Sure, why not, especially if that's what it takes to get the parasitic UAW off their backs.

Mitt Romney has a good piece on this issue.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11...n/19romney.html?_r=2

The whole thing strikes me as opportunistic. As soon as the three of them heard about the $700B, they showed up in Washington claiming it would be in everyone's best interests to divert a few billion their way.

I don't believe these stories about the auto industry disappearing. People are still driving cars, and every so often, those cars need to be replaced. If the companies themselves went under, their stockholders and unsecured creditors would lose out, but cars would continue to be made in the same plants by the same workers -- but under new ownership.

My take on this is as follows:
Demand that any company that takes bailout money or emergency government loans limit the wage of their management to $ 1 million, including bonuses -- until the money is paid back in full. And, yes, that includes the partners of Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions.

It�s time for management to get to work!
Once the CEOs and overpaid managers are willing to do real work, without a bloated compensation, then one can discuss the UAW.

The main problem here, is not the United Auto Workers, but managers and decision makers who have made the wrong decisions for decades. They have failed to innovate! They have produced huge numbers of gas-guzzling SUV�s, making America evermore dependent on foreign oil, when they should have been making the Car of the Future.

For starters, they could embrace the principles of W. Edwards Deming
-- the man who more than any other contributed to the success of Japanese auto makers. A quality-conscious American whose ideas the automakers of Detroit ignored.

From Derek: If the companies themselves went under, their stockholders and unsecured creditors would lose out, but cars would continue to be made in the same plants by the same workers -- but under new ownership.

You're thinking that Toyota or someone else would buy the plants? They're equipped to make GM vehicles, so how would that work?

From HP: The main problem here, is not the United Auto Workers, but managers and decision makers who have made the wrong decisions for decades. They have failed to innovate!

GM makes more different kinds of vehicles that rate over 30 mpg than any other auto-maker. Until two years ago, there was little demand for these, so they sought to please the markets. Their main problem is that their costs for doing business are much higher than Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc., largely because of labor/UAW. The average GM employee earns around $75 an hour while the average Toyota employee earnes $47 -- not a bad wage (way more than I make!). Toyota can do this because they aren't unionized; GM, Ford and Chrysler have the blood-sucking UAW hung around their necks and can do very little to reduce expenses.

Read the Romney article cited above:

quote:

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota�s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product � it has $2,000 more put into it.

That's on the UAW, about which Romney also has some good advice. Check out the article.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil:
[qb] You're thinking that Toyota or someone else would buy the plants? They're equipped to make GM vehicles, so how would that work?[/qb]

In the same was as Daimler bought Chrysler but kept the Chrysler plants, brands and models. But things are changing very quickly. Who knows what will happen. I read a story on CNN this morning about auto dealerships with no customers at all. Sales are down 80%.