December, 05 2008, 01:35pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
'Cutting Auto Wages Not the Answer'
WASHINGTON
MARK BRENNER
JANE SLAUGHTER
Brenner and Slaughter are with Labor Notes, an independent periodical on labor based in Detroit. They just wrote the piece "Cutting Wages Won't Solve Detroit 3's Crisis" for the Detroit News in which they state: "No matter how you cut the numbers, demolishing auto workers' living standards will not transform the industry. The Big Three have been trying for years. They have slashed at least 200,000 jobs since 2004, and they last year wrung billions of dollars in concessions from the United Auto Workers. The union instituted a second-tier wage of $14.50 an hour for new hires, lower than pay in the nonunion, foreign-owned auto companies in the South. ...
"Automakers' decisions have been disastrous. While competitors developed gasoline-electric hybrids, Detroit mined the gas-guzzling truck and SUV market, making $104 billion in profits between 1994 and 2003. Wall Street and Congress weren't calling for more research and development or curbing the company's dividend payments and high-flying executive salaries back then."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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