Auto Unions Reason for Senate Denial of Bailout

Posted on December 15, 2008

-By Warner Todd Huston

For helping put American auto makers in the mess it is currently in, one might say that the unions deserve this thumbs down vote. Congressional Republicans blocked the $14 billion auto bailout on Thursday and one of the main reasons was because of undue union excess of a sort that sees US cars over priced at thousands of dollars per vehicle compared to all other competition.

According to the Associated Press, the refusal of unions to revisit their contracts with an eye toward taking cuts is one of the reasons the bailout was denied.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) was concerned that the current bailout plan did not demand any changes occur in the industry ahead of the the payout from Congress.

But McConnell said the plan’s greatest flaw is “that it promises taxpayer money today for reforms that may or may not come tomorrow. And we would not be serving the American taxpayer well if we spent their hard-earned money without knowing with certainty that their investment would result in stronger, leaner auto companies that would not need additional taxpayer help just a few months or weeks down the road.”

“We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to subsidize failure,” McConnell added.

Naturally, the unions were apoplectic.

In particular, the UAW went after southern senators for their anti-bailout vote.

Festering animosity between the United Auto Workers and Southern senators who torpedoed the auto industry bailout bill erupted into full-fledged name calling Friday as union officials accused the lawmakers of trying to break the union on behalf of foreign automakers.

Of course, this charge by the union is balderdash. After all, these senators are voting in favor of workers in their own states that work for foreign car companies that have located in right to work states throughout the south. If these senators vote in favor of the UAW, then they’d be cutting the throats of their own constituents.

Soon, however, a new Congress will be starting up. Perhaps a new effort will be seen then?