UH2L

Should We Really Bail Out the Big Three Automakers with $73.20 Per Hour Labor?

Building a car is not just screwing on bolts. There are people who do skilled trades that few of us with masters degrees could do. Modelmaking, prototype building, machining with computer controlled machinery, etc... And the monotony of some of their work deserves compensation too. If it weren't for the unions, we wouldn't have nearly the benefits that we do in the white collar world.

Perhaps unions began to expect too much, but I would much rather these people make more money than the executives make millions more. They can lay people off to help the bottom line but who's going to buy your products if nobody has a well-paying job to be able to afford them? Will that help business in the long term?

As for people who say the Domestic Three make cars nobody wants, you should go drive some and check out the latest quality surveys and then talk. It's really sad that we're not at all patriotic when it comes to one of the last manufactured products developed and/or made in our country. I think we should reward companies that treat their employees well by buying their products. Instead we reward ones that overwork their employees to the point of them committing suicide. To wish for the Domestic Three's downfall is sheer stupidity as the related job losses in other industries would be devastating. Healthcare, advertising, legal services, construction, banking all will be affected. Your job may be affected even if you don't live in Michigan!

Not to dismiss some of the management mistakes these companies have made, but the playing field hasn't been level for a long time and the Bush/Republican administration did nothing about healthcare, currency manipulation, unfair trade practices. A domestic auto industry owned by American corporations is important to our national security too. Toyota and VW plants in the US won't be volunteering to make tanks and defense parts if we ever enter into a real global war.