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Foreign automakers pay from $38 to $65 per hour to non-union workers

As leaders for the United Auto Workers gather in Detroit for their Special Convention on Collective Bargaining to work out the negotiating stance for this year's new labor agreements with the Detroit 3 automakers, what they most want to do is figure out how to eliminate the two-tier wage scale. However, the lower Tier 2 wage has allowed the domestic automakers to reduce their labor costs, hire more workers, and compete better with their import competition. As it stands, per-hour labor rates including benefits are $58 at General Motors, $57 at Ford, and $48 at Fiat-Chrysler – a reflection of FCA's much greater number of Tier 2 workers. The Center for Automotive Research released a study of labor rates (including benefits) that put numbers to what the imports pay: Mercedes-Benz pays the most, at an average of $65 per hour, Volkswagen pays the least, at $38 per hour, and BMW is just a hair above that at $39 per hour. Among the Detroit competitors, Honda workers earn an average of $49 per hour, at Toyota it's $48 per hour, Nissan is $42 per hour, and Hyundai-Kia pays $41 per hour. The lower import wages are aided by their greater use of temporary workers compared to the domestics. Automotive News says the ten-dollar gap between those foreign camakers and the domestics turns out to about an extra $250 per car in labor, which adds up quickly when you're pumping out many millions of cars. That $250-per-car number is one that, come negotiating time, the Detroit 3 will want to reduce, as the UAW is trying to raise both Tier 1 and Tier 2 wages. Another wrinkle is that the domestic carmakers are considering the wide adoption of a third wage level lower than Tier 2. Some workers who do minor tasks like assembling parts trays kits and battery packs already make less than Tier 2, but the UAW will be quite wary about cementing yet another wage scale at the bottom of the system while it's trying to fight a bigger battle at the top. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req., BloombergImage Credit: AP Photo/Erik Schelzig Earnings/Financials UAW/Unions BMW Chevrolet Fiat Ford GM Honda Hyundai Kia Mercedes-Benz Nissan Toyota Volkswagen labor wages collective bargaining labor costs

Mustang pinball game will feature art by Ford GT designer

To celebrate 50 years of Mustang, Ford and Stern Pinball are collaborating on a new pinball machine that will feature the muscle car in all its glory, Polygon reports. Even better, Camilo Pardo, the guy who designed the Ford GT, will provide art for the table; Tanner Foust, Top Gear USA host and professional driver, will handle narrating duties; and a Sony Music soundtrack spanning five decades will provide the tunes.
"The Mustang is one of the most iconic, American cars ever made... What better way to celebrate 50 years of Mustang than with the launch of the Ford Mustang pinball game?" says Stern Pinball CEO Gary Stern.
Watch the promotional trailer for the upcoming Mustang pinball machine below, which will have to hold you over until pricing and availability are announced in early 2014.

Aussie Ford Falcon GT shows its rear end to Lamborghini Gallardo

When Ford Australia announces, as it did recently, that it wants to celebrate the end of its Ford Performance Vehicle division with a Falcon FPV GT-F that celebrates big-bore origins of the nameplate, it's talking about the kind of car in this video.
At some point the classic Falcon GT - said to be an XY series - was invited to a test of acceleration against a Lamborghini Gallardo. At the very least, the Falcon GT had a 351 cubic-inch motor and 300 horsepower, but whatever this guy's got under the hood of his yellow sedan makes has him so confident that he doesn't even move his elbow from its resting place on the door.
You'll find a reminder of Ford Australia's heyday, a raucous exhaust note and some NSFW language in the short video below.