Obama Weighs Buyout Rage Against Future of Iconic Auto Union

By News on the Net —— Bio and Archives April 3, 2009

Comments | Print This | Subscribe | Email Us

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, confronting growing public outrage against bailouts, is taking a hard line with the United Auto Workers, the union that supported his election and whose future now hangs in the balance.

The UAW, once a pre-eminent U.S. labor organization, is in retreat along with U.S. automakers. It is a quarter the size it was at its peak of 1.5 million members in 1979, when its political clout helped Chrysler Corp. get a then-unprecedented $1.2 billion federal bailout. Now Obama is pushing the union, which already has given up job-security programs and some compensation, to take more concessions within 60 days or General Motors Corp. could face bankruptcy. His auto task force warned the cost of GM’s pensions and retiree health care will “grow to unsustainable levels.” More...