VIDEO: Fox News Attacks UAW's Role In Auto Industry Madness

The UAW is as equally responsible for the auto industry's problems as the companys' executives. By acting childishly during negotiations, they are jeopardizing their own livelihood. They just don't get it, do they? Something has to give, something has to bend.

Last month, Fox News reported:

WASHINGTON -- General Motors and Chrysler have found themselves stuck in neutral in negotiations with the United Auto Workers union. With just two days before two of the Big Three automakers return to Washington, D.C., to offer a restructuring plan and ask for more cash from the federal government, concession talks are set to resume with the labor group, which is on a crash course with the automakers over who has to sacrifice for the companies to stay afloat.

Talks in Detroit with GM broke off Friday night over the issue of health care for retirees. UAW negotiators walked out in a dispute over swapping stock for cash payments into a union-run trust fund that will take over retiree health care costs starting next year. On Sunday, a source close to the negotiations said talks with General Motors and the UAW will resume in the afternoon. Chrysler's talks were moving very slowly, and the UAW shifted its efforts to Ford Motor Co., the healthiest of the Detroit Three and the only one not receiving government loans.

David Axelrod was unclear on the Obama Administration's view. Not surprisingly, Axelrod is once again demonizing the "Big Corporations" and siding with the union members whose votes they rely on for continued Totalitarian dominance.

Government cannot and should not stick its nose into American business and American pockets. Regulation, CAFE standards, Card Check Union voting policy all have led to the economic slow-down we now face.

"This is a difficult situation," President Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod said on "FOX News Sunday. "Everyone's going to have to continue to work toward a solution."

Axelrod said that the companies will have to undergo "significant restructuring" of their industry so they can produce cars that people want to buy. He said it won't be painless.

"We have a vested interest in seeing the auto industry continue," he told "FOX News Sunday." "And that's going to involve concessions on the part of everyone, not just the auto workers, but shareholders, creditors and, of course, the executives who run the company."

Axelrod wouldn't say whether the administration would offer the auto industry more bailout money. Asked if the U.S. economy could withstand a bankruptcy at GM, Axelrod didn't respond directly.

What are they thinking? If the companies go belly-up, the union members will be out of jobs anyway? How can they support the unions, when the union may have no place to work? This is part of the reason why we have been against this bailout from day one. It's a lose-lose situation for everyone. Government cannot and should not stick its nose into American business and American pockets.

Regulation, CAFE standards, Card Check Union voting policy all have led to the economic slow-down we now face.

But Obama and the Liberals are going to continue to push for Card Check, creating more and more unions, and further damaging more corporations. They just don't get it, they are more interested in having a subservient voting block than actually worrying about the economy.

Trust me. A bad economy makes people more and more dependant on Government and that is exactly what The Democrats want.

VIDEO: Proof that "Card Check" Is Nothing More Than Union Boss Thug Intimidation

More proof that "Card Check"; the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" is a dangerous union-thug appeasement.

And our President supports it!

"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests – because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. " --President Obama 3/3/09 addressing AFL-CIO Union leaders.

"We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act," President Obama told more than 100 top labor officials in a closed-door meeting at the labor federation's winter gathering in Miami, according to people at the meeting.

I have been pretty critical of unions lately, especially the UAW for its failure to re-negotiate with Detroit's failing auto companies. For the record, I'm not anti-union.

I'm certainly not pro-union by any means, but I do believe that employees should have the right to unionize in any given industry should they see fit -- when left on their own, most Americans make good decisions about what is best for them -- that would truly be "Employee Free Choice".

However, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act pending in Congress does the exact opposite. It eliminates the "secret ballot" for unionization and opens the door for intimidation and corruption from union brass.

Starbucks, Costco Oppose 'Card Check' Bill

"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests – because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. "
--President Obama 3/3/09 addressing AFL-CIO Union leaders.

"We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act," President Obama told more than 100 top labor officials in a closed-door meeting at the labor federation's winter gathering in Miami, according to people at the meeting.

I have been pretty critical of unions lately, especially the UAW for its failure to re-negotiate with Detroit's failing auto companies.

For the record, I'm not anti-union. I'm certainly not pro-union by any means, but I do believe that employees should have the right to unionize in any given industry should they see fit -- when left on their own, most Americans make good decisions about what is best for them -- that would truly be "Employee Free Choice".

However, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act pending in Congress does the exact opposite. It eliminates the "secret ballot" for unionization and opens the door for intimidation and corruption from union brass.

