The UAW just got what they wanted, they got the chance to publicly say “Screw you management”. They refused wage concessions in every public way, and are now directly responsible for the bankruptcy of the largest automaker in the world, and in history, General Motors. They possible will also be responsible for the failure of the car company responsible for the concept of the assembly line mass production.

For weeks we have listened to the threats and panic statements of the union members and the management of the Big 3 automakers in Detroit. “If you don’t give us BILLIONS of dollars, we will go bust and 10’s of millions of people will be out of work.” The other big splash in the headlines was “Why will you bail out Wall Street but not the blue collar worker?”

Nonsense. The reason why these threats have been bandied about is to scare the general public into calling their elected officials and urging them to vote for the bailout. What needs to happen, and will happen unless Bush continues to be the socialist Republican president, is that the companies need to go into bankruptcy court and get their affairs in order. They need to rewrite all of their contracts with the idea in mind that there will be a cut in production, and that those workers not needed cannot continue to be paid full wages while sitting at home. The production model needs to support the sales model. If people aren’t buying cars, why build them? If you aren’t building the cars, why keep those workers employed?

What is now going to happen is that the UAW members will have to deal with true layoffs, unemployment, the recession, etc. just like the regular, average American. In the past, UAW members that were laid off were allowed to hang out at the union hall or sweep floors at the factory (where they previously worked) sweeping floors. And guess what kind of wages they made? 100% of their previous wages. If they decided to just say screw it and not get out of bed, they got 95% of their regular wages. So much for having to deal with everyday situations. In CO, if you get laid off, the top unemployment check you will get is about $400/week, and that’s ONLY if you made top wages. Starting pay for a newly hired UAW worker, according to the UAW contract, in 2002, was $25/hour or ~$50,000 a year. WOW, those are really good blue collar wages, especially for non-skilled labor. I know many non-union blue collar workers and they are lucky to make $15/hour installing the sheet metal ducts for home heating and cooling systems, ie - home furnaces.

Ron Gettlefinger, the president of the UAW, announced during a news conference on WDIV/CNN, he doesn’t even know what ‘parity’ means when relating to wages with the foriegn car manufacturers in the US. He doesn’t understand what parity is? Parity is $25/hour vs $75/hour. He continues to blame the Republicans who voted against this and says it is their fault.

He also said “How can anyone level criticism on the UAW?” Huh? Where has he been for the past several months. The negotiations that broke down prior to the ‘test’ vote were wage concessions. The Republican caucus wanted the UAW to implement immediate wage cuts - the UAW responded with cuts starting in 2012. All Senator Corker was asking for was a date, any date, in 2009, and Gettlefinger couldn’t even come through with that. (Doesn’t this make you wonder how sincere they were about the other concessions?). From the Senate’s own transcripts:

The Senator from Tennessee is recognized.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I want to express my deep gratitude to Chris Dodd for all the work he has done over the last week, to Senator Durbin who joined us in meetings, and to all the people who have been involved in trying to reach an agreement.

I do want to say this is a highly technical matter. It involved volunteer employed benefit accounts, it involved bonds, it involved all kinds of discussions that were technical in nature. We had the United Auto Workers representative in the room. We had three companies in another room. We were talking to bondholders on the phone. We were certainly talking to our colleagues. We are about three words, three words away from a deal.

What my colleagues wish to see is a date certain when something is going to occur. We offered any date in the year 2009, any date.

Any day. Just when will we actually get there? I think what we have offered is incredibly reasonable. I think there is a way for us to get there. I still do. There are an awful lot of bright people in this room. This is an important issue. We have solved everything substantially, and about three words keep us from reaching conclusion tonight.

Again, we offered any date in 2009. We were not able to get a definitive day. And I think there is still a way to make this happen. By the way, I want to say, if this happens, this is so much better than what is before us on the floor.

