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It’s important to note the workers made huge concessions in 2008 that saved the companies from bankruptcy. Over the years they’ve seen stagnant wage growth, while the execs got solid gold toilets. Even with 40% increase (inevitably spread out over many years), theyd barely be back to where the would have been without the concessions.


Arguably, without the 2008 concessions, they'd be out of a job entirely.


Same for the CEOs, though.


All the more reason why they ought to get a little back at this point.


And the shareholders would be out of their investment.


Shareholders at Chrysler at GM already were out their entire investment. “Old GM” went bankrupt, the current corporate entity known as GM only existed since 2009.


Didn't the shareholders lose everything when the government nationalized the car companies in 2008? That may just have been GM.


Or maybe they would already be employed at a better place paying more and using their labor with greater leverage.

I believe that workers and non-CS engineers are horribly underpaid around the world. They are underpaid in the US's Aerospace, they are underpaid in Russia's military industrial complex and they are also underpaid in China which actually supplies the stuff that everybody uses. Don't doubt they are also underpaid in Japan and Korea.


>Or maybe they would already be employed at a better place paying more and using their labor with greater leverage.

I mean this in all seriousness. What in the past 50 years of deindustrialization makes you think that that as even a possibility? Sure, it’s the Econ 101 textbook answer. “Creative destruction” and all that jazz. But in reality, how has that actually played out?


They were in no position to negotiate back then. Plus, there was probably heavy influence from retirees to save the pension fund.




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