The Elephant in the Room

No, not me. I'm talking about the union complicity in the bankruptcy of the big three automobile makers. Not satisfied with the $25,000,000,000 of OUR money to "retool their factories so they can make more fuel-efficient vehicles" they are now demanding that we throw ANOTHER $25,000,000,000 into their coffers.

Schemes such as the UAW program, called the Jobs Bank at GM have contribitued to their downward spiral. This program provided nearly full pay for laid-off workers while they waited for new jobs. Great work if you can not get it.

High labour costs are part of the reason for the problems. "UAW members' generous pay and benefits have gained them a reputation as the aristocracy of the US labour movement. Much of GM's debt was taken on in the early part of the decade to finance its blue-collar pension plan."

They have also refused to allow the auto industry any flexibility to change and have been with the manufactures in a fight against moves to increase mileage on newer models.

Union production workers are paid around $27 an hour (skilled tradespeople make evenmore), but non union workers do the same job for $14 an hour.

I will admit the auto executives are not totally blameless in this mess as George Will points out this morning.

Nothing," said a General Motors spokesman last week, "has changed relative to the GM board's support for the GM management team during this historically difficult economic period for the U.S. auto industry.

Boy that pretty much sums up the reasons for not helping them out.

Now the Democrats insist that we help them out!!!!

I'm Just Saying - they made their own bed.