These companies are going to be able to go forward with only one-third of the debt level they now have–one-third. They are going to be able to pay half of their VIVA, $21 billion to GM, half of it in stock, so it is not cash. Those companies will be stronger than they have been in 40 years if we are able to reach this agreement or they will be in Chapter 11 because there are date-certain things that have to occur.

He also said there were 3000 entry level workers hired by GM that will now be laid off the first of February. Guess what? Bank of America just laid off 35,000 people, Level 3 laid off 450 people, Anheuser-Busch announced lay offs of 1400 people, CitiCorp will dump 50,000 employees, Goldman Sachs is sending pink slips to 3,260 people. In October, American Express announced it would lay off 7,000 people. Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, KB Toys filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and is closing all of their stores. Linens ‘n Things filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closing 120 stores, and canning 2,500 employee. The list goes on and on and on. The point is that times are tough all over and the UAW, in concert with the Big 3 of Detroit, have refused to acknowledge their business plans are out of sync with the reality of the econimic recession, world wide.

He is also saying that the right-wing of the country has slapped the UAW with the ‘union’ label and shut them down. Yes, why not call a spade a spade. YOU ARE A UNION. He said that even if the union management were to take a dollar a year as compensation like the automakers did, they would still only be 10% of the costs. Well, cut all union wages by 10% and I’ll bet things would have passed last night.

Now, after all of this is said and done, what do we have? Well, we have a union that used strong arm tactics to protect their members. That’s what unions do. That’s the reason unions exist. They exist to get better working conditions, better pay, safer working environments, protection from overzealous employers who might try to fire someone for some illegitimate reason. These are all good things. Well, kind of. Unions were the reason for OSHA being created. It prevented people from dying on the job as just a cost of doing business. That was a good thing. It broke the tradition of a ‘company town’ where the company owned all of the housing in town, owned all of the stores, etc. The company basically owned the employee and his family. That was a good thing. Now the union bargains (if you can use that word) for higher wages, better benefits, etc, and in the case of the UAW, in the complete vacuum and with total disregard for the economy.

In case you think I am union-bashing, take a look here for others with the same opions. (They bring up other points about the government buying Ford and GM outright, for considerably less than what they are asking for bail-out money - around $10.5 billion.)

What can happen now is what should have happened months ago. The Big 3 will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganize. They may borrow money from the government, get back on their feet, and go back to making cars again. But, I’ll bet, the cars that come off the assembly line will be more fuel efficient, better looking, more reliable, and more competitively priced than what we have now. The average person will be able to afford a car easier than affording a house. It won’t take 7 years to pay off a $50,000 pickup truck. They won’t build fuel efficient family cars as an after thought or as a way of getting around the fuel economy regulations that cover for the behemoth SUVs that make them the highest percentage of profit.

The other thing that SHOULD come from this bad situation is the UAW will be more in touch with the economics of the rest of the country rather than their little bubble in Detroit.

Another thing that might come from this is the realization by the American public of the massive influence of the labor unions on politics and law. When we stop allowing money given by PACs, unions, and corporations, embarrassing dirty laundry like this will not have to be aired every time someone’s influence is ignored. I am glad several Republicans decided to stand up and vote for what is right, not what is brow beaten into them. They grew some balls. I have newfound respect for Senator Bob Corker from TN, Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, and Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama for acting as true leaders in blocking this socialist funding of a private enterprise and a corrupt union who is out of touch with reality.

Because I think it is so important to recognize those who stood by their principles, I want to list all of those who voted against this socialistic support of the UAW. All of those who voted against it are:

Also, when you are voted into an office, you are chosen because your constituency thinks you will make a choice. Here is the list of people who couldn’t make up their mind because they may want to run for re-election again, or had something better to do:

Imagine that, neither of the Taxachussetts Brothers voted… THAT’S dedication!

If you want to see who voted and how, check the Senate’s web site here, or a local copy here.

Gardie

Tags: Chrysler, Ford, GM, UAW, union