Dave wrote:
On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:16:36 -0500, Marty said:

BIG fuel guzzling expensive cars and SUVs, let 'em die I say, but don't
blame labour.

Perhaps we can agree that management was in substantial part culpable for
caving in to labor demands which, in the long run, they would be unable to
meet?

It isn't as if unfunded liabilities was a new concept. In fact conceptually
the so-called "jobs bank" was very much like the unfunded pensions before
the Studebaker failure. And it wasn't any news that the health benefits they
were promising exceeded those borne by competitors.

Perhaps,


The only part I'd take much exception is the health care issue. Toyota
and Honda have been able to provide a very competitive health care
package for their employees, (isn't that pretty much a legal
requirement?); however they have taken perhaps more creative and
aggressive control of that care to allow them to provide it at about 1/3
the cost that the big three incur . Again, this is something management
has screwed up in Detroit. Further, it doesn't explain why they have
the same problems in Canada, the health care issue is *exactly* the same
for every employer, yet we see the same problems.

Would you agree that the design visionaries in Detroit haven't been to
good at keeping up with consumer desires?

Cheers
Martin