Jealous? UAW Chief Says Pay For Ford CEO Is Morally Wrong

Is Bob King a communist? As the article states, Alan Mulally was responsible for the turnaround plan for Ford. Because of him, they have not accepted any government bailouts and the firm in general seems to be on the right track.

I hope Ford does not give in to the outrageous demands the UAW will soon propose. With 9% unemployment, I'm sure Ford would have NO problem at all replacing striking workers.

I bet if King was paid this amount he would consider it fair and just.

Frankly I could care less what he gets paid. What strikes me as funny though is a couple of weeks ago people were complaining on this site about VW's CEO getting $12 million, calling it outrageous. Ford's CEO gets $54 million, though, no problem. Ironic. But funny.

I am not sure if Ford took the bailout. Please can you check your facts again.
Unless you qualify capital from Wall Street as a bail out.

There's a lot of people here in Seattle that want him back at Boeing. They haven't been doing real well lately without him!

A child gets an allowance. The child learns that he gets "paid" to do some "work", such as cleaning up his room. Decades later, as an adult, that same mentality persists: A superior, now a "suit" in place of mom and dad, pay me to do some work. They also reason that if you pay me too little, then you're making me poor.

Another child doesn't get an allowance. Instead, mom tell him to find something that needs to be done, and we'll negotiate how much it's worth to the both of us. Cleaning up your room: No big deal. Cleaning out the garage: Now there's some money to be made there! That child grows up with the belief that there is money to be made, and it's just a matter of making it happen. He knows he can show up at a MacJob and earn a salary. But instead, he creates his own income streams, likely as a contractor, consultant, or creating businesses and hiring someone else to manage and run them.

You can see the radically different mindsets. The first one lives at the discretion of others. Either their generosity, or their thuggery (UAW), but this person is not empowered to make a life for themselves. They need others to make their lives for them.

I say to the world, if you don't like your conditions, then make better ones and profit from your own ingenuity. But don't hold a gun to someone's head and tell them "you owe me," UAW-style.

Assuming everything you say is true (HA!)... taking out a LOAN is not the same as getting a bailout. The first is extended by banks and is repaid in full with interest, the second one, as happened with GM is taken from TAXPAYERS, ahuge chunk is classified as awarded and not repaid, and the balance is paid back at a LOSS.

Second, action speak louder than words, Mullaly's past in other companies is irrelevant, SPECIALLY given the success and significant brand recognition he has brought to Ford without the need to STEAL from TAXPAYERS!!!

Lastly, perhaps if these workers you support contributed more, other than striking, causing public disturbances, smoked weed on lunch breaks, etc, maybe they would deserve a raise. I think stealing from taxpayers to boost your pension plans and healthcare benefits and profiteering from political support is way more than you deserve.

Its time to even out the playing field!

The guy saved Ford and has them on the right track...if you are a Ford shareholder you know he is worth every penny.

billfrombuckhead, so union people should get paid more just so they can afford your products? where did you learn economics? Stalin Business School?

People should get paid according to the level of difficulty or training required to perform a job, not according to seniority or because they can't afford your product? what kind of logic is this???

I am an engineer with a grad degree and a minor in business and I've earned my way to where I am without begging or demanding anything from anyone. I pay taxes like every hard working American, or should i say 60% of Americans, because we end up paying for all of you (the remaining 40%) who avoid paying taxes and feel entitled to everything.

billfrombuckhead, if you care to analyze the article about the TARP loan to Ford you would know that these were LOANS given to automakers at a time loans were hard to get in 2008. Again, LOANS from the (federal)banks are repaid with interest!!!

This, in no way is comparable to TAKING TAXPAYER MONEY WITHOUT THE INTENT TO REPAY IN FULL. Maybe your friends can't distinguish between a Federal Loan and a BAILOUT. Its no surprise then that they can't tell wrong from right.

The Roman Catholic Church has updated The Seven Deadly Sins for the 21st Century, and it includes "Excessive wealth." I guess the one passing the moral judgment (Church or UAW) gets to make the call as to what exactly constitutes "excessive."

+1 to HSCenterconsole's comments, first in this thread.

billfrombuckhead-you are very correct. They leveraged everything they have from patents, factories, tools, stampings and even the tired Ford logo. But in their defense I will say they saw tough times coming and prepared for it. The man and his team and most importantly the employees helped see them through tough times.

That is a lot pay. If the UAW president was getting that check would he be making the same statements? You get what you negotiate. That UAW knows that better than anyone, wait they have short memories.

Mulally earned every penny. Ford was trending towards becoming toast and he fixed it. Additionally, by not needing/taking the bailout dough, he prevented the Ford family stock from going to zero and losing control and equity interest, so you can be sure he is very secure.

Charger and 300 aren't American cars. They are basically German cars made in Canada. They are alright, but hardly "the best".

The UAW is morally wrong.

billfrombuckhead, did you really look in the bible for Collective Bargaining?? LOL

I know you didn't but the fact you would even consider saying it! I understand now where your logic (or lack thereof) and lack of grammatic skills comes from. You should read more, and I'm not talking about the UAW Manual.

It's fine for one guy to make millions but when they people that put the cars together make a few thousand it's wrong? This site has it's priorities bass ackwards.

I worked as a design engineer in the auto industry and spent half of my time at factories. People that put cars together do not require any advanced education, barely a HS diploma. Their work is repetitive and anyone can do it. There are no significant choices to make or decisions to take. Each worker has a process manual to follow, just like what you would find in an instruction manual on a Lego set. There are no deviations from this. So, now you are saying that these guys should get paid more than their already hyperinflated salaries?

I'm not bashing line workers, but the reality is, pay is proportional to level of difficulty, level of responsibility,a ccountability and risk that you take on YOURSELF. Running a company like Ford is hardly comparable to working on the line. Sorry dude, your argument has absolutely no merit.

Next time, rather than be the bully at school, you should study harder rather than just point fingers at others.

He deserves a lot of $$ for turning Ford around, but I must agree with this union guy, 55.4 million is outrageous, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, there will be a nasty revolution in our lifetime the way our economy is going, the rich are ridiculously rich and the middle class is just getting by or becoming lower class.

the rich have been buying bunkers, not for the end of the world, but a financial melt down, that is when the working class say enough is enough. History has a way of repeating its self.

nonofyobus, how many new independent restaurants have you seen open lately? This just isn't my opinion, the middle class is disappearing, and there was a blurb on the news about companies that build bomb shelters have been very busy preparing for the poor to uprise, and I can guarantee it wasn't the UAW,lol

Do all of you middle class or barely middle class still think you could be this guy at Ford? You are all so big business maybe you are all dreamers? Soon your way of making money will be taken away by some new law made by the corporations, then you will be crying, by then the rich would be very few, Canada is becoming as boring as America as far as our restaurants are concerned, chains everywhere, I love Americans, don't get me wrong,to Americas defense they have some of the best restaurants in the world in Sanfrancisco and New York, by the way things are going that will change in the next 10 years or so, we loose a few a year, the independent restaurants give our country's flavor, a dying breed, All independent businesses are a dying breed.