UAW is in favor of the workers?

In today's news, the head of the UAW says there will be no more concessions by the autoworkers. Brilliant! Maybe he should have said that there will be no more jobs for the auto workers.

Clearly, GM, Ford and Chrysler are in big trouble. The shareholders have already seen nerly their entire investments go down the tubes. For is worth about 4% of what it was a few years ago. GM is at its lowest level in 50 years. These folks do not have much more to lose. If the autoworkers file for bankruptcy, the labor contracts will be the first things to go. They will be able to renegotiate everything, and the creditors are unlikely to approve any deal that simply puts the big three back on course to business as usual. If the autoworkers are to preserve anything, they should negotiate now while there is still a chance of avoiding bankruptcy, not later after the debacle.

My suggestion is that the auto companies give the union equity in exchange for release of many of the most onerous provisions in the contract. For example, let the retirees pay for their own health insurance and let the company be able to lay off workers without paying them 95% of their wages for the remainder of the contract. Give the management back the flexibility to pare costs so as to become competative. Also, relax some of the work rules that drive labor and other costs up. Also, wages should be cut. At the same time, management salaries should be cut proportionately the same as any wage cut. If the workers take a 20% cut, so too should every manager. Indeed, for those making the big bucks, the cuts should be even higher. After all, it was these geniuses who got the companies where they are today. On second thought, maybe they should just be fired.

If the shareholders agreed to give 40% of their company to a fund that was owned by all the workers (labor and management proportionately) in exchange for a 25% cut in wages and salaries and reduction of benefits as well particularly for retirees, these companies might be able to survive. Otherwise, it is just the proverbial rearrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic. No taxpayer money should go to bail out these companies until they put themselves on the right course to prosperity.