At a news conference Wednesday following an emergency meeting with UAW local and regional leaders, Gettelfinger said the union is willing to “take the extra step” to aid the industry. Union leaders, he said, have agreed to delay automakers’ payments to a union-administered health care fund and to modify the union’s job banks program that provides laid-off workers with a portion of their wages and benefits.
But he reiterated that UAW members already have agreed to wage and benefit concessions that have lowered labor costs at the Big Three. Terms of the current contract will lower those costs even further.
"We’re willing to take the extra step here…." he said. "The important thing is to secure these jobs and we cannot do it as the UAW. It’s got to be something that’s done for this country.…We have to get this loan. Nobody’s kidding anybody. Main Street, side street and rural America are all impacted by what the Congress does."
On Tuesday, Chrysler, General Motors Corp. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. submitted to Congress detailed plans outlining how they would use federal loan funds to retool and revive the industry. Thursday and Friday, Gettelfinger and the Detroit CEOs will appear before U.S. Senate and House committees to answer questions about the plans.
The plans stemmed from two days of often contentious hearings in November in which the auto CEOs, as well Gettelfinger, were harshly questioned by lawmakers about the industry’s failures and how the proposed bridge loan would be used. All three automakers say they will reduce their model lines and product lines, shed unprofitable subsidiaries, boost fuel efficiency and engage in other cost-cutting and quality control measures. They will give taxpayers in a stake in the companies.
GM and Chrysler are seeking immediate cash assistance and Ford is asking for a $6 billion “standby line of credit” that it says would not be tapped unless one of the other Big Three fails. Combined, the automakers are seeking $34 billion in loans and lines of credit. A vote on the package could come next week.
During the debate on the auto industry assistance, news reports—especially conservative commentators—have focused on labor costs. Some, such as Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett, have gone as far as laying the blame for industry’s failures at the feet of the workers and the UAW.
But labor costs are just about 10 percent of the costs of producing a vehicle. The other 90 percent includes research and development, parts, advertising, marketing and management overhead.
Monday on the “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said blaming workers is a “phony attack”:
"Of course, it’s a phony attack," Gerard said. "An auto worker who makes $57,000 a year, working some overtime, who produces a good car, who has a half decent pension who now has had their pension equity whacked by more corruption and calamity on Wall Street, who has some decent health care after working 30 or 40 years in the workplace, an employer that’s trying to provide that health care because it’s the only country on earth where society doesn’t get its health care provided through a universal system….
"And all of the sudden, we’re going to blame the workers? It’s not the workers’ fault."
Mike Hall writes for the AFL-CIO news blog, where this article originally appeared.
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At a news conference Wednesday following an emergency meeting with UAW local and regional leaders, Gettelfinger said the union is willing to “take the extra step” to aid the industry. Union leaders, he said, have agreed to delay automakers’ payments to a union-administered health care fund and to modify the union’s job banks program that provides laid-off workers with a portion of their wages and benefits.
But he reiterated that UAW members already have agreed to wage and benefit concessions that have lowered labor costs at the Big Three. Terms of the current contract will lower those costs even further.
"We’re willing to take the extra step here…." he said. "The important thing is to secure these jobs and we cannot do it as the UAW. It’s got to be something that’s done for this country.…We have to get this loan. Nobody’s kidding anybody. Main Street, side street and rural America are all impacted by what the Congress does."
On Tuesday, Chrysler, General Motors Corp. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. submitted to Congress detailed plans outlining how they would use federal loan funds to retool and revive the industry. Thursday and Friday, Gettelfinger and the Detroit CEOs will appear before U.S. Senate and House committees to answer questions about the plans.
The plans stemmed from two days of often contentious hearings in November in which the auto CEOs, as well Gettelfinger, were harshly questioned by lawmakers about the industry’s failures and how the proposed bridge loan would be used. All three automakers say they will reduce their model lines and product lines, shed unprofitable subsidiaries, boost fuel efficiency and engage in other cost-cutting and quality control measures. They will give taxpayers in a stake in the companies.
GM and Chrysler are seeking immediate cash assistance and Ford is asking for a $6 billion “standby line of credit” that it says would not be tapped unless one of the other Big Three fails. Combined, the automakers are seeking $34 billion in loans and lines of credit. A vote on the package could come next week.
During the debate on the auto industry assistance, news reports—especially conservative commentators—have focused on labor costs. Some, such as Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett, have gone as far as laying the blame for industry’s failures at the feet of the workers and the UAW.
But labor costs are just about 10 percent of the costs of producing a vehicle. The other 90 percent includes research and development, parts, advertising, marketing and management overhead.
Monday on the “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said blaming workers is a “phony attack”:
"Of course, it’s a phony attack," Gerard said. "An auto worker who makes $57,000 a year, working some overtime, who produces a good car, who has a half decent pension who now has had their pension equity whacked by more corruption and calamity on Wall Street, who has some decent health care after working 30 or 40 years in the workplace, an employer that’s trying to provide that health care because it’s the only country on earth where society doesn’t get its health care provided through a universal system….
"And all of the sudden, we’re going to blame the workers? It’s not the workers’ fault."
Mike Hall writes for the AFL-CIO news blog, where this article originally appeared.