I won’t start defending the boneheads at the leadership level of the ‘big 3’ automakers for some of their decisions, but to hear the United Auto Workers Union is now complaining that the bailout bill is too harsh is really getting my goat.
Should the bailout not have gone through, or been accepted by GM or Chrysler, thousands on UAW workers would have been out of work for some period, or maybe permanently. Yes, some will lose their jobs now, but to complain about a cushioned blow is a little ridiculous, and really speaks volumes to the lack of need for most unions in today’s workplace.
I would have liked to see the bailout stall, and watch the unions try to explain their value to people when the companies they held for ransom, and milked for so many years finally folded under their and the union’s stupidity.
Filed under: Bailout, Politics, Stupidity Tagged: | Auto, Bailout, Chrysler, Conservative, Democrat, Ford, General Motors, GM, Independent, liberal, Libertarian, moderate, Politics, republican, UAW, Union, United, Workers
I think the real thieves are the ones handing out the money as that money is not willingly given by a majority of the people with it.
I find it funny/sad that Big Three executives were forced to ride in hybrid cars as opposed to private jets as a result of an “image problem,” but the UAW was not forced to drop it’s embarassing luxuries, such as their frivolous benefits program that pays people not to work.
Who are the real thieves here?
Haha, on a “roll.”
You’re on a roll Loudelf. Once again, I have to agree with you, well at least 99%.
I’ve only heard one semi-logical rationale for the bailout: to postpone the inevitable until a time when the economy is strong enough to absorb it. I try to remain optimistic, heck I’d love to see these American giants back on their feet – I certainly don’t wish for them to fail. However, seeing that the behavior of the management and union workers hasn’t changed a single bit I have no reason to believe this money will be put to good use – I’d let them crash and burn. It’s like my wife who’s in human resources always says: she doesn’t fire anybody, they fire themselves. The same applies here – they’ve done it to themselves.
I do feel that in certain situations unions have their place. For instance in companies with extremely poor high level management where workers are still taken advantage of and the only people trying to educate them on labor law issues is the union. That being said, I agree that the vast majority of unions today have strayed far from their original intent and are now as greedy and corrupt as any of the robber barons they sought to protect themselves from.
Bailout for a company (GM) under a unions thumb! Hell NO!! Every single postion in GM should get a cut in pay of some sort, from the CEO on down! For the Union not to offer any kind of concession is ludicrous. This week every single worker in the union will be receiving a very(!) good size ‘bonus’ from a company that is literally dying!! Now how is that fair to the people who will be payinng back this loan…..since you know they won’t be able to pay it back themselves. Aren’t bonuses supposed to be paid out when business has been good!? It’s not something that they should be ‘entitled’ to. This bailout was a HUGE mistake! GM is just holding back the inevitable results of many years of bad management and overwhelming demand and concessions to the out of contol unions!!!