PC>  When I heard finally they were bailing out the Big 3
  >automobile manufacturers, I wondered if these prima donnas
  >the workers and their union are going to take a pay cut?

A pay cut wouldn't help the situation much, although it may
make the rest of us feel better. If they worked for free
the cost of a car would drop by 7%.

PC>Doubt it, as they get their $ 70/hour and all perks, and

$36 an hour.. Most of the balance goes to keep all the perks
in place for all the retired workers. I'm not saying they are
not paid too much for the job but it's not as bad as it sounds.
Japanese car companies figure about $49 per hour since they
don't have the huge backlog of retired workers to support..

PC>keep me buying the Japanese imports which didn't need
  >a bailout.

Toyota is billions in the red and hasn't asked for a bailout
yet but is probably hoping for it. They are all hurting greatly.
American car sales are down about 34% I think but import sales
are down 26% so it's not so much a car company problem so much
as a noone spending money or able to borrow money problem.
There are thousands of people with good jobs wanting to buy or
lease a car who can't get the financing to do so. That is the
biggest problem.

PC>  What really happened is that the Big 3 were going to
  >declare bankrupcy and that meant the Union contracts
  >were out the window, which might help in re-structuring
  >but the donwside here would have been 1 million plus outta
  >a job, as well in Michigan...everyone  1 million plus
  >outta a job.

They said a while back that 1 in 7 jobs in Canada was directly
related to the auto sector or support thereof..

I don't think you can just say screw it and let them go under
because they will take millions of outside jobs with them
and the recovery time will go from 2 or 3 years to decades.
I also don't think the bailout is structured right, the major
bailout of the banks I mean. They are pocketing the money for
the most part to look good to their shareholders and the people
still can't get financing for normal purchases. The gov't should
have Directly loaned money through the banks screening processes
to the people who are spending it to shore up the economy and
that would help everyone including the car companies.

Administration is a nightmare though which is why they don't
want to get directly involved..

---
 * SLMR Rob  * Bankers do it with interest. (Penalty for early withdrwl)
 * PDQWK 2.52 #17


--- GTMail 1.26