UMKC The Take It or Leave It Offer by General Motors Company Discussion

The question:Read the two short pieces (you can answer all or answer one in detail)

What was the take-it-or-leave-it offer by the G.M. before the strike? Why do you think workers and their unions rejected the offer and went on strike, knowing they would receive nothing or much less compared to their previous wage during the strike? How did the story reflect the power balance between the “players” (workers/unions and the firm) in this ultimatum game (rounds of contract negotiation)? What economic rules or institutions governing employment did the G.M. story imply? What allocation outcome can you think of that may come about if we change the “rule of the game”, by implementing “guaranteed employment” in a post-pandemic world, as some of the European countries are already doing in the pandemic? How would you evaluate the outcome from the pandemic economy in terms of the “guaranteed unemployment” or the potential outcome from the alternative rule/institution (“guaranteed employment”)?

Your original post should be at least 100 words and use correct spelling and grammar. It is due Thursday, March 11. Once you have submitted yours, read and respond to at least one peer’s post. The response post should be at least 50 words and it is due Sunday, March 14.

There’s definitely no “right” or “wrong” answer to these questions. Your participation here, in a respectful manner, is crucial!

Respond to those two with 50 words at least.

1-

The workers and their unions rejected the offer General Motors gave them and went on strike because they believed the offer they were given was unfair. In the General Motors article the company was going bankrupt. The workers and tax payers had to pay the cost of keeping the company going. The only problem with this was after the company was up and running again, they did not want to share the profits with the workers. The workers decided to strike to make the offer more fair. The article mentioned that the biggest reason for striking was the wage system. There were people making less than others while working the same job.

2-

When reading the G.M. Workers article, I am shocked and appalled at the way people were treated. I understand why they went on strike because the offer they were given was absolute garbage. I am thrown off that they are able to offer less than minimum wage in order to do this. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy, so they needed these people in order to help make profit so they wouldn’t go bankrupt. In this case, they needed the workers more than the workers needed to work. By going on strike, they give General Motors a bad look because of the exploitation they were doing to these workers. It was in General Motors best interest to come up with a way to make sure these employees were getting paid or else the outcome would have been worse. I don’t know if we can ever “guarantee” someone’s employment because of how the economy works and such, but I feel like there is always something that can be done to help.