wrote in message
...

And I guarantee you....it will be nasty. We may need to call in our 12
man Armed Forces . Let em' bust the unions, or try......it would be
disastrous. Imagine....being paid a 70s wage in the year 2010...with
the cost of living NOT dropping . Did you read what I wrote...or just
the first few lines?

====-----------------------------

I read it.

I also read the Fiat statement.

Fiat is not demanding that employees go back to 1970s pay scales. They are
requiring that the pay and benefit packages be more in line with those who
work in the assembly plants of Japanese and German manufacturers located in
the US and Canada so that they can be competitive with them.
Makes perfect business sense because otherwise Fiat would simply continue
with many of the same problems that have affected GM, Chrysler and Ford and
any merger or acquisition would be financially and business-wise stupid.
Fiat presently does not market any cars in the US. Not sure about Canada.
They want to, but need to be competitive, cost and price-wise.

Excessive executive pay and benefits also need to be addressed, as well as
any illegal financial activities, but the truth is, regardless of how you
want to spin it, is that what is killing the domestic automotive industry is
the pay/benefit packages negotiated with the unions. In the US, a major
cost factor is health insurance for retired employees. If the Japanese and
German manufacturers had the same contracts with unions, it would be a fair
economic playing field. But they don't.

Why aren't the unions screaming to force foreign manufacturers to provide
the same level of compensation and benefits? Because they can't.

If you've been paying attention, even our new, liberal orientated President
is having a change of heart. He's basically put both GM and Chrysler on
notice that unless they can fix the problems themselves, the only other
recourse is Chapter 11 reorganization (which will basically tear up existing
contracts and flush most of the current debt.)

Surprisingly, he also has announced that he is now going to target excessive
entitlement programs in the US as well. It appears that he is starting to
recognize and address reality.


Eisboch