A Salute To The American Taxpayer, From The United Auto Workers (Local 1268)

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: April 25th, 2011

Does the UAW owe taxpayers a thank you? Chrysler’s attempts at thanking the taxpayers in the midst of bailout-mania seemed to draw more ire than respect, so it’s understandable why the UAW has not made any effort to thank taxpayers for the auto bailout, without which the union surely would not have survived long. But now that UAW local 1268 has made a somewhat belated, but nonetheless earnest gesture of thanks, the national UAW’s silence on the matter suddenly seems a bit deafening.

#Bailout #PR #Uaw #UnionNews

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12 of 33 comments

Eldard on Apr 26, 2011

Indeed. UAW workers are quite fat.

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Mmnaworker2 on Apr 26, 2011

Edward..Your attack on the Union people is getting stale.Are you also going to attack the 100,000+ people whose jobs were saved along with the union jobs because they didn't say "Thanks"? Didn't think so!!! In fact,the bailout probably saved your job too,you're just to blind to really see how many jobs were saved, but go ahead and attack just the Unions.Edward..you're attempt at Union bashing is getting really boring and maybe you should go tell your boss "thank you" for letting you write crap articles and still get paid.They do pay you,right? WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY !! Typical union hater,you attack when they don't say "thank you" quick enough and you attack when they don't do it the way "you" think they should. You are Pathetic!!

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- MikeAR on Apr 26, 2011
  
  Of what union are you a member?
  
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- Highdesertcat on Apr 26, 2011
  
  mmnaworker2, what most people object to is bailing out failed companies that were collective bargained in financial collapse by their union employees. Both my parents belonged to a union, my dad belonged to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and my mom to SEIU, when they were still alive. Their unions did not collectively bargain their employers into failure. Add to that the bad assembly that plagued the Detroit auto manufacturers for more than forty years, and bailing out losers really gets the tax paying public riled up. Do you remember Reagan vs the PATCO union? There is a prime example of how unions should be handled. By that same token, all those people who can't hack it and fall asleep on the job, should be fired! There will be others that will eagerly take their place. Job bank, anyone?
  
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- Aristurtle on Apr 26, 2011
  
  @highdesertcat Yes, it was the union that destroyed GM, and not decades of terrible product. What the hell was the union supposed to do when the factory started crapping out Pontiac Azteks? Gone on strike until GM designed a car that wasn't the worst-looking thing this industry has created since the Edsel's front grille? There's no amount of assembly quality that would make that thing shift units.
  
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- Jkross22 on Apr 26, 2011
  
  mmnaworker2, I read Ed's short paragraph not as a critique, but a point of interest that the UAW hasn't more broadly taken steps to say sincerely, "Thanks". As a union member yourself, do you feel thankful that the taxpayers bailed out your employer and your job? Seriously, do you feel a sense of graditude? If so, it's not coming across. It's the type of defensiveness that you put on display that makes those critical of unions believe the way they do.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Apr 28, 2011
  
  @highdesertcat aristurtle, there's nothing a UAW member can do about butt-ugly cars. The only thing a UAW member does have control over is the quality of their own work. I have owned a few GM products over the years and without fail all of them had things wrong with them, from misaligned door and body panels, to parts falling off, both inside and outside the vehicle. Missing nuts, bolts and door panel fasteners also were an all-time favorite of mine, as were leaking windshields because the adhesive was applied too sparingly. This went all the way back to 1968 when I bought my first new car. I believe that this lack of quality and lack of reliability is what caused GM and Chrysler to nosedive into their financial graves. And I see no indicators that would lead me to believe that the tax payers will ever get their money back from the bail outs. I am a lot more optimistic about the financial industry since they do a lot more for our economy than the US auto makers. It's not like we're hurting for auto manufacturers in the US. The transplants all seem to do real well. If they weren't, they wouldn't be here. And we didn't have to bail them out either. I don't care if the UAW thanks the tax payers. I just want the tax payers to get their money back.
  
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AJ on Apr 26, 2011

I've been in a UAW factory. What is really impressive is the automation and robots. The more the better.

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Doctor olds on Apr 26, 2011

Chrysler just can't win. I read posts complaining that they haven't expressed appreciation and now condemnation for doing so! The auto bailouts may not pay back 100%, but they will pay back most of the taxpayer investment. Any residual costs will be insignificant compare with the job losses and economic devastation they prevented.

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- MikeAR on Apr 26, 2011
  
  All you bailout apologists I guess believe that nothing should ever change, that everything is static. It isn't, jobs come and go, companies come and go. Everything changes over time, like it or not. Just think, if you people would have been running things in the 90's we would still have every defense program going full blast just because if we cur spending or programs people would be put out of work. Guess what, thousands lost their jobs but most of them got new and better ones. You guys would have Conestoga wagon companies still in business churning out horse-drawn wagons by the thousands that there was no demand for. Learn, this nothing is guaranteed, unless you're a union and donate to Democrats. In that case anything goes. The sheer arrogance of believing GM and the UAW was entitled to be bailed out is amazing. And if you seriously believe that the world would have ended had GM and Chrysler not been baied out you are deluded. Do you really think that people, companies and even entire countriess hven't failed before? You won't admit that your Chicken Little scenarios wasn't the only possible outcome. You do not know and can't know. We do know that what happened has greatly weakened the rule of law in this country and has corrupted politics and business. No matter what those outcomes aren't good. Plus we will probably be given the opportunity to do it all over again in a few years.
  
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- Doctor olds on Apr 26, 2011
  
  @MikeAR- "You think you know, but you have no idea!", or in the immortal words of Firesign Theater "Everything you know is wrong!" I agree with criticism of union connections with democrats, but these companies are far more than their UAW employees. It is clear you have no comprehension of this reality, nor any qualifications whatsoever to assess what would or would not have happened otherwise. You asked me why I thought you were brain dead enough to watch Cribs. Your continued rants are ample evidence.
  
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- Ubermensch on Apr 26, 2011
  @MikeAR Learn, this nothing is guaranteed, unless you’re a union and donate to Democrats. In that case anything goes. ...or happen to be a multinational corporation or bank.
  
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