UAW VS EVS -- September 29, 2019

I was planning to do a long essay on this, but I'm no longer in the mood. I might come back to it.

Data point: after landscaping, sector providing most jobs for newly arrived blue collar immigrants -- auto servicing including service stations.

Data point: they don't need us any more. Auto workers fear electric unrest. -- Bloomberg.

Data point: GM moving on.  

Even as General Motors Co. and the United Auto Workers union come closer to resolving their biggest work confrontation in decades, a larger, unsettled issue is the inevitable pain for U.S. workers from GM’s long-range bet on electric cars.

GM’s need to free up cash to invest in electrics has led it to make deep cuts in its core business, including its decision to close four U.S. factories —a main point of friction in the longest walkout at GM since 1970.

For the UAW, there’s no avoiding the harsh reality of a wider transition taking hold across the auto industry: Building electric vehicles requires far fewer workers, making it near-impossible to avoid job losses and wage cuts. In addition, fewer components are needed, and many of them are imported.

For me, there was always a rational component to the EV story and an emotional component.

Sometime in the past two weeks, that emotional component has completely disappeared. I no long "think emotionally" about EVs.

The more I think about all the natural gas that will be required to power all these EVs, the more excited I get. Well, I guess that's an "emotional appeal." Never mind.