Excerpt from an email sent by Soldiers of Solidarity’s I. S. Bill Hanline: “Lastly, the money for these programs came from somewhere. The automakers did not out of the kindness of their hearts offer job income security to us workers. There had to be a trade off. In other words we gave up something for those benefits and if I remember right it was the Annual Improvement Factor (AIF) that we gave up in exchange for lump sum payments during each contract period from 1984 to present time that paid for those benefit programs. We were told in each contract how much money would be put in the trust for our SUB and JOBS programs. Problem with that is there never was as much money placed in those trust as the union announced during the ratification of all those agreements. Instead during the life of those agreements the Union agreed to allow the automakers to pay as they went, instead of fully funding the trust, this is what caused any shortfall of which in turn placed a bigger burden on the automakers cash flow during times when they had to pay members their contractual benefits. That is the main reason for the automakers dilemma today. Senator Corker and Shelby need to be reminded of this fact and they should also inquire with the foreign automakers in their state they might find out that those automakers have income security programs vary much like the programs they want UAW members to give up.”
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In a way, Michelle Bachman was right…there are some very anti-American people in office.
Problem is, they are mostly in her own party.
I hope BArack Obama totally bucks the critics and helps the auto industry, just like Japan and Germany and the Swiss and the Swedes.
The workers here in America as well as the auto companies NEED National Healthcare just so we can compete with Asia.
Don’t read to much into this UAW article. In plain English it basically says:
THE BAILOUT FAILED SO THAT THE POLITICIANS COULD BREAK THE UNIONS.
@Flashpoint:
Don’t read to much into this UAW article. In plain English it basically says:
THE BAILOUT FAILED SO THAT THE POLITICIANS COULD BREAK THE UNIONS.
I could not see what would be wrong with breaking up a established criminal gang interwinded to politics- unless I’m a mobster myself.
I could not see what would be wrong with breaking up a established criminal gang interwinded to politics- unless I’m a mobster myself.
What a bunch of nonsense.
“The workers here in America as well as the auto companies NEED National Healthcare just so we can compete with Asia.”
Sorry but the UAW will never accept National (socialized) Healthcare. As someone on another blog stated, the government will offer a Chevy Aveo of a health insurance program while the UAW currently has Cadillac (actually a Mercedes) health insurance. Why would they want to trade a Caddy for an Aveo? They will somehow exempt themselves and the D3 will continue to pay for it.
Why does everyone in this drama have to be either a hero or a villain?
The southern Senators are acting in the best interest of their constituents just like the northern Senators. The UAW is not a criminal gang. Big 3 management is not evil because they didn’t foresee this problem.
The problem is there was never enough incentive for anyone to step in and grab the wheel before this thing hit the iceberg. Everyone was just maintaining the status quo because the status quo was working for them.
I’m sure there are people within the big 3 and the UAW who saw that eventually demographics would catch up with them and retiree costs would bring them down. Heck, Walter Reuther saw the problem with individual companies taking on the burden of health care and pensions.
The villain in all of this is inertia.
Opinion: A Memo to the UAW From the Taxpayer
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/investing/10453229.html
That article pretty much nails it.
The UAW is proceeding in bad faith, 30 or 40 years ago the auto workers were mostly skilled tradesmen. This is no longer the case, most everything is CNC controlled and machine assisted, the workers are largely unskilled labor that can easily be replaced with minimal training and they expect to be paid as professionals when no one else is.
The techs at dealers that have to diagnose and repair the UAW’s fu^(ups make a small fraction of the wages of the entitlement whores that assemble them, while performing a job that requires more training, responsibility and ability to think.
Flashpoint, the Unions are the ones that are anti-American, unless socialism is apart of your definition.
Slushbox, thanks for the link… http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/investing/10453229.html
I am sure Mr. Hanline is right. The union members got ripped off. Of course, the bond holders got ripped off, the stockholders got ripped off, the dealers got ripped off (at least they gave as good as they got), the customers got ripped off … The list could go on for quite a while.
They are all victims. So?
They Detroit 3 have failed. Comprehensively, epically, and with extreme prejudice.
The only question is what do with the bodies, and with their old stuff.
There is no way that that garbage is worth what they paid for it, and it won’t be near enough to pay everybody who got ripped-off back what they got ripped-off for.
Not only that, but if we went and dug up everyone who ever wore a suit, and cleaned them, their heirs and their pet monkeys out for every cent they ever got from the Detroit 3, it wouldn’t add a half cent to the pot.
So. Here is the deal: we will sell everything to the highest bidder, no matter how funny he looks, talks, or smells. And, we will pass the proceeds (after fees and expenses, rent the hall, pay the auctioneer, etc.) to all of the folks that got ripped-off pro-rata to the amount they got ripped -off for.
