Gettelfinger\'s comments at a Dec. 12 press conference in Detroit came after Democrats were unable to muster enough senators to halt the GOP talkathon against the proposed $14 billion bridge loan, which the House passed Dec. 10. The money would have been taken from funds earmarked for the three Detroit-based car companies to retool plants to produce "greener" vehicles.
Ten Senate Republicans voted for the bridge loans to the car companies, while four Democrats – one of them for parliamentary reasons to keep the issue alive – voted against the loans. With Democrats having only a 50-49 edge in the Senate, the 52 "yes" votes were not enough to halt the filibuster.
The price the Republicans wanted for the bridge loans, especially to General Motors and Chrysler, was that the 150,000 UAW members at the three car companies cut their pay to the level of non-union auto workers at plants in the South. Foreign car makers, such as Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, own those "transplants."
Ford, which is still solvent, rejected the bridge loans and the conditions that came with them – including the pay cuts for the workers – but said it wanted a standby $9 billion federal loan guarantee if the economy went even more in the tank than it is now.
Gettelfinger said he did not believe the White House would demand the same drastic pay cuts from the workers. He also said the White House realizes how vital the auto industry is to the U.S. – and how large a share it is in the economy.
"We cannot afford to have a run on the banks, if you will, at these companies," should Chrysler, GM, or both, have to file for bankruptcy protection, the union leader said. Both car firms have hired high-powered bankruptcy law firms as advisers.
And Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, one of 10 GOPers to support the workers, predicted that "even though they don\'t want to, they (the White House) would have to" come through with money for the car companies. Without it, GM and Chrysler have said they may run out of cash by the end of December.
"They thought they would have a two-fer," Kentucky native Gettelfinger said of
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and other Senate Republicans. "They\'d pierce the heart of organized labor, and they\'d represent the foreign brands" of car makers. Various Southern states\' "taxpayers have sunk over $3 billion into those brands without any possibility of it being paid back," he added.
Besides McConnell, opposition to the bridge loans – which the car companies would have had to repay with interest – was led by Sens. Robert Corker (R-Tenn.), whose state has a Japanese "transplant" plant, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), whose state hosts Mercedes. Shelby openly said he wanted the car firms to go broke. Alabama has subsidized Mercedes via at least $250 million in tax breaks and other concessions, a top industrialist wrote to Shelby in November.
Minnesota\'s U.S. senators split on the vote, with Republican Norm Coleman backing McConnell in his effort to block the deal. Democrat Amy Klobuchar supported the motion to end debate and proceed to a vote on the auto industry loan.
The bridge loans idea replaced the original proposal to aid Detroit\'s three auto makers: $34 billion in federal loans, conditioned on their submission of extensive restructuring plans to a federal "car czar" by March 31.
The original proposal also conditioned those loans on UAW\'s willingness to take over the health care for workers and retirees but without the $14 billion payment for it that GM and Chrysler were scheduled to make. That would have left UAW holding the bag for retirees\' health care costs.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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Gettelfinger\’s comments at a Dec. 12 press conference in Detroit came after Democrats were unable to muster enough senators to halt the GOP talkathon against the proposed $14 billion bridge loan, which the House passed Dec. 10. The money would have been taken from funds earmarked for the three Detroit-based car companies to retool plants to produce "greener" vehicles.
Ten Senate Republicans voted for the bridge loans to the car companies, while four Democrats – one of them for parliamentary reasons to keep the issue alive – voted against the loans. With Democrats having only a 50-49 edge in the Senate, the 52 "yes" votes were not enough to halt the filibuster.
The price the Republicans wanted for the bridge loans, especially to General Motors and Chrysler, was that the 150,000 UAW members at the three car companies cut their pay to the level of non-union auto workers at plants in the South. Foreign car makers, such as Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, own those "transplants."
Ford, which is still solvent, rejected the bridge loans and the conditions that came with them – including the pay cuts for the workers – but said it wanted a standby $9 billion federal loan guarantee if the economy went even more in the tank than it is now.
Gettelfinger said he did not believe the White House would demand the same drastic pay cuts from the workers. He also said the White House realizes how vital the auto industry is to the U.S. – and how large a share it is in the economy.
"We cannot afford to have a run on the banks, if you will, at these companies," should Chrysler, GM, or both, have to file for bankruptcy protection, the union leader said. Both car firms have hired high-powered bankruptcy law firms as advisers.
And Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, one of 10 GOPers to support the workers, predicted that "even though they don\’t want to, they (the White House) would have to" come through with money for the car companies. Without it, GM and Chrysler have said they may run out of cash by the end of December.
"They thought they would have a two-fer," Kentucky native Gettelfinger said of
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and other Senate Republicans. "They\’d pierce the heart of organized labor, and they\’d represent the foreign brands" of car makers. Various Southern states\’ "taxpayers have sunk over $3 billion into those brands without any possibility of it being paid back," he added.
Besides McConnell, opposition to the bridge loans – which the car companies would have had to repay with interest – was led by Sens. Robert Corker (R-Tenn.), whose state has a Japanese "transplant" plant, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), whose state hosts Mercedes. Shelby openly said he wanted the car firms to go broke. Alabama has subsidized Mercedes via at least $250 million in tax breaks and other concessions, a top industrialist wrote to Shelby in November.
Minnesota\’s U.S. senators split on the vote, with Republican Norm Coleman backing McConnell in his effort to block the deal. Democrat Amy Klobuchar supported the motion to end debate and proceed to a vote on the auto industry loan.
The bridge loans idea replaced the original proposal to aid Detroit\’s three auto makers: $34 billion in federal loans, conditioned on their submission of extensive restructuring plans to a federal "car czar" by March 31.
The original proposal also conditioned those loans on UAW\’s willingness to take over the health care for workers and retirees but without the $14 billion payment for it that GM and Chrysler were scheduled to make. That would have left UAW holding the bag for retirees\’ health care costs.
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.