Well… Just how stupid can a group of people be? I’m talking about a specific group here, mainly the UAW. Now I originally was totally against an auto industry bail out, however after talking to a friend this morning I do think that bankruptcy is not an option. The process of bankruptcy is, but let’s call it like “Chapter 23 – Auto Restructure”

Here’s the deal, I heard that the UAW a while back agreed to salary pay cuts for it’s employees to help the auto industry rebound. The only issue, they didn’t specify WHEN the cuts would occur. Basically it was an open ended empty promise. Well last night the Senate demanded a time frame to make the cuts from $70 something dollars an  hour down to around $50 an hour to make it be more in line with the foreign auto makers that appear to be doing alright. Well, the UAW rep said nope, we aren’t setting a time frame for the cuts. And then the Senate killed the bailout.

You see, I guess the UAW thought that it’s workers that they represent would be much happier unemployed then taking a pay cut to save an industry that is destined to fail at the current rate. What they thought they could strong arm the government? Oppps guess again. It’s actually a relief to see the government standing up like they did.

All to often people don’t want the governments interference in daily activities. But then something happens and they need help. Ohh sure they don’t want a win-win scenario, they want a win-lose. They MUST come out ahead, taking money power or anything else they can while not giving.

There is a reason why the south “autobahn” hasn’t unionized. It isn’t because the unions haven’t tried, oh they have. But it’s because the foreign automakers in the south like Toyota and Honda pay decent wages, they give health-care and heck even the companies top brass eat in the same cafeteria as the workers. Why unionize? One of the best things about the south auto industry of foreign companies is they are thriving. Because they are in a right to work state without union rules and regulations they can at the flip of a switch modify operating procedures to fit customers needs. Sure this means that jobs may be cut or benefits changed. But the US labor laws ensure a fair and safe workplace environment.  And because of this the foreign makers here in the southern US are able to keep costs low and actually succeed.

But Detroit won’t learn. They fly in on private jets which was a big mistake. Then they turn around and drive in as if we would just forget about the whole plane incident. Then they do make good recommendations on ways to cut costs. I give them credit for some of the plans they have come up with. Then the Union Rep comes to town and says “yeah we agreed, but we won’t say when and we refuse to say when.” So, now the union is basically willing to sacrifice the jobs of all the auto workers by not agreeing to set a timeframe for pay cuts. Yeah it’s unfortunate it needs to happen, but I think pay cuts are far superior then total loss of job and industry failure.

That all being said, this is why a new version of bankruptcy needs to be born. It needs to be targeted at the nations interests in the GDP and ensure that any industry that produces a large amount of the GDP is protected under this new chapter.  Bascially the companies can voluntarily go into it and the government has total authority over the companies to restructure, cut costs and eliminate bad deals. However, unlike chapter 11 warranites and values of the cars or products would still be honored.  This way the value of the industry doesn’t plummet causing a spiral effect to turn into a full blown tornado of destruction and devastation. Then, once the industry has been regulated, fixed and made viable it exits the government controlled restructing chapter and goes back to being managed by the CEO or a private firm.

People might not like this idea, but when you have an industry that is failing so bad that produces so much of the GDP then I think it mandates that regulation be implemented to ensure the continued success.