safety rules just like everybody else.  And we need wage protection just like everybody else.

My salary, while some say is high, has come only after much experience and training.  I have been at this job for almost 3 years.  In that time, my productivity has increased ten-fold.  Do I care about Ford's success?  Yes, because without Ford I would not have these wages.  Don't blame us for the current crisis.  Blame the greedy oil companies, fannie mae and freddie mac.

Thanks for letting the little guy have a voice in this debate.

Looks like my previous posting didn't pick-up my wage.  I'm making $ not the $75 that Craig19 erroneously suggests.

I used to work for the Ford Aerospace subsiderary and about 30 years ago, worked in Detroit designing automated manufacturing in the Escort plant.  I was making $15 a hour, starting pay for UAW was $22.50.  Add fringe and overhead, this brought it up to nearly $50 an hour.  While we concentrate on what workers GET, it is more important what workers COST.  A cost today of $75 an hour is probably realistic or maybe low for UAW.  Other costs not seen by the public are engineering, tooling, accounting compliance, pollution compliance, retirement, etc, etc.  These all go into making the price of a car.  The state and federal goverrnment are complicit in this problem too.

I also know GM has not made money on cars for several year.  If not for GMAC they would already be belly up.

Maybe you want to talk about money the UAW UNION  President makes.  He gets a "fair salary?  How much does it cost each employee per paycheck to keep his job?

Al, it comes down to issues that do not necessarily relate to the dollar amounts. It is easy to point at the total amount it costs to compensate and support an employee, but that is more a statement about the inflated prices of benefits like health insurance. Again, the health insurance company executives get compensated at an obscene level, to the detriment of the health care industry. For the line worker, the salary is the most important figure, since that is what it takes to live and support a family. And it is misleading the Vine readers to list engineering, tooling, accounting compliance, pollution compliance as part of the workers' compensation package. Those operating costs, costs of doing business, and production costs, but are in no way tied to the compensation of employees working on the line. Why are you trying to set our readers against labor?

BTW, your question about the UAW president's compensation seems to be unfairly aimed at inciting anger toward the unions. You have failed to do some simple research before implying that the unions are driving up the cost of production.

There are still hangers-on, like you, who argue that unless shareholders and consumers support unreasonable levels of pay for executives, the business will not thrive. It's a scam of unprecedented proportions. Now, if you happen to be one of those executives, I could see why you'd argue for a few people skimming revenues off the top. But it doesn't make sense for workers and professionals to endorse such a drain on our economy.

Take a look at Toyota. The chairman makes under $1M per year. The workers are well compensated, including Toyota paying their health insurance. Toyota knows that a healthy, satisfied work force will result in better product, for a bigger market share. Of course, we all know that Toyota is tremendously successful.

Please read more and think carefully about what you are writing. I mean that as constructive criticism that will help us all do better.

Having read all the previous comments -- I have not yet read one very important statistic.  And that is that the labor cost of GM, Ford & Chrysler automobiles is about 10% of the total cost of making them. Would someone please tell me where the rest of the 90% is going?

I worked 25 years at an automotive supplier here in Detroit until last month.  We had a joke that went like this:

"General Motors provides excellent wage, health, pension, tuition, and 401K benefits for hundreds of thousands of of UAW employees.  And, oh yeah, they make cars too."

It is endemic in our culture today that we don't take seriously the prosperity of the American working family. Even we workers are taught to believe that the good (not excessive) life that we earn is somehow a privilege; a life undeserved.

Sad. We need to de-program the Middle Class to stop dragging itself down. It could just as easily be said that General Motors provides excessive wages, health, pension, tuition, retirement plans, bonuses, golden parachutes, stock options, private jets, and lavish benefits for executives. And, oh yeah, they make cars too.

That's no joke.