Columnist Jamala Rogers
I seldom show mercy to the blood-sucking corporate thieves who are responsible for the U.S. and global recession. Economists are finally calling it what many of us could feel it was—A RECESSION. When the Big Three automakers went to Congress in their private jets and hats in hand, I was still angry at them but felt the bailout could help real workers, real families.
Unlike the phat cats on Wall Street, there was a union involved with this industry. Although many UAW members, current and retired, are not satisfied with the current UAW leadership, the tendency by Congress and the media is to merge the union and company together and hold them equally responsible for the company’s problems. There is an erroneous but prevailing perception that the poor little industry is buckling under the bloated salaries and benefits packages of the union.
Hogwash! Now, let’s look at the real hogs who are at slop trough.
When General Motors rebuked electric cars over a decade ago, shredding them as a media event, that was not the workers’ decision. When the industry chose to sell gas-guzzlin’ vehicles like SUVs or trucks, that was not the workers’ call. Auto executives didn’t have the common sense or foresight to draw from their experiences in the 1970s during another fuel crunch.
When there are design flaws that eventually result in recalls, that is not the workers’ fault. In fact, most times auto workers are the first to complain since they are the first to see and experience the design problems on the assembly line.
My friend, Elly Leary, was one of the rabble-rousing women in the UAW for years. Now, like most retirees, she is furious with the misrepresentation of workers in the current debate for an auto industry bailout.
Elly reminded me that last year, the union agreed to huge concessions in order to make the industry viable. Incoming workers will now be paid less the non-union workers at competing companies like Honda and Toyota. The retirees’ health plan that was negotiated is now the UAW’s sole responsibility, jeopardizing both the plan and the health of workers who gave 25, 30, 35 years to the automakers.
Current and former autoworkers see red when they look at auto executive salaries. They are 300 times greater than the workers’ salaries. Their golden parachutes along with shareholders’ mega profits must be put on the table for negotiations.
It is almost a sure thing that Congress will give the industry some of our money as a bridge loan to somewhere n where, we don’t know yet. The phat cats have some reorganization to do to create a sustainable and competitive industry. They should also take note of how differently they were treated than the Wall Street gang who received no parameters with their blank bailout checks. It looks like there is stratification among the corporate class and the Big Three are at the bottom of the rung.
Meanwhile, the UAW must do its own soul-searching and reorganizing. At a time when union power is dwindling because of dwindling industries, the UAW needs its own plan to secure its sustainability and regain the respect of its dues-paying union members.