Amid a pay dispute between itself and the U.K. trade unions, Jaguar Land Rover is considering Turkey and Austria over North America for a new factory.
The Birmingham Post reports plans to locate a factory in North America, and particularly in the United States, were switched to the aforementioned countries due to the negotiations between the automaker and JLR Unite over the autumn of 2014. The talks led to a two-year pay deal, but not before workers threatened industrial action amid accusations by the union of JLR planning to cut £240 million ($370 million USD) from pensions to pay for the deal.
Per a inside source, the automaker is looking at locales where costs are much lower than in the United Kingdom, “and where there is not the same union influence” on the factory floor compared to that in its British factories. The insider adds that Continental Europe is more likely at this point in time, but that nothing was in place thus far.
Automation + Computer Aided Precision Assembly Lines (where one human is now only needed where 10 to 30 used to be) + Billions Competing For Jobs + Governments Competing For Those Jobs With Aggressive Social Subsidizies & Lax Labor/Environmental/Tax/Regulatory Policies + Cheap Rapid Bulk Transportation = JLR, Daimler, BMW, Toyota, etc., etc., increasingly building everything from eco-hatchbacks to luxury & enthusiast vehicles in every emerging nation and even some far-from-emergent ones as soon as they build even a viable, rudimentary grid.
It won’t be long before Nigeria & Algeria are trying to take facilities jobs from The Czech Republic, which took facilities and jobs from Germany.
Darn those pesky unions! Now what outlandish place can we pick for a new factory to
They should just go to Mexico, Europe has proven to us they cannot build a reliable vehicle, whereas Mexico continues to prove they aren’t as bad as they would seem.
How do these firms, collectively, expect to sell anything once everyone has a job stacking shelves?
Is Austria as cheap as Turkey?
Unions helped create the middle class. It’s no coincidence their decline is in parallel with income stagnation. Cue lots of fervid replies…
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“Cue lots of fervid replies…
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How courageous of you…
Corporations created the middle class.
Otherwise back to the guild system of the 19th century.
No, Austria a lot more stable on the industrial relations front
The unions did have a very significant (and I shall add positive) impact on labor conditions during the first third of the 20th century.
The problem with unions, was that once they achieved that, they would not stop there. To appease their base, and prove that union dues they paid would give them something back, they started asking for more and more…until they almost killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.
This problem is not unique to the UAW or the United States, or as in the case of this article, the UK. It has happened all across the world.
I love how the UK is very content to trade unionize itself out of producing anything, and especially cars.
Have the years 1965-1990 taught you nothing?
Some folks never learn. There was a time when it made sense to buy the “first world” product for better materials/assembly etc. But now the third world caught up in mfg and trade unions no longer have this as leverage, so why deal with them?
It was bad management and bad products that sunk Britain in the 60s and then came the 70s’ special problems of two oil price shocks. Then a Tory ideologue called Keith Joseph argued that capital was wasted in sunset industries like car building and heavy industry so among the strategies to speed their closure the unions were weakened. Germany has kept its unions and its heavy industry and has a per capita GDP greater than the UK’s. What worsened things for Britain was a poisonous class division which stymied cooperation between management and trades unions.
@Richard very much agree on that summing up
I long ago posted that when management and workers are from the same country that has class divisions like UK and US, the class divsions will kill the business (such as auto-business). But if management is from class-less society like Japan managing working class in deeply class-conscious society like UK or US, no problem, excellent product, very good working relationship between management and union, a thesis for a PHD.
Surprising fact about Austria, the junior Nazi country is quite successful, the lowest unemployment rate in Europe. They don’t really need the aggravation of a large prestigious car company so Turkey would be more realistic. But who wants to buy a car made in Turkey and at a premium at that?
Have you ever looked into why that might be, Ra_Pro? It would indeed make a really good subject.
But first JLR will have to deal with all those recalled airbags.
Most of your made in germany cars are probably assembled by Turkish labor anyway, why not pay Turkish Turks directly?