January 5, 2006 Net Report

I'd like to thank all the stations that checked in to the FIRST net of 2006, and, as always, a special thanks to W6NVY for playing the Newline Report and for the repeaters!

Two things before I get to the the Trivia Question:

First, Amateur Radio communicators are needed for the Los Angeles Marathon which takes place on Sunday, March 19th. You can find out more and sign up at here.

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Trivia Question:

On January 5th 1814, The Ford Motor Company announced an 8-hour work day and set a minimum wage for a day's labor.

What was the daily minimum wage set by Ford in 1914?

A) $4 per day
B) $5 per day
C) $6 per day

Trivia Answer:

B) $5 per Day

In 1914 the Ford Motor Company announced that it would henceforth pay eligible workers a minimum wage of $5 a day (compared to an average of $2.34 for the industry) and would reduce the work day from nine hours to eight, thereby converting the factory to a three-shift day.

Overnight Ford became a worldwide celebrity. People either praised him as a great humanitarian or excoriated him as a mad socialist.

Ford said humanitarianism had nothing to do with it. Previously profit had been based on paying wages as low as workers would take and pricing cars as high as the traffic would bear. Ford, on the other hand, stressed low pricing (the Model T cost $950 in 1908 and $290 in 1927) in order to capture the widest possible market and then met the price by volume and efficiency.

Ford's success in making the automobile a basic necessity turned out to be but a prelude to a more widespread revolution. The development of mass-production techniques, which enabled the company eventually to turn out a Model T every 24 seconds; the frequent reductions in the price of the car made possible by economies of scale; and the payment of a living wage that raised workers above subsistence and made them potential customers for, among other things, automobiles--these innovations changed the very structure of society.

In 1926, General Motors Corp. unveiled its stylish Chevrolet while Ford was still churning out the aging Model T. By the time Ford unveiled an upgraded Model A, GM was already on course to overtake Ford in total sales.

The Model A helped sustain Ford through the Great Depression of the 1930s, although the company lost about $68 million a year through that period and reduced its famous $5 a day wage to $4. Many other companies folded.

By 1935, Ford had raised its minimum wage to $6 a day. That hike also was part of an effort to head off union organizing efforts that were challenging the company and turning ugly.

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Once again, a lot of folks got the answer correct! (I'm just going to have to start making the questions harder...) Here's a list of stations that checked-in to the net and a * after the name indicates those who answered the question correctly. Congratulations!

Check In's to the Net:

• AC6AJ Lee
• WB6ATV Ron *
• KE6CZH Robert *
• K6FCC Khalil *
• KF6GKR Terry *
• KB6IS Madeline *
• KE6IYC Brian *
• KD6JEV John *
• N6KAS Andy
• WA6KFI Rick
• KG6KTC Leon
• NY6L Jay
• K6LMN Roger *
• K6LMS Bill
• W6NVY Gary *
• KG6NWJ Berry
• KF6PIH Scott *
• K6QVZ Joe
• KG6RDA Sidney *
• KG6TRR Bob *
• WA6USL Murray
• KF6YBM Henry
• KF6ZQM Harry *
• N6ZZK Ted *
• K6MJB John *
• N6HY Ernie
  
• AG6NCU Walt *
• K6MSU Ron