Strike at Deere plants in the US, more supply chain shortage to come

[riptides]

Loose lips sink ships.

 

[PuffyC]

As for what the JD workers are doing, how is it not hypocritical for someone to approve, defend or simply shrug and accept the exorbitant compensation increases of a few employees at the top while at the same time finding fault the many at the bottom who are seeking a slightly larger scrap of the pie? Remember we are talking about a publicly traded company where everyone is an "employee", including the CEO.

Simple test: How long will a company be able to operate if the CEO is removed and not replaced? A month or a year or years? Now starting with the lowest paid employee, remove employees until their combined pay equals the CEO's compensation level. Will the company be able to operate at all? If all those workers together are worth more to the company's functioning than the CEO, then the compensation ratio is out of whack. How was it possible that businesses thrived when the CEOs made only 20 times the average worker? Did we forget whatever magic made that workable? Is a ratio of 200:1, 350:1 or even higher really justified today?

This article from 2012 is still valid and does a decent job of explaining the harm to our economy from the out of control compensation just for the few at the top: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ECONOMY: In the 1980s, Greed WAS Good... Then We Went Overboard

{quote}
THE BOTTOM LINE:

Great companies create value for three different constituencies:

• Customers
• Shareholders, and
• Employees

In a well-balanced economy, companies balance the interests of these constituencies: They give customers great products and shareholders a nice return while also providing a good living and rewarding careers for their employees.

Sometimes, however, things get out of balance–and companies focus too much on serving only one constituency.

...... snip.......

But, 30 years later, things have changed completely.

Corporations have become highly efficient, so much so that profit margins have just hit an all-time high.

Meanwhile, wages are at an all-time low, thus starving the economy.

So, it’s time to rebalance the economy again (and preferably not through taxation–it’s better if the private sector solves this problem itself.)"
{end quote}

Regardless of anyone's position on the current state of compensation today, history warns us that when wealth inequity gets too great, revolts occur. History also has plenty of examples of entire societies collapsing, like the Romans for example. The current state of things in America align with the historical end phases of a society. While it doesn't necessarily mean the end is inevitable, it should be a wakeup call that we take seriously, for there is no reason to believe we are any less vulnerable to failure than any of the other failed societies that came before us. We must relearn how to work together for the good of all and address the selfish concentration of wealth before it's too late.

You are right in the end but for all the wrong reasons. All I'll respectfully say is IMHO you don't fully understand what a CEO does, what to takes to get there, the value a good one brings to a company, or why jobs are compensated the way they are.

A revolt will happen but it won't be because our current state of capitalism is broken. It will happen because it's worked far too well and we will be too slow to evolve to the next stage. Then, because humans aren't that smart and we never learn, we'll go back to trying all those other things that we already know don't work and never evolve at all.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Judging people how they act at a bar is not representing the entire membership, it is judging people that sit at a bar. The media will also seek out people at the bar during strikes or plant closings for this reason...to talk to drunk people with loose lips. All the while 98% of the workforce is NOT at the bar and taking care of their family or seeking work. I also worked at union/non-union shops and they all had a small percentage that sit at the bar....all the time.

well.....i wasn't judging the intoxicated gentleman, i've been there and done a lot worse. actually it was like old times back in beer town.

my point was there is plenty of animosity and hatred for employers out there and being in a strong union just kinda loosens their lips.

i've seen it, first hand, for years. i've seen 2 generations, father and son, hate the same employer, briggs.

i hate briggs too but that's because you can't get then to restart!

 

[RickB]

Looks like they came to an agreement.

Not so fast. Rank and file rejected the "agreement" (again).

 

[Cub 7275]

You make some solid points and I hear what you're saying but you also need to take into account it is a high price to pay to become a CEO of a major publicly traded company like Deere. It's many, many years of schooling, training, learning and grooming to get there and then after they get there it's a hell of a lot of responsibility. There aren't many people out there who are really qualified to do such a job. At the same time what I see is the employees have to fight for what they get because if they leave it up to the company the company is always going to give as little as possible. But I think that has always been true and so is life in the free market, capitalist system.

No question a CEO should be well compensated, but when is it too much? And if the job is so demanding nowadays that only four people on earth can do it, maybe it's time the job responsibilities are split up.

Someone posted asking what risks the JD workers are taking to earn higher profits. That same question can be asked of any hired CEO. I have much more respect for the risk a sole proprietor takes with their house on the line than some well educated MBA with a golden parachute.

Keep in mind it's not just the CEOs that are cashing in. The top seven JD employees pulled down a combined $58.4 million dollars in total compensation for 2020. Seven employees shared $58.4 million dollars for one year of work! They didn't start the company. They don't own the company. They are simply the hired help who were compensated for their labor. Are those seven people so uniquely skilled that no other group of people could perform as well as, or better, than them for less cost to the company? Again I'll ask, how was it possible that companies were thriving when CEO's made only 20 times the average worker?

As you well know, money doesn't fall out of the sky. And as with all things, the consumer pays in the end, so when you buy a JD product and grumble about the price, remember that you are paying for those executives lavish compensation packages.

