I think part of that confusion comes from the fact that compensation is modelled differently in the States. In a Toyota plant in the United States, your base rate might be 10% less than a Detroit three base rate, but your variable compensation, if the plant does well, might bring you up to a total compensation of 5% more than the Detroit three total compensation. Your plant has to do well. There has to be a performance element.
If you forget about all that and say, “I just want you to drop to that base rate”, that's not a very sophisticated approach to force people to take. I wonder if when people say they want the Detroit three to drop to the rates of companies like Toyota, they're just cherry-picking a little bit about one situation like that.