UAW JOBS Bank: More Devilish Details Emerge

by Robert Farago

Published: December 15th, 2008

Excerpt from an email sent by Soldiers of Solidarity’s I. S. Bill Hanline: “Lastly, the money for these programs came from somewhere. The automakers did not out of the kindness of their hearts offer job income security to us workers. There had to be a trade off. In other words we gave up something for those benefits and if I remember right it was the Annual Improvement Factor (AIF) that we gave up in exchange for lump sum payments during each contract period from 1984 to present time that paid for those benefit programs. We were told in each contract how much money would be put in the trust for our SUB and JOBS programs. Problem with that is there never was as much money placed in those trust as the union announced during the ratification of all those agreements. Instead during the life of those agreements the Union agreed to allow the automakers to pay as they went, instead of fully funding the trust, this is what caused any shortfall of which in turn placed a bigger burden on the automakers cash flow during times when they had to pay members their contractual benefits. That is the main reason for the automakers dilemma today. Senator Corker and Shelby need to be reminded of this fact and they should also inquire with the foreign automakers in their state they might find out that those automakers have income security programs vary much like the programs they want UAW members to give up.”

Robert Farago

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200k-min on Dec 15, 2008
The workers here in America as well as the auto companies NEED National Healthcare just so we can compete with Asia. So do the Honda workers in Ohio get healthcare from the Japanese gov't? I don't think so. They have health insurance under a group plan from a private insurance company just like the vast majority of Americans. It probably isn't as "Cadillac" as the GM health plan, but I'm sure it's better than the one I have from corporate America. It's a joke to directly blame healthcare for Detroits problems. Even counting legacy costs doesn't excuse the mediocre product they are so fond of manufacturing. The UAW is trying to save face since the public is now becoming wise to their crock of a jobs bank. Well, even if they "gave up" something, the truth is they are still paid more than most Americans for an unskilled job. (I've toured assembly UAW assembly plants and the special needs crowd could easily work there.) The UAW workers should be happy the party has lasted long as it has. I'm sure the ever growing class of unemployed have very little sympathy that UAW member "gave up" something over 20 years ago.

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Eric_Stepans on Dec 15, 2008

@No slushbox: A hedge fund manager should hustle as many CDOs and other Ponzi schemes as he can, but when it all collapses, he shouldn't come crying to the taxpayers (especially for 30 times as much as the auto companies are asking to receive)....;-D.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_term_capital_management#1998_bailout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Illinois_National_Bank_and_Trust#FDIC_rescue http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom

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Eric_Stepans on Dec 15, 2008

@200k-min I'm sure a dead guy could have done Alan Fishman's job for 3 weeks until JPMorganChase bought out Washington Mutual. WaMu could have survived on bureaucratic inertia for that long. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Fishman What special "skill" did he bring to the table that made his services worth $20 million? Yet UAW workers making a decent living bothers you? Nope. No class warfare going on here...;-D...

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Ihatetrees on Dec 15, 2008
craigefa: I’m sure there are people within the big 3 and the UAW who saw that eventually demographics would catch up with them and retiree costs would bring them down.... The villain in all of this is inertia. Inertia. Spot on. As someone who grew up in (and currently resides in) a UAW town, it's hard to describe the parochial head-in-the-sand mentality of domestic auto workers (and many dealers). Or the subtle social pressure to buy a large domestic vehicle (and finance a new one) every few years if you're 'lucky enough' to have a good job. Sorry Detroit. You had your chance - a hard look at the transplants would have shown you a clear path... But everyone involved (labor, management, government), took the easy path.

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