Labor Section?

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the labor force in the year 2000 was approximately 141 million. Now that's a lot of people. While the great majority of us are working our asses off:

The richest 10 percent of families own about 85 percent of all outstanding stocks. They own about 85 percent of all financial securities, 90 percent of all business assets. These financial assets and business equity are even more concentrated than total wealth (link).

The point of this comparison is to point to one glaring bias within the mainstream media. Have you ever seen a paper with a "Labor Section"? No such thing exists. But you'll have no trouble finding the "Business Section." Each night on the news we hear about the Dow Jones and other business matters. But what of the 141 million of us who work for a living?

When the mainstream media do cover labor issues the bias becomes pretty clear. Check out this story: UAW and U.S. Automakers must close labor cost gap to survive. Need I translate? If members of the United Auto Workers want to keep working, they will have to work for less. In case you didn't know, the UAW and the Big Three Automakers are negotiating a new contract. Just take a note at the tone in this article:

UAW leaders are quick to point out that labor is less than 10% of the total cost of an automobile today, and that the Detroit Three have plenty of other cost issues beyond the scope of the UAW contract.

But aside from that, and the occasional obligatory gripe about high salaries and bonus packages for the auto company CEOs, Gettelfinger and his top officers are taking a very businesslike, nonconfrontational approach to contract talks.

All the woes are laid at the feet of labor and yet they only make up 10% of the cost. Notice how the reporter goes on, "But aside from that, and the occasional gripe about high salaries..." In other words, none of that matters. CEO's deserve their big salaries because it's not easy to fire a 100,000 employees since 2000.

You won't find talk of the following in mainstream accounts:

1. Mismanagement:
   
   

   At plant-level “town hall” meetings, workers inevitably point to poor quality—bad parts coming in from non-union suppliers, foremen accepting parts that should be scrapped, or management’s prioritizing speed above quality.
   
   Ford alone spent $500 million in recalling bad parts in the first three quarters of 2006.

2. Big Payouts:
   
   

   The chiefs of each of the Big Three—GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's William Clay Ford, Jr., and DaimlerChrysler's recently retired Juergen Schrempp—have each hauled in between $10 and $25 million in total annual compensation.

3. Private Health Care:
   
   

   It’s no secret that the price of for-profit health care in the U.S. is going through the roof, and that this has an impact on U.S. auto companies. Between health care costs and a weaker currency ($1 Cdn is equal to US $.84), Canadians working for the Big Three are an average of $10 an hour cheaper than U.S. workers—$20,000 per year.
   
   As a result, one out of six North American-produced cars and trucks is assembled in Canada.

labor UAW auto-makers media bias MSM

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