Blaming the autoworkers

[dcsmart]

Lee Sustar explains how auto company managers--backed by politicians--are shifting the blame from their own mismanagement onto autoworkers.

AUTOWORKERS WILL take sweeping cuts in their paychecks and the elimination of key union work rules if they vote to accept the terms of concessions negotiated as part of $17.4 billion in government loans to the Detroit Three automakers.

The negotiations were conducted under duress. Under the terms of the government loan granted by the outgoing Bush administration the United Auto Workers (UAW) was prohibited from striking against concessions, which were mandated under terms of the deal.

What's more, retiree health care and pensions would be severely underfunded if General Motors (GM), Chrysler and Ford bosses get their way. According to the government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., pensions at the Detroit Three are $41 billion short of the companies' obligations to workers and retirees.

Now, the companies are trumpeting the UAW's concessions as well as sweeping job cuts in their bid to get further government loans. GM, which plans to close 14 plants in the U.S. over the next three years, wants an additional $16 billion from the government, on top of the $13.4 billion it received in the waning days of the Bush administration.

Chrysler, which took a $4 billion loan in December, wants another $5 billion by the end of March. It plans to cut another 3,000 jobs and further cut production.

The other member of the Detroit Three, Ford, didn't take a government loan, but says it may have to tap a line of credit with the government if its business continues to deteriorate--so Ford is seeking union concessions as well.

The UAW already granted huge concessions in the 2007 contract, which is still in force. Under that deal, the union agreed to allow new hires who work off the assembly lines to be paid just $14 per hour, about half the current rate.

But when the auto crisis worsened dramatically following last fall's financial crash, Detroit Three managers and union-hating congressional Republicans piled on to demand further cuts--making workers pay for decades of bad management by U.S. auto executives.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://socialistworker.org/2009/02/19/blaming-the-autoworkers

[Myrina]

1. I have yet to see any of these companies fire their Executives ...

... the millionaire Executives who's bad strategies ran these companies into the ground.

The millionaire Executives who's salary and compensation packages each could keep 1,000 hourly workers employed.

Once again, they're not being asked to 'sacrifice' a dime: they're protected while shit rains on the rest of us.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. M$M: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The bondholders are using the UAW as a means to get what they want and workers are left out in the cold. Bondholders are using the excuse that if the Union takes 50% stock and 50% cash for the VEBA they want 50 cents on the dollar for their holdings. GM is playing one against the other to get what they want while workers take it on the chin.

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE51D28D20090214?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true

GM, UAW talks break off; Chrysler talks stall

By Kevin Krolicki and Poornima Gupta
DETROIT (Reuters) - Talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp (GM.N) aimed at cutting costs and debt at the struggling automaker have broken down over union concerns about retiree healthcare, a person briefed on the talks said on Saturday.

--snip--

At GM, the UAW negotiators walked away from the bargaining table because of differences over how to pay the health care costs of retirees. No high-level negotiations were underway as of Saturday afternoon, although some working-level discussions continued, the person familiar with the talks said.

"It doesn't seem like the stakeholders are really prepared to give a whole lot," said independent auto industry analyst Erich Merkle. "It's a high stakes game of poker right now."

GM declined to comment directly on the state of negotiations with the union. "We are committed to talks with our stakeholders and to meeting the February 17 deadline," GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said.

snip

The UAW is owed some $20 billion by GM, money pledged to a healthcare trust fund for retirees. It faces demands from the company that it surrender a claim on half of that amount in exchange for stock in a recapitalized GM.

But the union has balked at saddling retired workers with additional risk. GM's bondholders, who are being asked to write off some $18 billion in debt in exchange for GM stock, have also held out for better terms, people briefed on the talks have said.

snip

If GM cannot win agreement from the UAW and creditors to reduce its debt, analysts say the Obama administration will face a politically tough choice: either pump billions of dollars more into the struggling automaker or steer it toward bankruptcy.

The stakes are similar at Chrysler, which faces continued scrutiny over the question of whether it has the scale and cash to survive the deep recession in the U.S. market on its own.

"Talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp (GM.N) aimed at cutting costs and debt at the struggling automaker have broken down over union concerns about retiree healthcare, a person briefed on the talks said on Saturday.

This is how M$M perverts the public's view. Talks broke down "over union concerns". Mr & Mrs Joe Sixpack reads this & curse those "Greedy, lazy, overpaid Union Workers".

[LiberalFighter]

3. Yep!! The UAW has already granted huge concessions.

What concessions have the executives implemented for themselves?

Have they cut their salaries and benefits by 50%?

Have they eliminated all non auto related expenses and plans?