Are unions to blame for the big 3's troubles?

No, I doubt unions are to blame for the car companies problems. If it was just an issue of them running out of money, then sure, okay...maybe. But it's not. Their problem is no one wants to buy their freaking cars anymore. Not here in the U.S., not anywhere. You COULD call that an inability to compete, I'd just call that, "Serious lack of foresight and ignoring the will of the consumer." Obviously, they haven't heard that the customer is always right. Therefore: the bailout only prolongs the inevitable unless they use that money to wise up about the cars they're making (which I doubt they well. Just like the banks didn't use the money they were given to save themselves. They just continued on their old bad habits that got them into that position in the first place)...and I'm not sure that they could be given enough money to really do that...anyway.

Perhaps you think that the workers should work for free. What about the millions they pay the people at the top who have let the company fail. I am sick and tired of the workers always being blamed for the failure of the company leaders. The car industry is in trouble because it failed to make cars that consumers wanted and the changing times demanded. It continued to make big petrol guzzling trucks and SUV's when it should have been developing non petrol cars that were more economical to run. This is a direct result of their refusal to change their car designs because it cost too much money to retool a factory. Unfortunately for them their overseas competitors did do something about it and are putting them out of the market. The same is happening in Australia where the factories are all robot production lines not workers. The so called big 3 were too complacent and kept shelving every alternative engine that was invented saying that petrol will be here forever when that was a blatant lie. They have lived with their heads in the sand and now they are paying the price. Cars that do not use petrol should have been on the market years ago if the big 3 had not tried to silence the research. They could not silence it forever.

When you buy a car made by one of the big three you pay about a thousand dollar just to pay for the cost of people that do not even work for the company any more. You cannot operate a business paying for people that do not even work for you anymore. Foreign auto companies do not have to worry about. They do not have any legacy benefits they have to pay for. Also as a whole unions make companies unflexable. Companies have to be able to evolve to the changing times, union contracted labor prevents companies from adjusting to this times without a new collective bargaining agreement. This is what happen to great companies like U.S Steel and now is happening to the big three.

The unions have been around for a long time, and the automakers have been doing fine. The only thing that's different now is that the SUV's aren't selling like they have been.

This is a tough call and one have mixed feelings about. Although I've been a huge supporter of unions and a union member most of my adult life if I'd have seen this question even a few short years ago I'd have answered "YES" without a moment's hesitation. We've probably all heard stories, if we don't know anyone who works in the auto industry, about people getting paid $40-50/hour for standing and tightening a lug-nut and how if they're asked to help out on something else, no matter how simple, the union won't allow it. I've never denied there are some unions whose demands are a bit extreme no matter how much I believe in the general premise of unions, mostly because I know for a fact that every job I've had would have paid very low wages and probably no benefits if it were not for the union and I still don't feel I was ever "overpaid" by any stretch of the imagination and I worked my butt off for every penny I've ever earned. Getting back to the problems of the Big 3 automakers today, I've been hearing quite a bit about how the unions have made some major concessions recently; some say they haven't gone far enough and others disagree but there has been some progress made in this regard. It's true that many Americans have been buying foreign cars for years now but I really don't think it's all due to price; sadly, in some cases it's seemed that foreign cars are made better, last longer and get better gas mileage than their domestic counterparts. Many of these "foreign" cars are actually made in the U.S., some in union shops and some not. Anyone who has priced a car lately will tell you you'll pay just as much or more for a Honda or Toyota than for a Chevy or Pontiac. I guess what I'm trying to say is that unions may be a contributor to the problems the Big 3 face right now but they're not totally to blame. Those at the top, the CEO's making tens or hundreds of millions in salaries and bonuses are more to blame, in my opinion. I have mixed feelings as to whether we should bail the automakers out or not or how much but I do know this - if the taxpayers' money is going to go to these companies there has to be some pretty sturdy strings attached and it's got to involved sacrifices by all who will benefit from it. If they simply take our money and go on with business as usual I think there will be he11 to pay! Annie

When times were good the Auto Companies were quite happy to comply with the Unions demands; if they didn't, the Unions went on strike and the companies lost money. Gradually, the demands of the Unions priced us out of the market because the foreign companies could make as good or better products than the American manufacturer. Now times are tough and the Unions aren't prepared to back off and cut their cloth to suit their purse. I hear all these Union workers whinging about how they can't afford to take a pay cut but then I hear of a Union worker whose job was a sweeper, making $65,000 a year! The "job bank!" What a swindle!! No wonder our cars cost so much. I see so many of these Union workers making six figures, they have their 4000sq ft. houses with $1500+ monthly payments, Skidoos, summer cottages, boats and all sorts of toys but they didn't save anything!! Because I was cheated out of almost everything I owed in 1978, I then put 20% of my paycheck away and today, at the age of 86, I have enjoyed 20 years of retirement with my wife of 65 years, have a nice condo and enough resources that my family will never have to worry when I kick the bucket. Yes, definitely, the Unions are a large part of the predicament this country is in today.