An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

Four generations of my family worked in General Motors Plants- all union employees until my father and I broke ranks and became management. My family was so loyal to General Motors that we considered a Ford a foreign car.

This is why it is painful for me to say that the taxpayers should not pay for a bail out.

First, I believe that sending the government to bail out the auto industry or any industry at this time is like sending an arsonist to put out a fire. The government is partially to blame for this situation.

They forced lenders to make bad loans which resulted in a credit crunch that made it difficult to sell cars. And Democrats in Congress blocked domestic oil production which drove up gas prices and sent wealth and jobs overseas.

And to add more fuel to the fire, over the years they have created arbitrary fuel efficiency standards that do not match market demand.

One would think that, since the government created the crisis, they should fix it, right? No. They should STOP interfering with the markets, not interfere more!

They should let lenders make prudent loans and let energy producers produce energy and they should let the automakers get out of this mess without government meddling.

You don’t send folks with gasoline to put out a fire. Congress doesn’t just want to “bail out” the Detroit Three, they want to add their own mandates to make Detroit “green” and thereby make the industry even less competitive. 

Second, we are asking taxpayers who make market-based wages to bail out autoworkers who make wages that do not correlate in any way to their skill level in the workforce.

Why should other manufacturing workers who make $15 an hour bail out folks who make about 70% more before benefits?

Third, as a former supervisor of UAW workers at a GM facility, I will say that the UAW takes the hard-earned money of the best workers and spends it defending the worst workers while tying up the industry with thousands of pages of work rules that make it impossible to be competitive.

Meanwhile, spineless management often makes short-sighted decisions to satisfy the union and maximize immediate benefits over long term sustainability.

The strength of the union and the weakness of management made it impossible to conduct business properly at any level. 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 he was not in his work area. I needed witnesses, timed reports, and plant wide searches 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. He received a 30-day unpaid 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 to give him the time with pay.

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.

I went to Labor Relations for assistance.  The Labor Relations rep pulled out the work rules and asked me which of the rules the men were breaking.  None applied directly, of course.  Who wrote work rules to cover prostitutes at lunch?  There were no consequences.

Eventually, I was promoted to a management position at GM headquarters.  As I left the plant, I gave my supervisor a blunt message.  I told him that I expected the union to act like the union, but I was disappointed that management didn’t act like management.

This is why, with deep regret and sympathy for the many fine folks who work in the auto industry, I think it is time for consequences.  Let them file Chapter 11 and reorganize.  Don’t make taxpayers foot the bill for an incompetent Congress, a greedy union and wimpy managers.

Lori Roman is president of RegularFolksUnited.com.