The United Auto Workers union refused to take a wage cut, and now they wait for Bush to step in and throw money at them. I hope he doesn't , I hope he lets them sink or swim of their volition, they don't deserve a bail out. Years of demanding more and more have clouded their judgement, given them a false sense of entitlement. They can't blame the government, or the economy if they go under. They can only turn to themselves and point an accusatory finger in the mirror. The decision to play their typical stubborn role, to refuse to bend is the death knell of the American auto industry. Even if they survive, even if Bush misappropriated money from the Financial bailout, the American auto industry is dieing. These are hard times, a lot of people are losing their jobs, and when the smoke clears, people are going to remember. They are going to remember that the UAW refused to bend, that they tried to hold the American peoples feet to the flame.
When you come hat in hand, asking for money, then refuse to give anything in return, people remember that, and they resent it. When you scream that the sky is falling, then refuse to give anything yourself, all the while demanding that the rest of the country give , it is a slap in the face, it is a glaring example of greed and self centeredness, and people won't forget it. Any sympathy I might have conjured up for the soon to be unemployed auto workers has evaporated, let them sink or swim on their own, just like all the rest of us. Nobody is throwing money at the out of work people in construction, or the service industry, or in manufacturing, or the laid off writers, or the countless others who are watching their livelihood disappear. But the UAW, on the verge of getting the money they have been begging for, cut off it's nose to spite it's face. They refused to budge, even if it meant losing it all. Expect to see a proliferation of Nissan's and Honda's, and a bunch of greedy people out of jobs, with only themselves to blame.
Showing posts with label UAW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UAW. Show all posts
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Big Three make their plea.
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.
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.
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