Detroit Gets What It Paid For: Uncooperative Unions

A few days ago I wrote about how bonuses for GM management were one of the more foolhardy actions the company could take when it faced finanical problems and needed union cooperation. It now seems, according to the New York Times, that the UAW is ready to take the gloves off. This is so unsurprising that it's almost amazing it has the title news. You might as well say that the law of gravity should be a surprise. According to the story, even Delphi, the huge auto parts supplier operating in bankruptcy, got the bankruptcy court to approve executive bonuses. What are these people thinking? You can't stick it to suppliers - which is what bankruiptcy effectively does - and ask for employees to tighten their belts while giving yourself a bonus. No wonder Toyota and other car companies are smacking the US auto industry about like a youthful Muhhamed Ali boxing a 97-pound weakling. The foreign businesses are dealing with competitors whose management hasn't learned that if a hot stove burns your fingers, touching it again is plain stupid.