Why the Federal Government Needs to Guide GM, Ford, Chrysler, and the UAW

Many conservatives have been attacking the unions -- specifically the United Auto Workers  -- as one of the major culprits causing the inability of the American auto manufacturers to compete with the rest of the world. They point to the contracts negotiated between the Detroit automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) and the UAW and say that the union benefits are too much.

The liberal element, on the other hand, supports the union. They say that it is more than essential for workers to make higher wages, pointing out if people don’t earn enough money to do that, then the economy will be forever eaffected. Even Henry Ford realized that he had to pay a fair salary to his workers because he would be better off if they could afford to buy the cars they make.

The liberals argue that a bankruptcy would mean massive lay offs in the millions. They also argue that the union is not really to blame for the Detroit Three’s woes. After World War II, the UAW chief Walter Reuther pushed for a government health care insurance program. The idea was to provide affordable healthcare to everyone. He also wanted to expand social security with a federally administered pension plan which was not dependent on the economic health of employers.

The auto makers fought the plans tooth and nail. To block the proposal, the automakers pushed for their own employer based health and pension program. Now today the automakers themselves are screaming that this is a major reason for their current position.

Another reason the auto makers find themselves in this predicament, say the liberals, is that the execs of the auto companies did not invest in technologies of the future. They made decisions which kept them making fossil fuel burning cars which have increased our dependence on foreign oil. The auto makers fought hard against ways to achieve better emission standard, just focusing on short term gain and not considering the long term.

So, liberals say, it's time the government to step in and guide the automakers. They are calling for a policy that will provide the auto companies with the capital it needs, a federal healthcare program that provides healthcare to all, a crash program to free us from our dependence on foreign oil, a stronger union, and higher wages paid to union workers so that the economy can grow from the bottom up instead of the top down.

via Huffington Post