The real trouble with Detroit is not that they are unionized. It is that they have decided to try to make more money by providing an inferior product. The idea behind planned obsolescence is that if you make a product that only lasts three years your customers will be back to buy a new product after three years instead of five or ten. The concept of planned obsolescence only works if you are the only supplier. If you make a crappy product and someone else makes something that will last for years, you lose your customers and the other companies get them.
This is what has happened with the Auto industry. Looking for short-term gain they abandoned good practices and built a bunch of cars that end up on the side of the road. Then their customers who were so proud of well built American cars looked at the five and ten year old Japanese cars that were still running smoothly and made the change.
In addition, the American automakers have said for years that they don’t want to worry about mileage. Selling big SUVs that use lots of gas makes people feel good they thought, and makes them more money. Then the price of gas went through the roof and suddenly SUVs did not look so appetizing. Meanwhile, Toyota was making just enough of the Prius to attract people to their dealerships where they immediately tried to sell them something else. People would come for the Prius and leave with a Rav 4 or a Camry. Toyota would still be making a profit if they had come out with a plug in Prius this year. I have no idea why they did not listen to the demand and fill the need. They don’t even sell as many of the traditional Prius as they could. I for one am switching to a scooter next. They are cheaper and get even better mileage. The safety issue is not as bad when you are like me and have not ever had a ticket.
If the unions are a problem for American automakers, instead of breaking the unions why not require that cars be union made? Then everyone is on an even playing field. Of course the real reason to break the unions is that they help Democrats get into office. Corporate criminals don't want politicians in office that want to do the right thing. Unions are not the cause of the poor quality of the products either, though. It is the management. Having skilled labor doesn’t help if you tell them to build crap. It also doesn’t help if you are out to get the workers instead of working to make them happy and work together. One reason Michael Moore is considered so highly these days is his prophetic documentary on the decline of Flint Michigan. That epic tragedy is still playing out today with more corporate jets and eviction notices in more places. Companies that make short-term gains by selling off their capital and laying off their workers have management that can retire rich, but retiring rich is not as desirable though if you have helped turn your country into a third world nation. Or is that part of the plan too.
There is a change coming to America, though. The pieces are being put into place. A community organizer is taking the reigns of the nation and as a community organizer he has had to look people in the eye and tell them he would help. We will have to work together, and there will be resistance. They own the TV stations and the newspapers, but people still have their ways of getting the real news when they want it. Hope will come to America with the thawing of the snow and the beginnings of a new spring. Let’s hope that once again it does not come too late.