I've kept my cake hole shut over the recent plea for money from the Big Three automakers. But a short story on Fox 4 has annoyed me enough to open my yap. Fox 4 did a little sound byte with a lady who was either retired from one of the local plants, or still employed. When the off camera reporter apparently asked this lady about the workers giving up a little to keep the plants running, she emphatically replied that the workers had no more to give, and that we the taxpayers should do more for them. Now that's not a direct quote, but that's the gist of it. And it is that type of attitude that is partly to blame for the downfall of the American auto industry. The blame doesn't entirely rest with the UAW and it's members, so I'll be sure and spread the wealth. But first, back to little Miss We Can't Give More.
I'm not anti Union, my father was a Teamster, my brother is a Teamster, I was a Teamster, unions are good, mmmkay. But never in the history of Unions has there been a more greedy , whiny bunch than the UAW and it's members. When the per hour cost of an Auto worker is nearly triple that of the average worker, then that is a problem. When you can be laid off,yet still receive 95 percent of your pay, that is a problem, when you have a benefit package and pension that is helping break the company employing you, it's a big fucking problem. More importantly, and what really got me going is that UAW members were walking a picket right here in KC, less than a year ago, or there abouts, demanding more, now you want the taxpayers, most of whom make way less, to "Loan" you money. Now that is a huge fucking problem. But I feel ya, Miss Lady on TV, because the rest of us don't have any more to give either. Now write that on a day glo sign and go walk around with it.
The morons who run the Big Three are another part of the problem. You ass hats had the gumption to fly to Washington, in corporate jets, and ask for money. Oh, and you didn't have a plan, just your hands out. So now, you are heading back to capitol hill, hat in hand, driving hybrid cars, spouting rhetoric about how the sky will fall and the world will end if you don't get 40 billion. That's 15 billion more than you were asking for a couple of weeks ago by the way. You even used the D word, claiming the collapse of the Auto industry could put the country in a depression.
The auto industry in America has been churning out gas guzzlers, while the Asian car market has grown by putting out a product that is economical. The price of a decent American made car has risen to the point, that the average American can't afford one anyway. Now all of a sudden you clowns are promising to promote new technology, more fuel efficiency, and tightening of the purse strings. That's all well and fine, unfortunately it's also shit that you should have been doing all along. You say,"it's a loan, not a bailout", but how do we know you will survive to pay it back?
if the price tag jumped 15 billion in a couple of weeks, it begs the question, "how can we be sure you will survive to repay the loan"?
Look, it's a fuckin shame when an industry goes down the tubes, just ask the people in construction who lost jobs when the building boom went south. By the way, nobody bailed out the builders, the lumber industry, the construction workers, the building material industry, etc. The UAW and it's members have been sucking at the tit of the big three, for a really long time. It's time to wipe off your chins, pull the nipple from your mouths, and get ready to make more concessions, get ready to give till it hurts, then give some more, that's what the rest of us are doing. And we are doing it without pensions, without fat wages, without health insurance. In other words, welcome to the real world. If the makers of sub par cars go under, it will be bad, it will hurt a lot of people, but it wont be the end of the world. In the meantime, you might want to dust off those picket signs from last year, maybe scribble "will work for 75 percent of regular pay" on them. And you should definitely tell your members, like the lady on TV, to shut the fuck up with the we cant give anymore routine. It pisses the rest of us off.
Looks like you're past your writer's block!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're over your writer's block.
ReplyDeleteLast night on television they showed this guy who lived in Florida and was an ex-real estate agent who was either going to get a bail-out or file bankruptcy. He said given the economic conditions, he quit paying his mortgage three months ago. Now, while they are filming this interview with the guy, he was cleaning his pool, which was next to his tennis court, which was in the back yard of his lovely home furnished inside with all modern day bells and whistles ... looked like at least a 400K home by Kc standards.
And, I'm supposed to feel sorry for this guy? I'm supposed to want to give him some of my tax money to bail him out? I'm supposed to keep on paying my mortgage without any government help so people like him can have a healthy swim every morning?
