> As much (and as long) as I admire Labor Notes, I'm afraid they're
> not acknowledging that GM and Delphi have real problems. Their
> losses are real - take a look how badly GM has lagged the broader
> stock market <http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?
> s=GM&t=my&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=%5EGSPC> (on this chart, GSPC, the red
> line, is the S&P 500 index: GM stock is essentially where it was 43
> years ago, while the S&P is up 1500%). Delphi <http://
> finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=my&s=DPH&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=&c=%5EGSPC> is
> even worse. If the losses were somehow a big scam to justify
> screwing the workers, then the stocks would be acting a lot better
> than this.
What's wrong with GM? "Sixty-six percent of GM's new vehicles are trucks, compared to 37 percent for the industry" (Dee-Ann Durbin, "GM Stresses Fuel Efficiency As It Introduces New SUV Lineup," <http:// www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0509/23/suv-321456.htm>, 20 Sep 2005). Worse, it's "betting big on a redesigned fleet of 12 full- size SUVs, including the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade" (Bill Vlasic, "Can New Lineup of Big SUVs Revive GM?" <http:// www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0509/21/A01-322175.htm>, 21 Sep 2005).
With such a business strategy, the UAW can expect from GM only more demands to take back its members' benefits -- even before the contract expires in 2007. As a matter of fact, GM is already preparing for more attacks on the UAW: planned elimination of at least 25,000 manufacturing jobs and the sale of General Motors Acceptance Corp.
<blockquote>[T]he sale of a controlling stake in GMAC could strengthen the company's hand in dealing with its unions by putting a massive cash generating asset out of reach of labor's demands. "The blessing of GMAC comes in GM's ability to stay the course and to take a beating in the market while knowing that the GMAC ATM machine is there," Glenn Reynolds, analyst at corporate debt rating firm CreditSights Ltd., wrote in a research note. "It is a curse in terms of GM's ability to plead poverty to the UAW." (Ben White, "Carmaker Considers Selling Its Cash Cow," <http:// www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/ AR2005101701851.html>, 18 Oct. 2005)</blockquote>
Can GM's troubles motivate the UAW to become more environmentally conscious, pushing for car designs with better fuel economy, instead of lining up with bosses to lobby for lax environmental standards for short-term gains, and (more importantly) to fight for universal health care and better Social Security like hell, in a move away from job-based benefits toward solidarity wages?
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org> * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud- ahmadinejads-face.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez- congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/ 2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>