Auto Workers More Spoiled Than Lazy, Executives Report

PONTIAC, Mich. —  American auto workers may not take pride in their products, but they’re not lazy, according to an informal survey of auto industry executives.

“Many have a poor attitude about work and building quality and are ‘spoiled’ by strong unions that protect slackers and discourage involvement in problem-solving,” said the Ward’s Auto World magazine survey of 500 automotive engineers, purchasing and corporate officials.

The survey by the monthly auto trade journal was spurred by comments from Japanese government officials who earlier this year criticized U.S. workers as lazy, illiterate and overpaid.

“A disturbingly high percentage of U.S. auto maker and supplier officials--many of whom have direct contact with factory floor workers--agree with at least some of the harshest criticism from Japan,” the survey said.

But 84% of the auto maker officials and 76% of industry suppliers specifically disagreed with the statement that American auto workers are lazy and that 30% of them are illiterate, according to the April issue of the magazine.

Spoiled could better replace lazy, said one of the written comments mailed back to the publication.

The survey respondents, drawn from the ranks of salaried managers, said between 5% and 10% of auto workers are illiterate.

But nearly 40% of the respondents who identified themselves as working for a vehicle manufacturer agreed that illiteracy and laziness among American workers are causing the quality of American-made vehicles to lag. Forty-five percent at supplier companies agreed.

And respondents lambasted the United Auto Workers union for overprotecting bad workers. UAW officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

More than 80% of the respondents said worker absenteeism played a major role in quality; 38% cited absences as a problem in their operations.