However, he misses one huge point and it's a point many people miss when they try to compare the relationship between labor and the U.S. auto industry with that of foreign automakers.
Here's the point he hasn't really thought through ...
"... their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers."
Benefits paid to U.S. autoworkers can never be aligned with those of overseas manufacturers. Japan and most of the countries in Europe are, for the most part, social democracies. Merely being a citizen in these countries bestows certain guarantees ... among them are access to health care, good (some might say excessive) vacation time and access to affordable mass transit. There's more but these three are enough to tilt the economic playing field overseas before anyone sits down to a negotiating table.
This is a huge disadvantage for the U.S. auto industry and not one the industry can really do much about. And, since we in this country have this "thing" against socialism, it's not very likely that disadvantage will ever go away.
So, when Romney (and others) note that there is a $2,000 labor cost differential between an American-made car and a similar car built overseas, when anti-labor wingnuts harp on the union's complicity in today's debacle, we all must understand that the society those overseas workers live in (not the employers) affords them some benefits very few of us will ever enjoy.
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Toyota regularly gives out their numbers to demonstrate that they are paying almost as much as GM for current American workers when you consider wages, benefits and taxes. The health care legacy costs are what makes the difference between the Big 3 and Toyota. Universal health care could solve this problem and many others.
However, when the Big 3 insist on building Trail Blazers, the Focus and Calibers, there isn't much the government or anyone else can do for them. Until they build an Accord, Camry, Civic or even a Hyundai Sonata, the Big 3 will inexorably slide into bankruptcy. The Big 3 are much better than they used to be, but so is the competition. There are compelling reasons why Detroit dominates in one market alone: the low-end rental.
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