Is it ALL the UAW's Fault?

First up, Bush bailed out GM and Chrysler today, and that will keep the plants running for another four months or so. Secondly, the UAW is still unhappy because it requires them to makes some concessions. More whining from Gettelfinger as he says: "We will work with the Obama administration and the new Congress to ensure that these unfair conditions are removed," said Ron Gettelfinger, president of the UAW.

A reader stated it's not all the UAW's fault that the automakers are in the tank and I couldn't agree more. But I still charge that the arrogance of Ron Gettelfinger, the head of the union, in stating they will make no concessions when standing in the face of God, the government and the American public, was absolutely idiotic and showed the greed of the union.

Maybe the top brass do make millions. Maybe they should make ZERO until the companies make a profit. But, again, someone has to run the store and it doesn't appear from what I've personallly seen, that anyone out there on the shop floor is qualified to do so, if their build-out of the average American vehicle is any indication.

Americans loved their cars! We have had a love affair with American iron since before Henry Ford made the automobile affordable to the masses. Nobody, save a few who were possibly considered eccentrics in the 50's and 60's, wanted anything built anywhere other than in America. Oh sure, there was the ubiquitous VW beetle, but that was an icon that simply became associated with a generation, and sales of that vehicle along with the VW minibus never impacted Detroit or Dearborn a bit. Neither did the smattering of Saab's and Volvo's that found their way into the country, along with what was likely a handful of German cars. To see a foreign car was so much an oddity that everyone wondered what they were!

If the UAW built cars here in AMERICA that were built well, I don't think the public would have turned to foreign cars in the first place. The Japanese, Koreans, Germans and others would never have gotten the hold on the market that they have. But, the cars being built here were abyssmal. Simply put, foreigners built them better. Of about 30 full-size Fords, either Crown Victorias, Custom 500's or similar I've owned or driven, only 4 were made in the US, and those were pure junk, always in the shop. One spent more time in the shop than on the road and was finally traded in early. The others came from Canada and were great cars with virtually no problems. And, pardon me my Canadian friends, they were built by foreigners! Not US autoworkers! (Yes, I know the CAW has about the same costs and benefits as the UAW, but they must take pride in what they build!) The only decent GM car, out of the dozen or so I've owned, was made by foreigners in Australia, a 2005 GTO! The build, fit and finish on that GTO was stated to be the mark that all GM should be striving for. And it had to come from a foreign country. What a helluva shame.

Does anyone remember the expose' that 60 Minutes, or another investigative television program, did back in the 70's on the auto industry? They followed vehicles being made and interviewed autoworkers who complained that their jobs were demeaning, and even though their pay and benefits at that time was far above what an average American made, still produced cars that were problematic. Hidden cameras followed vehicles to the lots where they found transmission bolts missing and loose, installed by the same workers whom they interviewed earlier. Point being that nobody learned anything from back in the 70's, and management allowed labor to keep producing junk. And people kept buying junk until the light bulb went off. I guess it's funny, but the light bulb that Ford used as a "better idea" campaign, that went off in peoples' heads was the better idea to buy a foreign car that actually lasted a hundred or two hundred thousand miles.

I knew supervisors who worked at vehicle assembly plants who used to receive deep discounts on their new cars. Nothing wrong with that. But they would tell me they would tag their own cars, so the car would have to go back through the line at that time, so they knew it would be a good car. Those were supervisors, for God's sake; people who were supposed to assure EVERY car was good, yet they had to send their own car back through to assure it was okay? They KNEW the cars coming out were junk. The jokes about not buying cars made on Monday or after a holiday were more than jokes...for many it turned out to be nightmare.

So, try and tell me, who has owned more American cars than almost anyone I know, other than possibly a collector, why the autoworkers are not largely responsible for the demise of the American car industry. The only other way I can place all the blame on management is to say they are 100% at fault for not throwing the union the hell outta Dodge...and Chrysler, and Ford, and GM years ago. Years before it became the driving force that literally ran the companies.

Finally, when you talk about fairness in an industry, and the tail wagging the dog, why would an autoworker really care about being laid off with a deal like the "jobs bank" program? According to what the government has revealed, this program which was negotiated by the UAW and the automakers, allows laid-off workers to receive about 95 percent of their pay and benefits for years. And you wonder why American car pricing isn't competitive?

The dealers lots are full and nobody is buying. Interest rates are down, but when it's a choice between a roof over your head, food on the table or a car, the car loses. The love affair with American Iron appears to be over. I don't know whether the kids will ever have the same type love affair with the foreign cars, and I don't think a turn around is possible in the Big 3 in four months. Sadly, all I see in the future is a foreign car in the driveway, and that makes me very sad. It would make my father and grandfather sad too, but sometimes life and history just can't be changed.