WASHINGTON – A bailout-weary Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year’s end.
Republicans, breaking sharply with President George W. Bush as his term draws to a close, refused to back federal aid for Detroit’s beleaguered Big Three without a guarantee that the United Auto Workers would agree by the end of next year to wage cuts to bring their pay into line with U.S. plants of Japanese carmakers. The UAW refused to do so before its current contract with the automakers expires in 2011.
The breakdown left the fate of the auto industry — and the 3 million jobs it touches — in limbo at a time of growing economic turmoil. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have said they could be weeks from collapse. Ford Motor Co. says it does not need federal help now, but its survival is far from certain.
Democratic leaders called on Bush to immediately tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund for emergency aid to the auto industry.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the bill’s collapse “a loss for the country,” adding: “I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight.”
GM said in a statement it was “deeply disappointed” that the bipartisan agreement faltered. “We will assess all of our options to continue our restructuring and to obtain the means to weather the current economic crisis,” the company said. Chrysler, too, said it “will continue to pursue a workable solution to help ensure the future viability of the company.”
Well, GM will soon be out of business. I don’t understand the logic behind the UAW. They would rather lose their jobs than to work for less money?
So stupid, people really think that loaning money to these companies will do anything other than delay the inevitable?
The simple fact is that they aren’t profiting from what they are producing. On the radio this morning they were blaming everyone from the governments in the southern states for subsidizing jap factories, the national government for not taxing jap imports of parts and materials, americans for not buying shitty american cars.
The American People are sheep as we allow the bailout money for Wall Street to be used for shit like increasing federal judges monies and what-was-close-to-be for the auto industry.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the sticking point was the United Auto Workers’ refusal to set a “date certain” to put employees at U.S. auto manufacturers at “parity pay” with U.S. employees at foreign automakers in the United States.
Stupid. So instead of taking a paycut, they would rather lose their jobs altogether?
Here’s my opinion on this whole matter. Agree or disagree, I don’t care. This is where I stand:
The automakers don’t need more money handed to them to fix their problem. They need to find a way to become profitable in the near (as well as distant) future. They need to make money for THEMSELVES, not have it handed to them when they need it. These awful unions either need to step back and stop being so greedy or just go away altogether, even if that means some pay cuts. I’d rather take a paycut over losing my damn job.
I also think people make way too much money now doing simple tasks in the automotive industry that require little to no special needs training. Why pay some jack 80 grand a year to press buttons on an assembly line? Cut his pay, if he doesn’t like it then i’m sure there is some other clown out there that will gladly take that same job for 40 grand a year. (Just an example, of course, but i’m sure you get my idea).
It’s not just the workers, though. GM corporate is way overpaid as well IMO, i’m sure they can give up a few things like their summer home in the hamptons and their private airplanes to save GM as a whole. They need to start making some profitable decisions and not sitting on their asses like they have been for the last 20 years.
they kept saying it on the news today, I think UAW average $72 a year (including benefits and such) and employees of the jap companies in the US average somewhere around $45
and compared to other areas of the same type of industry:
UAW assembler earned 91% more in monetary wages than the average worker in the manufacturing sector, and a UAW electrician earned 123% more in wages than the average manufacturing worker
