| | From the WSJ: "Democratic leaders in Congress said Tuesday they will push legislation next week to use the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund to bail out Detroit auto makers, and President-elect Barack Obama ordered his transition team to look at ways to aid the car industry even before his inauguration. For Mr. Obama, the crisis in Detroit is turning into an early test of his leadership. Organized labor, including the United Auto Workers, invested heavily in Mr. Obama's campaign." hmmm .. This past June, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised to invest some 250 million into GM's ailing plant in Oshawa, Ontario. This after a 175 million dollar bailout by the Provincial government, and signing of a collective agreement with CAW in which GM promised to postpone the layoff of some 900 people at the Oshawa Truck Plant. GM promptly announced the closure of the Truck plant, resulting in the loss of some 2600 jobs. Now that's called bargaining in good faith. What doesn't get reported is that the CAW refused to accept any significant cuts in wages and benefits for its workers. GM assembly workers currently earn in excess of $60 an hour in wages and benefits. Compared to approximately $30 an hour in comparable Toyota and Honda non unionized plants in Ontario. Compared to more like 30 cents an hour in countries like China. The failure of GM and the concomitant job losses are attributable to several things: union greed, management complacency and the company's failure to foresee the hike in gas prices and the shift to green, the handwriting of which was on the wall many years ago. The writing was certainly big enough for Toyota to see it. So now our governments want to bail out the "ailing domestic auto industry"? Good luck. Firstly, the UAW and CAW will never agree to the dramatic wage and benefits cuts that would restore the competitiveness of the domestic auto makers, and secondly, these companies have proven their mismanagement and shortsightedness by initially agreeing to the ridiculous wages and legacy costs demanded by the unions, and by continuing to churn out gas guzzling trucks and SUV's long after their obsolescence was clearly evident. Obscenely high paying auto jobs are gone. Forever. So unless the Big Three can prove to our governments that they have a plan and a schedule for success, and, more importantly, the unions agree to come to the table and accept competitive market wages, I am totally in disagreement with handing them our tax money . |
| | Posted 11/12/2008 6:20 AM - 117 Views - 8 eProps - 4 comments
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