Lex Luz

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

As in commentary around the financial crisis, people who attempt to pin "blame" on one segment - in the case of Perry and some commenters above, on the unions - merely have a political axe to grind and really don't forward the debate. To wit, I certainly don't recall the UAW being chief among the groups setting product or distribution strategy for the Big Three. Do unions have a hand in inefficiency, poor manufacturing quality, and ill-will toward domestic vehicles? Sure they do. Are they the sole cause of the demise of the US-based auto industry? Of course not. Attempting to paint them as such reveals nothing more than a political agenda that will never help us to figure out how to get through the crisis and emerge stronger on the other side.

Let's start working together, rather than driving ourselves closer to civil war.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

CCerenz - Our auto companies are uncompetitive because they are run by fat, lazy bureaucrats with no market savvy and neither the ability nor the willingness to innovate given their knowledge that no matter what happens, they will be bailed out by Uncle Sam as is happening now. Yes, they have high labor and legacy costs. This too is a reflection of poor management. Everyone loves to pile on to the unions and they certainly bear their share of the blame but at the end of the day there is SOMEONE running the company who must set strategy and execute against it. When that strategy fails, the CEO should either adjust or accept failure. Instead, American auto company CEOs go crying hat in hand to Congress and whip up a spectacular frenzy among the deluded that it's all the fault of someone else. Nonsense. We are a nation of whiners indeed - and there are no greater whiners than those who've led once-great businesses into the sewer.