Working man's golden parachute

The management of the Big 3 Automakers will be in Washington today with their hands out looking for their bailout. I hear calls for the CEOs to take a hit in all of this and I can't agree more. The people who were driving the boat when it sank don't deserve bonuses, etc., but the government can't be blindly handing out money to everyone who has decided that they're too big to fail. Especially in this case, because it appears that one of the major root problems behind this is not going to be addressed. Namely, the Working Man's Golden Parachute that is the UAW contract.

Ron Gettelfinger says that the UAW membership will not make any more concessions in this try for a bailout. Yet, according to Ford's annual report it has paid at an average $70.51 an hour in wages, pension, and health care costs for hourly workers last year. General Motors' annual reports show that its labor costs average reaches $73.26 an hour while Chrysler Group reaches an average labor cost of $73.86. Contrast that with the $43 per hour that Honda, Toyota and Nissan are reportedly paying and you see what I mean.

Don't get me wrong, there are a number of things in this to list as causes. Mismanagement by the company execs, sure. So, they should be giving up the giant salaries, big bonuses and golden parachutes. Certainly, the fact that the Big 3 have continued to make huge, gas-guzzling cars despite the constantly rising fuel prices. I understand that there are market forces to be considered here. I understand the need to make the SUV's that the people want to buy, but much of this fuel situation was visible on the horizon. They should have at least been planning, so I think some direction for them as to more fuel-efficient cars is in order if they're going to use my money.

The problem is that even if the Big 3 implement lower salaries for CEO's and start making more fuel efficient cars, the root problem that their labor cost is nearly twice that of their competitors, they're still not going to be competitive and we'll just be throwing our money down a hole.