Working Life

The bankruptcy of Chrysler crystallized a pretty straightforward choice about which side you are on in our society: do you care about what happens to workers and their communities or are you more interested in making a few more dollars? The Administration made its choice. A few hedge funds made their choice and, along with […]

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It is a pretty extraordinary scenario: in a blazingly short amount of time, the Administration has forged a deal that could save thousands of jobs at Chrysler–the major banks are on board, the UAW has made more significant concessions. But all that may come crashing to a halt because of a few hedge funds who […]

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   There are really two things that jump out of the details about the Chrysler deal, via The Wall Street Journal: The United Auto Workers union would eventually own 55% of the stock in a restructured Chrysler LLC under the deal reached by the union and the auto maker, according to a summary of the […]

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   You probably have heard that a deal was reach between the UAW and Chrysler. Like last week, though, it’s really had to tell from reading the traditional media what exactly the deal will be–other than workers are going to get the shaft. The Wall Street Journal doesn’t say much about enhanced pension protection (meaning, […]

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   Confusing signals are coming out about what the apparent inevitable bankruptcy of Chrysler will mean. But, I do think this will be another stake driven into the idea of having real pensions anymore–which is kind of shocking given how many people just lost much of their retirement in the greed-is-good collapse of economy. I’ll […]

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   It is endlessly fascinating and grotesque at the same time (I have these combined feelings a lot these days–maybe I need professional help) to read media reports about the cuts that the UAW is agreeing to. Here’s another example in The New York Times from today: Ford Motor said Wednesday that its new agreement […]

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   This is news that is both somewhat expected and also worrisome, from The Wall Street Journal this morning: Outside advisers to the U.S. Treasury have started lining up the largest bankruptcy loan ever, talking with banks and other lenders about at least $40 billion in financing for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, in […]

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   Way back when the UAW negotiated with the Big Three in 2007, the union agreed to set up Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations (VEBA) to handle health care liabilities. It was a logical gamble pressed on the union by very difficult economic circumstances–which have only gotten tougher. And now the VEBA is at risk–or at […]

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   Not a happy day for auto workers–and, frankly, for workers everywhere. The UAW, as most of you know by now, has agreed to new concessions to try to save the auto companies. From The Wall Street Journal: Two weeks after insisting his union had already done enough to help the car makers, UAW President […]

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   Not a happy day for auto workers–and, frankly, for workers everywhere. The UAW, as most of you know by now, has agreed to new concessions to try to save the auto companies. From The Wall Street Journal: Two weeks after insisting his union had already done enough to help the car makers, UAW President […]

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