Posted February 20, 2008
The genuises at The Onion understand well Freud’s discovery of how jokes reveal a side of truth and reality that we, for one reason or another, are unwilling to admit to ourselves up front. Thus the recent article “GM Introduces New 2008 Line Of Layoffs.”
Folks with stronger stomachs should then read about the latest buyouts at GM being passively accepted – read organized and administered – by the UAW leadership.
‘Union Expects 15,000 to 20,000 GM Workers to take Buyouts.’
“There will be a lot of interest (in the buyouts),” Ron Gettelfinger calmly explains. One wonders how “interested” the non-core workers who will replace the bought-out workers will be in the UAW. Or in the pathetic, ‘corporate-competiveness’ logic spewed from Gettelfinger and Co. These non-core workers will have less benefits and will be paid at least $10 an hour less than their fellow workers. Up to %20 of the current UAW membership may accept the buyouts, paving the way for the company to hire 16,000 workers into these sell-out jobs, all with the approval and eager hand of the UAW.
Thus the sad, bitter truth of the following, again from The Onion article:
“Though the layoffs were his idea, Wagoner (GM Chairman) said their realization would not have been possible without the help of several thousand dedicated GM employees.”