A close relative was a vice president at a Fortune 500 corporation when he retired in the late 1980's. He said the way businesses operated started going sour in the 1970s when MBAs started being put in control. Before that business could be conducted with a handshake. As the superstars of the business world at the time, MBAs shot up the ranks. The joke was that they blamed anything that went wrong in their first 6 months on their predecessors and that they were promoted up the ladder before the negative consequences of their actions became apparent, but there was never any accountability. I guess the MBAs got the last laugh since they control everything and shareholder equity is now the number one priority.

You are right in the end but for all the wrong reasons. All I'll respectfully say is IMHO you don't fully understand what a CEO does, what to takes to get there, the value a good one brings to a company, or why jobs are compensated the way they are.

A revolt will happen but it won't be because our current state of capitalism is broken. It will happen because it's worked far too well and we will be too slow to evolve to the next stage. Then, because humans aren't that smart and we never learn, we'll go back to trying all those other things that we already know don't work and never evolve at all.

I'll admit to understanding very little of this crazy world. I do agree that our form of capitalism is not the root cause of the problems, though I disagree that it has "worked far too well". If it removes a huge number of consumers from marketplace, which then stifles overall growth, how can that be considered as working too well?

Btw, what is the next stage we are supposed to evolve to?

 

[PuffyC]

Keep in mind it's not just the CEOs that are cashing in. The top seven JD employees pulled down a combined $58.4 million dollars in total compensation for 2020. Seven employees shared $58.4 million dollars for one year of work! They didn't start the company. They don't own the company. They are simply the hired help who were compensated for their labor.

I don't know anything about those 7 people or what they do or how long they've been there but in the past 5 years Deere leadership created about 75 billion dollars of additional wealth for shareholders, of which anyone with a few hundred bucks in their pocket can join. Even regular peasants like you and me. How much of that wealth occurred because the person installing tires at the factory was super amazing at their job? No offense if that's your job btw, just using it as an example. You can't just assume that any schmuck can run a large multinational corp and get the same results - most don't and many businesses fail because of it sending thousands to the unemployment line. Depending on how you look at it, those 7 employees are an absolute screaming deal.

Btw, what is the next stage we are supposed to evolve to?

That's the million dollar question. Eventually there will not be enough jobs for all the humans to have one no matter how smart or educated they are. In some ways we're seeing the beginning of that today. There are only so many rocket scientist and Deere CEO jobs that need to be filled, and a lot of smart, capable people will be left fighting for the few remaining server jobs at Chili's, or no job at all. We'll have to solve that problem before it gets away from us but I don't have much confidence we will. All I do know is that it isn't caused by all those evil rich elites in their fancy EVs making their big fat paychecks, and while putting their heads on a pike would surely make a ton of folks feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it won't actually solve any of our problems.

 

[IndyJay]

I don't know anything about those 7 people or what they do or how long they've been there but in the past 5 years Deere leadership created about 75 billion dollars of additional wealth for shareholders, of which anyone with a few hundred bucks in their pocket can join. Even regular peasants like you and me. How much of that wealth occurred because the person installing tires at the factory was super amazing at their job? No offense if that's your job btw, just using it as an example. You can't just assume that any schmuck can run a large multinational corp and get the same results - most don't and many businesses fail because of it sending thousands to the unemployment line. Depending on how you look at it, those 7 employees are an absolute screaming deal.


That's the million dollar question. Eventually there will not be enough jobs for all the humans to have one no matter how smart or educated they are. In some ways we're seeing the beginning of that today. There are only so many rocket scientist and Deere CEO jobs that need to be filled, and a lot of smart, capable people will be left fighting for the few remaining server jobs at Chili's, or no job at all. We'll have to solve that problem before it gets away from us but I don't have much confidence we will. All I do know is that it isn't caused by all those evil rich elites in their fancy EVs making their big fat paychecks, and while putting their heads on a pike would surely make a ton of folks feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it won't actually solve any of our problems.

Funny that there is not this kind of outrage over the salaries and perks of sports figures, Hollywood actors and other performers. But they make the big bucks pretty much for the same reasons. Star players that generate income for the shareholders, which I benefit from with my 401K investments.

 

[PuffyC]

Funny that there is not this kind of outrage over the salaries and perks of sports figures, Hollywood actors and other performers.

Well sure, building 401k retirement wealth is fine if that's your thing, but Beyonce' and Patrick Mahomes actually earn their money. Are you not entertained?

 

[MossRoad]

I think one of the reasons people are hating on CEO's is that if you make even $25 an hour for 40 years that = $2M for a lifetime of work. A CEO that you work for may be bringing in more than your lifetime earnings in just a few months, along with all the perks that go with it. Many people feel that's an unjustifiable amount of compensation, even for a thriving company.

 

[MossRoad]

Well sure, building 401k retirement wealth is fine if that's your thing, but Beyonce' and Patrick Mahomes actually earn their money. Are you not entertained?

Yes, I'm entertained. But not $45,000,000 per year entertained.