Angry UAW Workers Lash Out at Southern Senators

They cry now, but in the end, they'll get what they want. And the American taxpayer will be stuck paying the tab for the greedy UAW to continue to work in a failed business model and make wages way above the average American.

Festering animosity between the United Auto Workers and Southern senators who torpedoed the auto industry bailout bill erupted into full-fledged name calling Friday as union officials accused the lawmakers of trying to break the union on behalf of foreign automakers.

The vitriol had been near the surface for weeks as senators from states that house the transplant automakers' factories criticized the Detroit Three for management miscues and bloated UAW labor costs that lawmakers said make them uncompetitive.

But the UAW stopped biting its tongue after Republicans sank a House-passed bill Thursday night that would have loaned $14 billion to cash-poor General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to keep them out of bankruptcy protection. The Bush administration later stepped in and said it was ready to make money available to the automakers, likely from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout program.

UAW Commits Suicide: Bailout Dead!

The Big Feed is taking full and sole credit for this conservative victory. Well, actually, the greedy UAW workers sealed their own fate.

A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "terribly disappointed" about the demise of an emerging bipartisan deal to rescue Detroit's Big Three.

He spoke shortly after Republicans left a closed-door meeting where they balked at giving the automakers federal aid unless their powerful union agreed to slash wages next year to bring them into line with those of Japanese carmakers.

Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio, a strong bailout supporter, said the UAW was willing to make the cuts — but not until 2011.

It seems everyone was set to make concessions except for the UAW. At least not for 3 years. What an absolute joke. I'll see you putzes in the soupline.

There Will Be Riots if the Auto Bailout Passes

This is an exclusive interview of Senator Jim DeMint by ALG News on 12-10-2008. Senator DeMint talks about possible reactions once people realize how unfair the 'bailouts' are.

Detroit Church Prays for Bailout...with SUV's at the Altar

So now it's a God thing? This UAW bailout is a mistake of epic proportions. And the blame needs to be placed squarely on the Democrats.

With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit's largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry.

"We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week," the Rev. Charles Ellis told several thousand congregants at a rousing service at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple. "This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand."

Local car dealerships donated three hybrid SUVs to be displayed during the service, one from each of the Big Three. A Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe from GM and a Chrysler Aspen were parked just in front of the choir and behind the pulpit.

Ellis said he and other Detroit ministers would pray and fast until Congress voted on a bailout for Detroit's embattled automakers. He urged his congregation to do the same.

They're going to fast? My ass. Ten bucks says you can find them at Mickey D's tomorrow morning throwing back the McGriddles.

In Argentina, Ford and GM are Selling Autos At Cost to Survive -- In America, They Beg for Taxpayer Money

Take a look at what Ford and GM are doing in South America. Yet here, they have the "audacity" to take taxpayer money to feed the greedy UAW workers.

Argentine automakers will sell basic models at cost through state-subsidized loans in a plan to protect jobs in Latin America's third-biggest economy from the global economic slowdown, government officials said on Saturday.

Local plants of Renault SA, General Motors, Peugeot, Ford Motor Co. and other automakers will participate in the government's plan to protect 150,000 auto industry jobs and to keep production from falling steeply next year.

"We have agreed with the plants that these cars will be offered without a profit margin and the dealerships will also reduce their profit margin," Industry Secretary Fernando Fraguio told a news conference on Saturday.

Automaker Bailout Bill in Trouble

Say no to this bill.

They can’t get it done.

That is the backroom word on Capitol Hill as auto executives from the Detroit Three wrapped up a second, and final, day of hearings before the House in attempt to get a $35 billion loan to keep them solvent.

Instead, speculation is that the Bush administration — loath to watch a U.S. automaker drown in its last month in office — will offer $8-14 billion band-aid to GM and Chrysler (both of which will run out of cash this month) possibly from the TARP.

“Detroit’s automakers will be lucky to get less than half of the $34 billion they’re seeking for survival, as several House members said today there was simply not enough time to examine the industry’s pitch and hammer out a consensus by next week,” reads one report from the Detroit Free Press. “Only stopgap funding of up to $14 billion appeared possible next week.”

This will act as a tourniquet for the two most-crippled automakers so they can limp along until the Obama administration can convene with a new Congress and tackle long-term surgery in the new year.

h/t NRO

Look at this Crap

A UAW commercial begging Americans to fund their bailout so they can continue to make their extremely generous wages, their health insurance, their disability insurance and their fantastic pensions.



Say no to the UAW bailout

Reason # 439 to Oppose the Auto Maker Bailout Plan

From the head of the UAW. Workers will make no more concessions. So tell me then. What's going to keep the auto makers from pissing away the billions in bailout money? Nothing. The unions and their extortion are the reason the auto makers are failing in the first place. Here are 2006 numbers related to the compensation union employees receive. If you work for a living, and realizing that union members are still crying about not being paid enough, these numbers will make you madder than hell:

Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers, 2006.

Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D. (see graph above, click to enlarge), and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

Numbers are out this year that have the production costs for American automakers at over $100 per hour. All that money for the employees, and still, today, this report:

Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy.

Instead, Gettelfinger blamed the problems the auto industry is suffering from on things beyond its control — the housing slump, the credit crunch that has made financing a vehicle tough and the 1.2 million jobs that have been lost in the past year.

The Center for Automotive Research, which receives funding from the auto industry, has warned that the collapse of the Big Three could set off a catastrophic chain reaction in the economy, eliminating up to 3 million jobs and more than $150 billion in tax revenue over the next three years.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are seeking $25 billion from the government to get them through the economic crisis and the worst sales slump in more than 25 years. GM appears to be in the worst shape, warning that it can't borrow from normal sources.

The nation's largest automaker said it had $16.2 billion in cash at the end of September, raising the possibility that GM will fall below the minimum of $11 billion to $14 billion needed for day-to-day operations by the end of the year.

Let em' fail. Everyone else in this country is paid according to their market value. Why not these folks as well?