Hat-tip to D&S collective member, Dave Ryan (exiled on the West Coast) for two more responses to the claim bandied about in the MSS that auto workers make upwards of $70/hour.
First is this piece from Eric Boehlert at Media Matters for America:
The media myth: Detroit's $70-an-hour autoworker
Click here for the rest of the article.
The New York Times did end up debunking the myth, but it was a couple of days ago in David Leonhardt's often excellent column "Economic Scene". Here is the crucial bit from the column, $73 an Hour: Adding It Up:
Of course, another way to address these costs would be to have universal, single-payer health care.
Dean Baker pointed out, on his blog Beat the Press, the weaknesses in the argument that the high costs of a unionized workforce is to blame for the Big Three's failure: