cawacko
Well-known member
I acknowledge up front not being a car person. It's just not something I'm all that knowledgeable or passionate about. Nor am I a union person. I've never been in a union nor can I speak to their true inter-workings. That being said, I found this Odd Lots Podcast with Steven Rattner quite interesting/insightful. Rattner is a Democrat who Obama appointed as the 'car czar' during the auto bailouts of the late aughts. Rattner is clearly a smart guy and almost caught me off guard that he spoke here not as an ideologue or a partisan but just as someone who has been on the front lines and understands all sides of the issue.
Here's my question (and my apologies if this topic has already been discussed). He referenced the negotiation points of the UAW and not that they are in total conflict with EVs but they also aren't fully seeing eye-to-eye in the sense that EVs tend to use less labor, which isn't exactly ideal from a union perspective. Is that the case? (He referenced a company like Tesla being non-unionized and having advantages as a result when competing against the traditional automakers.)
He also broke down the UAW demands and what he felt were reasonable asks and 'crazy' asks, which was insightful. For anyone so inclined here's the link to the podcast.
When the US auto industry needed a restructuring or bailout in 2009, the Obama administration tapped former banker and investor Steven Rattner to lead the effort. As the government's "car czar," he helped shape an agreement that saw the United Auto Workers accept significant concessions in order to preserve the financial stability of the big three American carmakers. Now the UAW is on strike, with an aim of reversing many of those concessions and gaining new benefits for their workers. So what can the UAW reasonably accomplish? How plausible are their asks? And can US industry remain competitive with higher labor costs? On this episode of Odd Lots, we speak with Rattner to get his take on the negotiations, the challenge of the energy transition on the incumbent automakers, and the goals of Bidenomics more broadly, as the administration seeks to boost domestic manufacturing in areas like EVs, batteries, and semiconductors.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...e-uaw-strike-and/id1056200096?i=1000628747870
Here's my question (and my apologies if this topic has already been discussed). He referenced the negotiation points of the UAW and not that they are in total conflict with EVs but they also aren't fully seeing eye-to-eye in the sense that EVs tend to use less labor, which isn't exactly ideal from a union perspective. Is that the case? (He referenced a company like Tesla being non-unionized and having advantages as a result when competing against the traditional automakers.)
He also broke down the UAW demands and what he felt were reasonable asks and 'crazy' asks, which was insightful. For anyone so inclined here's the link to the podcast.
When the US auto industry needed a restructuring or bailout in 2009, the Obama administration tapped former banker and investor Steven Rattner to lead the effort. As the government's "car czar," he helped shape an agreement that saw the United Auto Workers accept significant concessions in order to preserve the financial stability of the big three American carmakers. Now the UAW is on strike, with an aim of reversing many of those concessions and gaining new benefits for their workers. So what can the UAW reasonably accomplish? How plausible are their asks? And can US industry remain competitive with higher labor costs? On this episode of Odd Lots, we speak with Rattner to get his take on the negotiations, the challenge of the energy transition on the incumbent automakers, and the goals of Bidenomics more broadly, as the administration seeks to boost domestic manufacturing in areas like EVs, batteries, and semiconductors.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...e-uaw-strike-and/id1056200096?i=1000628747870
