When it became obvious that this coalition might ask for more than even the Obama administration was willing to give and thus threaten a Chrysler bankruptcy, the Governor of Michigan pleaded “…I am publicly asking these hedge funds to not be greedy…” One would sound equally foolish asking snakes not to slither on their bellies.
The question that should be asked here is why Obama was willing to entertain this group at all? If it was imperative that the bondholders take a giant loss in the Chrysler affair, couldn’t Obama just make it happen? Wouldn’t this make the whole process go much smoother?
Again, this would violate Obama’s sacred belief in the market economy. If the government injected enough funds into Chrysler to nationalize the company, not only could the workers keep their current level of pay and benefits, while the industry could be “re-tooled” and planned in a much more rational way, but the bondholders could be quickly pushed aside empty handed.
Perhaps the oddest part of the preliminary Chrysler restructuring plan is that the U.A.W. would emerge as the largest shareholder in Chrysler. After sacrificing all their wages and benefits, the workers would, in effect, own the company.
This might be reason to rejoice if not for the current leadership of the U.A.W., and their blind adherence to competition on the free market, and thus their belief that workers must be paid as low as the lowest paid workers elsewhere — so that, again, the company can be successful.
Abandoning this slavish obedience to the market economy is overdue for the labor movement. Conceding wages and benefits with the hopes of gaining job security has only made the corporations greedier and more demanding of workers; meanwhile jobs continue to be slashed.
Whatever emerges out of the Chrysler bankruptcy court will surely be mimicked by GM. This is an important point: no labor struggle exists in a social vacuum; CEO’s pay close attention to labor/corporate relations to see what is likely to work for their workforce. Workers should do so also.
This is relevant even on a national level, especially during times of recessions, when corporations heighten their never-ending attempt to compensate for their dwindling profits by taking from the workers. Whereas a losing battle for workers creates widespread demoralization, an inspirational victory resonates equally.
The employers are using this recession to take back what was taken from them in previous decades, starting with the autoworkers. GM already has plans to cut 47,000 jobs internationally — they will certainly ask for concessions similar to that of the Chrysler workers. A U.A.W. rank and file upsurge could easily push aside the Gettelfingers within the union, while inspiring workers everywhere in the process.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org). He can be reached at shamuscook@yahoo.com
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
