Apr 23 2009
Treasury Prepares For Chrysler Bankruptcy
Reuters reports The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler, which it could release as early as next week. They’ve reached an agreement in principle with the UAW about health care and pensions, and the agreement would finalize the partnership with Fiat.
The car companies obviously haven’t been doing well in this economy. They were already facing some problems before the economy took a downturn, and the economy has really just brought their problems to the fore. The reality is that the UAW has driven American Auto Manufacturing into the ground, and any company they latch their claws into is doomed.
I don’t mind unions, but I mind unions that fundamentally reject that trade has to be an exchange of mutual benefit. When auto manufacturers are forced to pay workers far more than their labor is worth, they simply can’t compete with those who are able to pay the market rate. There is a big difference between making sure you don’t get your hand ripped off in a machine and seeing to it that you make over $70 an hour for unskilled labor. It’s corruption, and the chickens are coming home to roost. The only question is whether we’ll let them latch their claws into the American public as well, because they’ll bring us down in the exact same way.
