UAW Makes Concessions

With the country facing the real possibility of a depression on the heels of a failure of U.S. auto companies, the United Auto Workers made concessions to the big 3. The biggest of those concessions was a pay for no work provision enacted in the 80s to pay laid off workers whose factories had been shut down. Concessions were also being made by the CEO's of the auto companies. Rick Wagnor of GM and Alan Mulally of Ford both plan on working for $1 per year if a government loan was approved. They have returned to congress much humbled over their disaster of a first appearance with much more detailed plans of how they will use government money. Support for the auto companies is very soft in congress but many acknowledge the catastrophic effects of a failure.

Controlling labor costs is one of the most important aspects of restructuring GM, Ford, and Chrysler. So much more is needed to be done however. The mistakes of past management of GM, Chrysler, and Ford gave too much up to the UAW and other unions while sacrificing efficiency. If it were possible to send the 3 CEO's back to the drawing board for a 3rd and 4th time, the changes really needed may be achieved. Ultimately the companies need to be structured entirely different with many revisions to the contracts between workers and management. I'm beginning to believe these companies are quite capable of becoming world leaders in green car technologies if they took further cost saving steps. If Ford is able to come out and say they no longer need a bail out after going back and rethinking a bailout, I'm sure there are measures the other companies can take to avoid bankruptcy.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D94RJLM80.htm