It is profoundly ironic that just days after winning a sweeping election victory that was purportedly all about helping the "middle class", the Democratic Party seems to be flirting with a policy decision that would deal a crushing blow to the whole fabric of middle class America. I’m referring, of course, to the refusal thus far to rescue the "Big 3" U.S. automakers.
Make no mistake about it. This isn’t about punishing a few greedy, tone-deaf, auto executives. Their "golden parachutes" will protect them no matter what happens. This is about several million middle class workers that are directly or indirectly employed by the U.S. auto industry.
But it’s even more than that. This is in many respects a "last stand" for the whole notion of a blue collar middle class in the U.S
The United Auto Workers labor union was at the forefront of establishing what it means to be middle class: a wage sufficient to support a family; a 40-hour work week; safe working conditions; health care; and a small retirement pension. Tens of millions of non-union workers in the U.S. have enjoyed those benefits because the auto workers fought for and established those working standards.
But those standards have been under corporate assault for many years. Health care coverage has been steadily eroded, retirement pensions have all but disappeared, and median income in the U.S. has actually declined under George W. Bush. The major unions in the U.S. are some of the last areas where workers have a chance to defend those standards.
The anti-union right wing has been waiting for such an opportunity for many years, and their media servants are eagerly pushing their propaganda. They make up lies about autoworkers earning $70 or $80 per hour (the base wage is actually $28 an hour, and about half that much for new hires), and stoke the fires of resentment of the "big 3" by focusing on trivial matters of corporate jets and overpaid executives. (Where was that focus when Congress quickly rubber-stamped a $700 billion give-away to the Wall Street financial industry? This is just a $25 billion loan to help preserve the last major manufacturing industry in the nation.)
We are facing a watershed moment for the future of middle class America. If the domestic automakers are forced into bankruptcy, they will be allowed to tear up their union contracts, slash wages, and walk away from their pension and health care obligations to current workers and hundreds of thousands of retirees. This would not only be an economic disaster that would ripple throughout America, it would be catastrophic blow to what remains of the blue collar middle class in this country.
The parameters of a reasonable solution seem obvious: provide the loan, with important strings attached, i.e., commitments on mileage efficiency and next-generation vehicles, all funds to be invested in domestic operations, no executive bonuses, etc. Why wouldn’t the Democratic Congress (and smart Republicans as well) be strongly in support of such a solution?
The stakes could not be higher. If the Big 3 U.S. automakers are forced into bankruptcy, the big loser will be the American middle class.