Saturday, December 13, 2008

Don't Blame Unions for This One: Honda Contracts, Too

The Indy paper is reporting that both GM and Honda plants are cutting production and laying off workers, and GM is not going to use the union's job bank, which is probably just what union opponents intended in blaming them and not management or market for the tanking auto industry. Toyota is not laying off workers yet, but they are cutting production in Indiana.

Perhaps when the contraction and layoffs threatened Senator Bob Corker's Chattannooga Volkswagen plant, he will relent is bid against unions and consider bailouts for the auto industry. Did anyone point out that it is not exactly consistent with the idea of a free market to dictate to union shops when and whether they should bring their pay scale in line with that of other companies? I guess some people only advocate freedom when the bailout capital is coming their way.

2 comments:

  1. Pure disaster capitalism. Economy going well? It's because well-run companies are good at controlling wages. Economy collapsing? It's because greedy workers are paid too much.

    Either way, working people lose.

    Corker wants to set the pace in the race to the bottom. I had thought he could be a reasonable voice, but he's a pimp for big business.

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  2. Has anyone noticed that Nissan is being very quiet? They release small tidbits every now and then that amount to nothing. They are also making their workers take an extra week off at Christmas, but unlike GM workers they are not getting ANY pay unless they take their own personal paid-time-off or vacation time, if they have any left because they've been having to use it for the 4 day weeks they have been working and will continue to work after Christmas break. It is affecting all automobile plants and if the big 3 fall the others may not be too far behind. The suppliers that supply parts for the big 3 also supply the others in the U.S., but their biggest percentage is from the big 3. If they go under so will suppliers, which will trickle down to the others and so on and so forth...Get the picture Mr Corker?

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