Lawmakers in Washington have reached an agreement with Detroit that will provide billions of dollars in loans to the struggling auto industry in return for a direct role in the industry’s restructuring. The loans would amount to about $15 billion, $10 billion short of the original amount requested by Detroit. I would expect the incremental $10 billion to be quietly reinstated in about eight weeks, once Washington realizes the extent of the mess.
Swell. Government further extends its reach into the market to help prop up an industry it in part helped to destroy through excessive regulation. Does this mean that auto workers now become de facto federal employees who could be terminated for work stoppages, similar to their air traffic counterparts in the early 1980’s?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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4 comments:
It's designed to give the unions time to organize the non-union auto maker's work forces and drive up everyones costs of production and selling price.
An interesting theory, but I don't think management would have fought as hard as they did for the bailout if they thought unions would come out of it in a better position then before they entered...
GG
It's a very good designed It's designed to give the unions time to organize the non-union auto maker's work forces and drive up everyones costs of production and selling price.
Or, said differently, one of the reasons the bailout collapsed is because the UAW wouldn't capitulate to Republican calls for worker pay to more closely align with competitors.
I'm hoping the Senate Republicans keep their new-found cojones.
GG
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