Bailout GM, Ford and Chrysler…. Really?
GM, Ford and Chrysler are now on the brink of bankruptcy. I’ve even heard the alarm bell ring of a possible need to close door all together for one of them. The heads of each company went to Washington to ask for a “bailout” package so they can pay their bills for the next few months. There is obviously a lot of disagreement on capital hill regarding how to proceed with the big three. Do we bail them out? If so, how do you construct the package and requirements? What kind of oversight will there be? When do we get paid back and how?
This can potentially be a big problem. Not the bailout, but what happens if they’re NOT bailed out. The obvious implications range from direct affect of the employees who were not the orchestrators of the bad company business plan, and further down the road to suppliers of the automakers who can’t sell their widgets and beyond. There is certainly a lot of blame to go around. It’s easy to point the finger at the high level executives who mismanaged the company so badly that it’s all about to crumble into ashes. Those same executives who flew to Washington to ask for billions in bailout money, all flew on private jets to the tune of $20,000 per person! Listen. I know people out there can afford that kind of luxury and I applaud them for it. But if you’re flying somewhere to beg for money because you screwed up your company, and you fly on a private plane at the cost of $20K a head, you have some pretty damn big balls! I bet those are company jets. If they were personal jets it’s one thing, but I doubt it.
The executives aren’t the only people to blame for this mess though. Take a good look at the UAW. The United Auto Workers Union. Here you have a group that looks out for the employees and makes sure they get the most they can out of the employer. Unions in the past did a very good job of forcing employers to change bad working condition, pay them properly, give them health benefits etc. The problem now is that they continually try to suck the company dry. They do this while the executives try to set things to their benefit. It’s a major tug of war with both sides playing hardball. The unions have a very strong lobby. They’re very influential when it comes time to vote.
Here’s the problem as I see it. They both need each other to have a successful, viable company. They both need to work together so they ALL have jobs tomorrow. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that is the main underlying problem with the auto industry in this country. They need to start viewing their relationship as partners and not adversarial. I heard yesterday on the news a UAW representative said something to the affect “We’re willing to acquiesce a little to help things along.” I wanted to reach through the screen and slap this guy in the head. I have news for the UAW… YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! you are not in the position now to be willing to acquiesce “a little” for the greater good. If you want a job tomorrow you HAVE TO make changes and give back some. American Airlines did it and stayed out of bankruptcy and didn’t go running to uncle Sam for a loan. All the Pilots, Flight Attendants and ground crew unions went to their people and they all took cuts in pay, worked longer hours etc. They changed their business model and now they’re operating without taxpayers help. They are far from being free and clear of troubles, but they’re handling it themselves… ALL of them.
The mind set needs to change in the auto industry as it does in society in general. In general we have this me first, at all cost attitude and that’s going be our downfall if things don’t change and change fast. Look at things in a global perspective. Our economy starts to dive and the world economy follows. Before you start thinking we’re the lynch pin for the world, forget it. Get over yourself. We are part of something much larger than just ourselves and when we all start to realize that and work with that in mind we can truly start to grow and advance in a reasonable, safe and solid way. So far we were building a beautiful house on a substandard foundation. The form over function theory never works.
After readiing and hearing a lot on this latest economic crisis and thinking about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that we should NOT bail out GM, Ford and Chrysler. I know there are workers who will be directly affected and lose jobs. Some are only qualified to do those jobs they lose. I know. But giving the big 3 money doesn’t fix the problem. We all learn from our failures. Isn’t that why we don’t fix everything for our children? Don’t we let them fall and get themselves back up on their own at some point? These are adults we’re talking about. There’s a lesson in each tough time we face. We grow through our tribulations. Times have changed and the mentality of society needs to change along with it. Bankruptcy isn’t the end of business. It’s just a restructuring of business. Maybe that’s exactly what they need because obviously what they were doing all along hasn’t been working lately.
What do you think? Should we bailout GM, Ford and Chrysler?
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