Unions are nothing but legalized thuggery. They served their function nearly 100 years ago. Now all they do is raise wages higher and higher while the workers work less and less. That's not really all they do. Wait til the savior is anointed and he forces the card check law down the workers throats. No secret ballots, the unions love it. They can then use their all too typical tactics of intimidation and violence to get what they want. Don't forget how unions consistently funnel millions and millions of dues money into the Dem party coffers. There are federal laws against that practice but the unions continue this practice with impunity. Now we are seeing what they have done to the once great 3 American auto makers. They can thank the unions. I hope all three go through bankruptcy. It will be the best thing that's happened to them in a long long time. They will survive and they will be able to compete. It's sad that a lot of workers will suffer but they got the results of what they caused.

Artie: you are a typical union loving moron. Last time I looked Toyota and Honda had some of the highest quality vehicles sold here. Have some more union Kool Aide!

You get what you pay for. This is a fairly simple business model. Provide customers with a needed product at a fair price and it will sell. The same thing applies to labor. Employers pay less for low skill jobs. This allows employers to maintain that fair and reasonable price. However, force a company to give their low skill labor a raise and what happens? In order to pay for the raise without losing profits, the company must charge more for the once reasonably priced good. Now the merchandise is more expensive than it is really worth. However, because the item now costs more than it is worth, fewer are sold. So profits go down anyways.

Mind you that this situation assumes that all other business factors are constant, there is a competitive market, and that the item was fairly priced to begin with.

Cocco also gets the original reason for unions wrong. The original goal for unionization was to protect the workers from unfair business practices. It had nothing to do with the middle class. Unions should focus on the reasons they were created. If the Big 3 were allowed to use real capitalism, then there would not be a Job Bank. Real capitalism works. The UAW have changed the business model of the Big 3 so much that I don't know what to call it anymore, but it sure isn't capitalism.

Unions in this day and age are just as obsolete as the Edsel and corded telephones. Union strong arm and fear tactics (yes, that's what they do)is what keeps them in 'business'. Nothing more than a 'legal' mafia.

I loved Brian's comment, but since viruses aren't really alive, antibiotics don't work on them. (antibiotic means anti life) I do think unions are like viruses in that they are lifeless. However, immunization does work, and what needs to happen is workplace education by the company and open shop laws that will provide the immunization necessary to prevent the union virus from getting a death grip on the company.

Unions are to Companies as a Virus is to a Host. What the ignorant UAW doesn't seem to be understanding is that if the virus kills the host because it feasted too much, the host dies, and the virus dies with it! Perhaps they should be willing to give a little more than they seem willing to thus far.

I think the UAW virus should learn a hard physiological lesson, and the Big 3 Hosts should take a nice antibiotic (bankruptcy) so they can remain, but the virus dies.

This would level the playing field. Perhaps capitalism might survive because as everyone got a wage or SS increase they would also see their prices go up. Haven't figured out what to do about those living on investment returns.

I find it funny how the right wing, is in glee at the unions issues being a controversy, banks failing, financial institutions failing, dollar collapsing, bankrupting wars in middle east, American good name ruined world wide, jobs being exported so fast one cannot keep track, unemployement rising astronomically, recession here, depression on horizon, foreclosure/housing fiasco, amazing! One would think right wing could see none of this bodes well for anyone, but then my view is right wing lives in fantasy land of their own imagination, that some how things are not as bad as they seem! Ignorance is truly bliss for the right wing loonies!

"...pay workers what they need to sustain themselves..."

Kind of like "...to each according to his needs."

So, FDR tried giving every forced raising by creating and then raising minimum wage. And what did that do? Destroy jobs! Way to go unions.

I support what the workers did and I am glad to see that they were successful in getting their back pay. I am just a little curious how BOA thinks it is going to be paid back for this loan to a company that has gone out of business!

Have you noticed that we have started to hear more and more about companies who deal with the unions being in trouble? Could this possibly be due to the Libs big push to get a higher minimum wage 2 years ago? And wasn't after the min. wage was raised people started losing their jobs, and then their homes, and defaulting on credit cards...etc. I love liberals, stupid people are so entertaining.