Unable to Learn from France

At a recent UAW meeting, UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger spoke about the need for the union to deal with the auto makers. He talked about the dreadful state of Ford and GM and how they are both losing jobs. UAW jobs. Automotive electronics maker Delphi is drowning in red ink due to unreasonably lavish UAW contracts. They are going into bankruptcy court to try and get some relief from them.

After being blunt and honest, Mr. Gettelfinger went into full French Economics Mode.

"We're watching everything going on with Delphi and GM," Renaud said. "But it's going to take more than what we can do at the bargaining table. There are failed [political] strategies that have failed to protect our jobs."

To that end, the UAW is pushing a proposal on Capitol Hill that would make it more difficult for a bankrupt firm to cancel its contracts. It also wants incentives granted to automakers and suppliers that build fuel-efficient cars in the United States.

Making it more difficult to get rid of workers makes it less likely the workers will be hired in the first place. There's a whole country that's tried this. It's called France. The place is an economic disaster. For more on that subject, visit No Pasaran.

I'm glad the UAW is finally talking straight about their plight, but their solution is more of the same.

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