Insightful post, Hunter of J. I've found the UAW insists on pay of $25-30 an hour, though. It seems your numbers are a bit inflated (but things may have changed in recent years).
The numerical discrepancy aside, however, getting paid $25+ per hour to tighten bolt #305 is silly, IMO. HOwever, if you are getting paid (as may be the case) $25+ an hour to supervise 4 robots designing and installing parts #305 through #405, maybe that is different.
Regardless, I think the UAW is a shinning example of union power and misbeahvior.
I guess there is a lingering question: Will bringing wages down make prices go down?? Dunno, in all honesty.
I must say, however, that import cars are NOT cheaper. Blame it on the tarriffs if you will, but the Rav4 I bought in 2002 was upwards of $26K. That's quite a bit. I'd be interested in comparing it to the Ford Explorer, a larger model with more add-ons. However, the sheer gas mileage issue made us opt for the Rav, so I didn't even check Ford's prices. [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]