The Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico, churns out 19,500 shiny new Beetles each month, most of which are sold to American car buyers for around $17,000 each. The plant also produces 3,720 old-style Bugs per month, sold in Mexico for about $8,000 apiece. Do a little math and you'll find that Volkswagen sells about $361,260,000 worth of cars every month. Not bad.
After a considerable struggle -- which included strong-arm management tactics and the eventual walk-out of workers at Puebla -- the workers have finally won a raise. Workers were ecstatic at the 13% raise, which will result in an average hourly pay rate of nearly $2.33. Of course, employers south of the border -- many of whom are American businesses who dumped workers back home for the cheap labor and non-existent safety and health laws of Mexico -- are now concerned that this may be the beginning of a "disturbing trend." I'd say that paying workers $2.33 an hour when you're making over $360 million worth of cars each month is more than a little disturbing itself.