"It's a good term, 'grandfathered,' because those folks were preserved at a wage-and-benefits level that was essentially twice the market," Mr. Glynn said. Already, 50 percent of the upper-tier workers who were around in 2004 have left, through retirement and attrition.
New hires are encouraged to view assembly-line work as short term. The way up from the admittedly meager wage scale is not a better union contract, the message goes, but a promotion — if not within Caterpillar, then at another employer. Driving a forklift or working on an assembly line for 20 years should not be a career goal.
I wonder why labor doesn't try asking for profit sharing instead of wage hikes.
