Whats up with GM????

[Mike]

Its almost funny that the big 3 are in washington looking for a bailout from the biggest crooks out there, the goverment.

 

[yoda]

As far as bailing out the big three automakers, I say don't do it unless they restructure their labor packages. Why continue to support a system that makes us compete with twice the labor costs of foreign manufacturers? I know there are union members just chomping at the bit to tell me how they are superior but I'll respectfully disagree. It's my opinion that the unions have swung their pendulum way to far. There are lots of unemployed or underemployed workers in the USA who would love to give an honest day's work for less than 1/2 what the UAW currently mandates from the big three. It's only my opinion, and it seldom counts around here but consider it stated.

So, how much carnage could be avoided if the Car makers and Unions could agree to roll back to a halfway point between now and the inception of the union influence on the auto industry to find a middle ground in covering the retired members that have become such a large chunk of the Big 3's operating expenses. I'm not for leaving lifetime workers out in the cold- they have put their hours in and deserve to still be compensated in their retirement, but maybe at a rate that is more feasible in these completely screwed economic times.

Now, stating that, I do not know the current retirement deal that the UAW has for its former employees, but if is anywhere as lucrative as the active worker's plans, it could be substancial. I would hate to think of the 75 year old retiree having to do with less, but if less means no more summer trips to France, well then... But retirement should not put hard working former employees somewhere just above the poverty level, especially when we've heard the amounts that the office kids glean with their golden parachutes.

Once the UAW can get a grip on how much it needs to actually take care of its former work force in a decent way, and the upper management is brought down to a pay scale and benifits program more in tune with their ACTUAL SKILL LEVEL (ie: If you were responsible for driving a company into the ground, you SUCK AT YOUR JOB, and should be paid accordingly), the Union needs to come to a place where their wages are more in line with the world standard compensation for that job... Don't forget- how many MORE of the folks on the line could be replaced with some sort of mechanical device? That, ironically, may come from Japan or China? If the UAW plays the same hardball and falls as far out of favor as the big wigs from Detroit have (or the air traffic controllers did), their roles could pay the penalty that gets doled out by the dimwits in D.C., and NOBODY wins...





Quick, somebody kick this soapbox from underneath me before I type some more....

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

The options are simple:
Restructure all labor costs immediately
or
File Bankruptcy and everybody that ever worked in the UAW loses forever.

It doesn't take a genius. Even I can see this clearly.

 

[Larry]

No one wants to say that the benefits as designed are not sustainable in this economy where the big three are fighting retired union employees , Government mandates and regulation and foreign competition.
And I forgot the oil market manipulation seems to have brought everything to a head just at the right time, imagine that !

Those have to be addressed or throwing more gas on the fire won't fix the problem.
A prepackeged Bankruptcy is the only answer because India and China can't wait much longer to enter our market and buy them out.

China was scheduled to enter with help from Soros back in 2007 but sales were so brisk in Asia they didn't have enough product.

Now they are waiting like vultures to pick up the bones of our Icons.
Where is the leadership to keep throwing money away without fixing the problem that started it.
And that goes for the Loan and Banking industry too.