AMERICAN CARS AND UNIONS

Peter J. Boyer, The World of Business, “The Road Ahead,” The New Yorker, April 27,

ABSTRACT: THE WORLD OF BUSINESS about the government bailout of the auto industry and the viability of General Motors. Writer tells about the construction of a Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, in the 1980s—then the largest Japanese investment ever in the U.S. Nissan’s President, Takashi Ishihara, had a low opinion of American manufacturing and workmanship.

WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK. LOW OPINION. THOSE GUYS ARE SLAVES. THEY HAVE NO LIFE.


Nissan proposed to transplant the Japanese method to the United States. The U.S. was in a deep recession, AS USUAL, and the governors of several states campaigned aggressively for the Nissan project.


REPUBLLICAN GOVERNORS?? UH??? WHO CARES ANYWAY. THIS IS ALL CRAP.


The Smyrna plant soon began to turn a profit and through the nineteen-eighties it consistently ranked as the most productive auto plant in the United States. Discusses how labor practices at the plant differed from those at the Big Three’s plants.

HOW INDEED. LABOR PRACTICES. IS THAT WHAT WE'RE CALLING IT. LABOR FUCKING PRACTICES. NO UNIONS IN TENESSEE. SAVE YOUR CONFEDERATE MONEY BOYS, THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN.

Other foreign automakers began to emulate Nissan’s success, and a new Auto Belt emerged in America. The lasting significance of the Smyrna venture became clear last fall, when General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler went to Washington to seek money for the American auto industry’s survival.


Opposition to a Detroit bailout was most forcefully put by a group of representatives from the new Auto Belt. The leader of this group was Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee.

DEM OR REP? I WONDER???

Describes the appearance by executives from the Big Three before Congress and their request for twenty-five billion dollars in bridge loans.

The hearing exposed the industry’s predicament: the automakers and their workers were mired in arrangements made long ago that had ultimately rendered their businesses untenable.


MIRED IN THE MUD OF UNION PROMISES.


Discusses inefficiencies that resulted, in large part, from concessions made by the automakers to their union and considers how the rise of the S.U.V. became a liability for Detroit when fuel prices rose steeply last year.


THAT'S LIFE. HOW ABOUT A DECENT CAR THAT SEATS SIX INSTEAD OF FIVE. THAT WOULD HELP THINGS A LOT. OH, I FORGOT, JUST FUCK MYSELF. OK.


Writer interviews Ed McClain, a former union leader in Flint, Michigan who is inclined to blame corporate management for the demise of the auto industry in that city. Tells about the second round of Congressional hearings and explains the crushing debt burden faced by General Motors, much of it from its obligations to worker-benefit programs.


UNIONS. RIGHT. SO GET RID OF THEM. BACK TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. SLAVERY IS THE REAL ANSWER. FIRE YOUR STAFF AT AGE FORTY. AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF ASSEMBLY LINE JOBS ARE NOT ROBOTIZED? NOBODY EVER SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT THAT> OF COURSE, BECAUSE THEY ARE BUSY FUCKING THEMSELVES.

Discusses how the Obama Administration has handled the crisis since taking office. Obama has created an auto task force headed by Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom. Tells about Bloom’s previous involvement in turning around the beleaguered U.S. steel industry. Considers arguments about whether bankruptcy would be the best way for G.M. to proceed and mentions the resignation of G.M. C.E.O. Rick Wagoner.



MENTIONS THE RESIGNATION? THAT WAS NO RESIGNATION. HE WAS FIRED BY AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT. HOW OFTEN DOES THAT HAPPEN. WHY DO PEOPLE LIE. IT'S EXHAUSTING KEEPING UP WITH THESE MOTHERFUCKERS.

WHAT DID HE DO WRONG? MADE MORE HYBRIDS. GAVE A LIVING WAGE TO HIS UNIIONIZED WORKERS, WHILE TOYOTA CONTINUED WITH THE SLAVE MODEL. AND OBAMA-OF-THE ANGELS FIRES HIM? FUCK THAT SHIT!


When the auto task force visited Detroit, G.M. arranged for them to go to the Technology Center, the company’s engineering and research facility. Tells about Bob Lutz, the head of product development at G.M. and the Chevy Volt, an affordable, all-electric vehicle that G.M. is striving to bring to the marketplace next year.


AFFORDIBLE? STRIVING TO BRING TO THE MARKETPLACE? DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH.



Discusses the technology behind the Volt and describes the failure of the company’s first electric car, the EV1.

DESCRIBES HOW? WHAT HAPPENED. I NEVER SAW AN AD FOR THE EVI. HOW CAN YOU SELL A CAR WITHOUT ADVERTISING IT. AND WHY WOULD OIL OWNED MEDIA ADVERTISE SOMETHING THAT WOULD PUT IT OUT OF BUSINESS? AND HOW DO YOU FIX SOMETHING AS CORRUPT AS THAT?


In a speech on March 30, Obama said that he holds one overriding goal for the auto industry: “The United States of America will lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars.” AND PIGS THAT CAN FLY. WE ALREADY LEAD THE WORLD IN THE PRODUCTION OF HYBRID CARS. WHY DIDN'T LIARBAMA SAY THAT? CAUSE HE TALKS OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH. MR. DON'T PUNISH CRIMES BECAUSE THEY HAPPENED IN THE PAST. JUST LOOK FORWARD. HE SHOULD JUST GO FUCK HIMSELF.


THIS ARTICLE WAS NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE. THE NEW YORKER LEADS THE WAY IN CUTTING DOWN FREE ONLINE ACCESS. IT'LL BE ANOTHER UN NOTICED OUTRAGE. BUT WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT? EXCEPT UNNOTICED THINGS.