In a Boston Herald column, Michael Graham repeated the falsehood that union autoworkers have "$78-per-hour jobs." In fact, the figure representing the hourly cost of labor to U.S. automakers -- a cost that GM puts at $69 -- includes not only current workers' hourly wages and benefits, such as health care and retirement, but also retirement and health-care benefits that U.S. automakers are providing for current retirees.
Boston Herald furthers false claim that United Auto Workers members have "$78-per-hour jobs"
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In a December 4 Boston Herald column, Michael Graham repeated the falsehood that United Auto Workers members have "$78-per-hour jobs." In fact, the figure representing the hourly cost of labor to U.S. automakers -- a cost that GM puts at $69 -- includes not only current workers' hourly wages and benefits, such as health care and retirement, but also retirement and health-care benefits that U.S. automakers are providing for current retirees, as Media Matters for America has noted. Despite this fact, numerous media figures have advanced the falsehood that autoworkers earn $70 or more per hour in wages and benefits, some using it to blame autoworkers for the domestic auto industry's financial straits.
From Graham's December 4 Boston Herald column:
In Massachusetts, it seems to always come around to Joe Biden's favorite three-letter word:
Jobs.
Our congressional delegation overwhelmingly supports throwing another $34 billion at GM and the gang so that United Auto Workers members can keep their $78-per-hour jobs. The Big 3 bailout is really a bailout of union contracts that include, among other things, the infamous job bank. That's where U.S. car makers must pay some 1,400 "workers'' full wages for years after they've stopped working due to layoffs. Some stay on the payroll until they retire.