The 'B' Word

I've been following the bailout request from the Big Three automakers for some time. You can see how their math works here.

Now, the bailout is being delayed. The new 'B' word being floated is Bankruptcy at least for GM and Chrysler.

Today, The Bush White House floated the idea of an “orderly bankruptcy” for General Motors and Chrysler. The “B” word. Yikes. The concept is a little fuzzy. But most experts think it would involve GM and Chrysler actually going to Bankruptcy Court to File Chapter 11, with the government providing either the Debtor In Possession financing for the companies, or guarantees on the money after Treasury Secretary Paulsen twists the arms of some banks who have gotten upwards of a trillion dollars from Treasury and the Federal Reserve to loan the companies $15 billion-plus.

Initially, I was not for bankruptcy. But when you begin to research this, you realize that it might have to happen in order to make necessary changes. Banruptcy does not mean disappear necessarily. It gives protection to re-organize into a sane business plan that is sustainable long term. The problems of these companies did not start this past fall. They problems only became highlighted. Depending on whose figures you use, when you factor salary and benefits in, the car 'worker' makes anywhere from $50 - $70 per hour! These workers at the Big Three are simply not productive enough.

To the right is a picture of one copy of Ford's 2007 master contract governing their relationship with the employees.

They use all kinds of silly rules to try not to work. Here's some excerpts from a former 4th generation GM employee on this point.

Simply amazing...
For instance, I had an employee who punched in his time card and then disappeared. The rules were such that I had to spend hours documenting that this man was not in his three foot by three foot work area. I needed witnesses, timed reports, calls over the intercom and a plant wide search all documented in detail. After this absurdity I decided to go my own route; I called the corner bar and paged him and he came to the phone. I gave him a 30 day unpaid disciplinary lay off because he was a “repeat offender”. When he returned he thanked me for the PAID vacation. I scoffed, until he explained: (1) He had tried to get the lay off because it was fishing season; (2) The UAW negotiated with GM Labor Relations Department to give him the time WITH PAY.

Another employee in the plant urinated on the feet of his supervisor as a protest to discipline. He was, of course, fired…that is until the union negotiated and got his job back.

One afternoon I was helping oversee the plant while upper management was off site. The workers brought an RV into the loading yard with a female “entertainer” who danced for them and then “entertained” them in the RV. With no other management around, I went to Labor Relations for assistance. As a twenty five year old woman, I was not about to try to break up a crowd of fifty rowdy men. The Labor Relations Rep pulled out the work rules and asked me which of the rules the men were breaking. I read through the rules and none applied directly of course. Who wrote work rules to cover prostitutes at lunch? The only “legal” cause I had was an unauthorized vehicle and person and that blame did not fall on the union workers who were being "entertained” but on the security guards at the gate. Not one person suffered any consequence.

If you have the stomach for it, you can read the rest of it here.