People are pissed about the GM bailout because they can identify with it just as people watching the guy I was talking about above can identify with him. Most of us don't get the GM benefits. Most of us don't live in a 400K house. Yet we're supposed to pay for them to sustain that lifestyle? What's fair about that? We're MAD.
Obama sure has inherited one hell of a mess to deal with. I have to admit I was not happy with his plan to redistribute the wealth but any more I say WTF, it's already being redistributed right now every day all day by all the clowns in Washington who are supposedly our leaders and representatives, republicans and democrats alike.
What about a bailout for those of us who were broke before the economy went south? Yes, I live in a house. A fairly nice one, by some standards, but nothing that says "opulence" about it. My furniture is all Walmart and yardsale crap. And you know corrections officers are pretty much the lowest paid state employees and this state pays the least of any other in the country. I've got a jar I've been saving pennies in for a few years. Obama can "redistribute" that. Other than that, I have nothing more to give, either.
ReplyDeleteA lot of "big" companies in major industries are guilty of choking their golden goose. TH]hinking short term about getting what they could out of their customers, they were totally unprepared for a modest downturn in the economy (let alone what we got).
ReplyDeleteLet me be clear tho, that Unions are "big business" as well in my opinion. The UAW may be the best known example but union members in my industry have a pretty sweet deal, and whenever it is time to negotiate they want more. I understand, nobody wants LESS for goodness sake. But when you make more in take home than a large percentage of the populace, don't have a monthly fee for any health benefits, get GOOD guaranteed raises every year of the contract (no matter your performance),and are guaranteed job offers in other departments if yours closes I do not feel sorry for you.
For 30 years, the Japanese have made cars that consistently run for 200,000 miles. The American auto industry still can't make a four cylinder engine that's worth a crap. I have friends who own American cars. It's always the same.
ReplyDelete1. Blown head gasket at 80,000 miles.
or
2. Transmission failure at 80,000 miles
Oh, and you can't afford the repairs? That's OK, you can't trade it in on another. See you again in 3 years.
Most people buy American cars because they have less than perfect credit. The Japanese car companies have (or had) so much business, they could afford to be picky on who they gave credit to.
Too bad they didn't outsource the executive postions to India. Maybe they would be in this mess now.
You *can* trade it in on another. Trying to type too fast...
ReplyDeleteI own a Ford and have no problems with it, but I bought it because it was cheaper not because I somehow need to buy american, and it's built in mexico so maybe that's why it's better than average. before that i had a plymouth that had 3 transmissions replace before i gave up on it. no one has more sense of entitlement than union workers and i would know because i am one, although not a member. no matter if they think their demands are justified (and they use ceo pay as one reason) most people don't feel sorry for them. i read that the number of uaw workers in job banks is down to 3500, that's the people who are paid for doing nothing for years. and they should stop calling each other brothers because they hate each other's guts. union president makes ceo- level pay.let it die.
ReplyDeleteI work in the newspaper industry and talk about an industry in failure. We're going down the tubes faster than the Big 3 so where's our "bailout?"
ReplyDeleteI have always owned a Toyota and will always continue to. The very first car I could buy on my own, I went car shopping and test driving all makes and models and I personally felt then as I do now, American cars are crap.
ReplyDeleteMake them cut back and actually put out a superior car to survive. Just like any business has to.
We have an evil chevy astro van that has needed two fuel pumps, a transmission and two alternators and it's only at 100k. Actually it's waiting on the 2nd fuel pump, won't get it until Jan. Right now we drive the little Hynudai that is at 80K and has never given us a days problem. If the astro breaks one more time it goes to the scrap metal heap in the sky.
ReplyDeleteIf the auto makers wanted to stay in business they should try making a BETTER PRODUCT. It wouldn't hurt the workers to scale back a bit too if they want to keep their jobs. How about accepting a teacher's salary for the next couple of years. If it's good enough for the people in charge of our children day in and day out then it should be good enough for anyone. Politicians, CEOs and autoworkers too.