Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Great News On The Economy!

Just kidding. Unless you think the notion of a GM bankruptcy is good for anyone or anything on the planet.

I had no idea this news about GM could come so quickly after the Delphi filing. Allow me to serve you the main points of the AP analysis:
    The company asked the union for wage cuts of more than 50 percent, according to letters released by union leaders. Delphi wants to cut hourly wages from -- $27 an hour to $10 to $12 an hour and eliminate a jobs bank that gives full pay to 4,000 laid-off workers, the letters said.
    ...
    UAW officials blasted Delphi's decision to file for bankruptcy one day after sweetening the severance packages of 21 top executives to help persuade them to stay at the company.
    ...
    Delphi said it made the change after determining its severance package for top executives was not competitive.
    ...
    Delphi has 31 plants in 13 states, including Michigan, Ohio, Alabama and California. The company has 185,000 employees worldwide.
Not to give you the whole story in one bite: of the 185,000 worldwide employees, Delphi executives say they need concessions from the 24,000 represented in the UAW contract.

Too bad there isn't some government body that could maybe put together an investigative committee to at least study the impact of these business practices. If only there were legislators, elected by the people to serve their own regional constituencies...

Jesus help us.

2 comments:

The Liberal said...

I wonder if GM will be asking its executives that make thousands of dollars an hour to take a pay cut?

The Liberal said...

...and by GM, I meant Delphi...

No, I actually meant GM.

Wait a minute, does the comment apply to both them? [and all fortune 500 companies considering bankruptcy]