The line for claims, forms on the left. Please pick up a claim form and fill it out neatly, in ballpoint, so the triplicate can be read, and give it to the form to lovely Mrs. Pennington at the head of the line. She will stamp copy number 3 the pink carbon with your receipt number. Please keep the copy and the number so we can resolve any future questions or difficulties.
And, one more thing. Please stop whining. Mrs. Pennington, and I, have heard it all before, we know you have a sad story and the Detroit 3 ripped you off, but taking time to listen to your stories is just going to delay our work and slow down your payment.
The biggest problem the republicans have isn’t politics. After all, their politics don’t differ much from the democrats. Both care about wall street and their respective special interest groups and nobody else. The republicans problem is image. And taking advantage of a massive economic crisis to try and destroy the UAW makes them look like *jerks*.
Gee,
Corporate mangement raiding the pension funds or failing to fully fund their obligations?
I’m shocked….SHOCKED!
I’m sure it’s the UAW’s fault, somehow….
AG: “taking advantage of a massive economic crisis to try and destroy the UAW makes [the republicans] look like *jerks*.”
There’s no need to blame anti-union feelings for unwillingness to approve Detroit’s request. The D3 have what is called a “structural deficit.” That is, even in normal times their business model is broke. Reformed compensation packages for workers and benefits for retirees are essential element of the fundamental restructuring necessary for even a hope of viability. (That is, necessary but maybe not sufficient. )
This is an inadmissible truth for Michigan’s senators, but not for someone who doesn’t depend on UAW votes. I suspect that even Michigan politicians know in their hearts that handing over bailout money is just a very temporary stopgap.
In a strange way Senator Corker was trying to save the UAW. Only if they get competitive does Detroit have a chance of surviving. If they don’t, Detroit will fail and the UAW will be gone forever.
Re: Memo to the UAW from a Taxpayer
Did anyone bother to check who the author was?
He’s a hedge fund manager!
I’m sure that his taxpayer share of the proposed Detroit 3 bailout will prevent him from trading in his 2008 Ferrari on a 2009…(or not)…;-D…
Eric_Stepans:
Who cares, all of his points are valid.
Honestly he said it all a lot nicer than I can as a someone that works 10-12 hours a day, has college and professional degrees, and makes half what a UAW worker makes in pay and benefits, yet is expected to bail the UAW worker’s ass out.
Like the article says, a union should hustle as much money as it can from a company, but if, like the UAW, it drives the company bankrupt don’t come crying to the taxpayers.
The workers here in America as well as the auto companies NEED National Healthcare just so we can compete with Asia.
So do the Honda workers in Ohio get healthcare from the Japanese gov’t? I don’t think so. They have health insurance under a group plan from a private insurance company just like the vast majority of Americans. It probably isn’t as “Cadillac” as the GM health plan, but I’m sure it’s better than the one I have from corporate America. It’s a joke to directly blame healthcare for Detroits problems. Even counting legacy costs doesn’t excuse the mediocre product they are so fond of manufacturing.
The UAW is trying to save face since the public is now becoming wise to their crock of a jobs bank. Well, even if they “gave up” something, the truth is they are still paid more than most Americans for an unskilled job. (I’ve toured assembly UAW assembly plants and the special needs crowd could easily work there.)
The UAW workers should be happy the party has lasted long as it has. I’m sure the ever growing class of unemployed have very little sympathy that UAW member “gave up” something over 20 years ago.
@No slushbox:
A hedge fund manager should hustle as many CDOs and other Ponzi schemes as he can, but when it all collapses, he shouldn’t come crying to the taxpayers (especially for 30 times as much as the auto companies are asking to receive)….;-D..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_term_capital_management#1998_bailout
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Illinois_National_Bank_and_Trust#FDIC_rescue
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom
@200k-min
I’m sure a dead guy could have done Alan Fishman’s job for 3 weeks until JPMorganChase
bought out Washington Mutual. WaMu could have survived on bureaucratic inertia for that long.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Fishman
What special “skill” did he bring to the table that made his services worth $20 million?
Yet UAW workers making a decent living bothers you?
Nope. No class warfare going on here…;-D…
craigefa:
I’m sure there are people within the big 3 and the UAW who saw that eventually demographics would catch up with them and retiree costs would bring them down….
The villain in all of this is inertia.
Inertia. Spot on. As someone who grew up in (and currently resides in) a UAW town, it’s hard to describe the parochial head-in-the-sand mentality of domestic auto workers (and many dealers). Or the subtle social pressure to buy a large domestic vehicle (and finance a new one) every few years if you’re ‘lucky enough’ to have a good job.
Sorry Detroit. You had your chance – a hard look at the transplants would have shown you a clear path… But everyone involved (labor, management, government), took the easy path.