Lord Cadillac
09-25-07, 02:37 PM
Posted Today 08:35 AM by Angus MacKenzie
Filed under: Editorial, The Big Picture
So the big deal isn't pensions. It isn't even health care. It's job security. UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger wants GM to guarantee not to close any more plants in North America. In other words, he wants a handful of auto workers to have something the rest of us don't have -- a job for life. That's why the UAW's on strike.
You wonder where Gettelfinger and his UAW buddies have been the past 20 years. Didn't they see what happened to this country's steel, airline and consumer electronics industries? And why on earth would they think the auto industry would be any different? The world has changed, guys. Suddenly, it's not 1960 anymore.
Asking GM to keep plants open just to keep UAW workers employed is simply nonsense. In fact, you could argue it's one of the reasons GM kept building out-of-date and uncompetitive products for so many years -- union agreements meant it was often cheaper to keep factories building junk than shutting them down.
The UAW's attitude also reveals a stunning ignorance of the realities of 21st century Detroit. None of Motown's automakers is in great shape at the moment. Chrysler's in post-divorce turmoil, and Ford is mortgaged to the hilt. Even GM, which seems to have turned the corner, is still very fragile. These companies are fighting for their lives, and Gettelfinger wants guaranteed jobs. Go figure.
America needs an auto industry that's fast, flexible, and efficient. The UAW -- irrelevant and out of touch -- is none of these things.
Filed under: Editorial, The Big Picture
So the big deal isn't pensions. It isn't even health care. It's job security. UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger wants GM to guarantee not to close any more plants in North America. In other words, he wants a handful of auto workers to have something the rest of us don't have -- a job for life. That's why the UAW's on strike.
You wonder where Gettelfinger and his UAW buddies have been the past 20 years. Didn't they see what happened to this country's steel, airline and consumer electronics industries? And why on earth would they think the auto industry would be any different? The world has changed, guys. Suddenly, it's not 1960 anymore.
Asking GM to keep plants open just to keep UAW workers employed is simply nonsense. In fact, you could argue it's one of the reasons GM kept building out-of-date and uncompetitive products for so many years -- union agreements meant it was often cheaper to keep factories building junk than shutting them down.
The UAW's attitude also reveals a stunning ignorance of the realities of 21st century Detroit. None of Motown's automakers is in great shape at the moment. Chrysler's in post-divorce turmoil, and Ford is mortgaged to the hilt. Even GM, which seems to have turned the corner, is still very fragile. These companies are fighting for their lives, and Gettelfinger wants guaranteed jobs. Go figure.
America needs an auto industry that's fast, flexible, and efficient. The UAW -- irrelevant and out of touch -- is none of these things.