Newsmax reports:

Three major retailers on Saturday laid out broad details of an alternative proposal they hope will fend off a deadlock over a hotly contested bill making it easier for workers to unionize.


Starbucks Corp., Whole Foods Market Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. are opposed to portions of the labor-friendly Employee Free Choice Act, which would take away the right of employers to demand secret-ballot elections by workers before unions could be formed. Under the legislation, unions could gain representation if a majority of workers sign cards authorizing it.


Still, the companies say they recognize that simply opposing the bill might prove futile given a union-friendly environment in Washington in which Democrats control Congress. So the companies on Saturday announced an ad hoc committee aimed at pushing through alternatives. Their proposals will seek to maintain management's right to demand a secret ballot election and would leave out binding arbitration.


The three retailers want to toughen penalties for companies that retaliate against workers before union elections, while at the same time stiffen penalties for union violations.


"We believe in and trust our employees, which is neither anti-union nor pro-status quo," said James Sinegal of Costco. He said the group's proposals "will ensure a fair opportunity for workers to make an informed choice, with a secret ballot, whether they want a union or whether they wish to retain non-union status."

Imagine that! Leaders trusting the judgement of their constituents! What a great lesson for Liberals to learn! Let people make their own decisions!

Heritage states:

The ability to vote in privacy with a secret ballot is a fundamental American right. It is a right that some in Congress now want to take away from American workers. The Employee Free Choice Act would strip workers of their right to vote on joining a union. Instead workers would be required to publicly sign a card in front of union organizers, leaving them vulnerable to threats, harassment, and abuse. It would also require companies to go to binding arbitration. This would lead to massive government wage setting in the economy while taking away newly unionized workers ability to vote to ratify collective bargaining agreements.

Above all, Obama is ignoring the fact that three-quarters of union members oppose this legislation.

Obama Thanks Unions: Employee Free Choice Act Is Coming; 75% Of Union Members Oppose the Bill

Killing Us Softly With Card Check!

"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests – because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. "

--President Obama 3/3/09 addressing AFL-CIO Union leaders.

The Wall Street Journal reports: into the heart of American businesses.

President Barack Obama told AFL-CIO union leaders Tuesday in a videotaped address that the controversial Employee Free Choice Act will pass, signaling his full backing for legislation that makes union organizing easier.

"We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act," President Obama told more than 100 top labor officials in a closed-door meeting at the labor federation's winter gathering in Miami, according to people at the meeting.

The bill would make it easier for unions to recruit workers because it would let them join unions simply by signing cards rather than through secret-ballot elections in which companies can campaign against the union. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations have been campaigning against the legislation.

Business groups say they will intensify their lobbying against the bill as it is introduced. Randel Johnson, vice president of labor policy for the Chamber of Commerce, said the group will focus its heaviest lobbying efforts on senators in about seven states, and that an endorsement of the bill by a small number of companies "would not affect the political dynamic," because employer opposition to the bill is "overwhelming."

(Hat Tip: Jammie Wearing Fool)

Obama is ignoring the fact that three-quarters of union members oppose this legislation.

But since when have Socialists ever believed that we know better than Mother Government. No, no, no! Government is the answer, remember?

In polling conducted for CDW in January by McLaughlin & Associates, nearly three-quarters (74%) of union households were opposed to the card check provisions in the Employee Free Choice Act. An overwhelming 88% of union households believed that a worker's vote should be kept private during a union organizing election, and 85% of union households believed that a secret ballot election is the best way to protect the individual rights of workers when they are deciding whether to join a union.

"The American people, including rank and file union members, are strongly opposed to card check because it will strip away worker privacy and put our economy at greater risk," said Brian Worth, the chairman of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. "The Obama Administration would be wise to rethink its support of card check instead of blindly following the wishes of Big Labor."

Indeed, as Heritage states:

The ability to vote in privacy with a secret ballot is a fundamental American right. It is a right that some in Congress now want to take away from American workers. The Employee Free Choice Act would strip workers of their right to vote on joining a union. Instead workers would be required to publicly sign a card in front of union organizers, leaving them vulnerable to threats, harassment, and abuse. It would also require companies to go to binding arbitration. This would lead to massive government wage setting in the economy while taking away newly unionized workers ability to vote to ratify collective bargaining agreements.

But we all know this is just a big power grab and "thanks" from Team Obama for Union campaign contributions.

Keep The Change, America! This is more politics as usual!