UAW might be own worst enemy

I get the last vote on Detroit Detroit automakers have been brought to the brink of destruction by bad management and the UAW, which has created deadly competitive disadvantages for Detroit that make it impossible for Detroit to succeed. UAW wages and benefits cost Detroit 78 percent more than Toyota and Honda pay its U.S. workers, and the UAW work rules make it hard for Detroit to take advantage of modern lean manufacturing processes that Toyota has made world famous.

To save Detroit, Sen. Bob Corker got Republicans, Democrats, Detroit management and bondholders to agree to a bailout plan that would make Detroit competitive for the long term. Everybody agreed to take a hit to save Detroit except the UAW. Detroit management agreed to a cut in pay and some loss of control, and bondholders (I am one) agreed to take a hit in our returns to save Detroit. But Ron Gettlefinger, president of the UAW, refused to agree to make the UAW wages and benefits competitive to Toyota and Honda. He risked the survival of Detroit on the assumption that President Bush will save Detroit with a bridge loan (amazing, now Bush is a good guy!). Then Gettlefinger lied by saying that only the UAW was being asked to take the hit, not Detroit management or bondholders.

I can't control what Congress, President Bush or the UAW does. I can't stop them from making a "bridge loan to nowhere" that won't help Detroit in the long run because the UAW is what makes Detroit uncompetitive. But I promise this. If the UAW does not play ball and allow Detroit to compete, I will never buy another automobile that has been touched by UAW hands.

Randy Rossi

Grayslake