A7

CHARLES MOORE
AT LARGE

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They've got to be kidding!," I exploded to my wife, tuning in the TV news Sunday night to hear details of the Canadian Auto Workers union's ballyhooed tentative agreement with General Motors on labour concessions toward helping the wounded industrial behemoth stave off imminent bankruptcy.

Earlier in the day I'd heard reports of CAW boss Ken Lewenza affirming that the union was willing to make sacrifices to ensure its members' hourly costs remain competitive. "Finally!" I thought, "maybe, belatedly, reality has begin to sink in."

Silly me. This is the CAW.

Turns out that all Lewenza and his crew agreed to in a Sunday bargaining session with GM negotiators was:

*A one-year extension of the current contract with base wages and pension levels frozen at existing inflated (and uncompetitive) levels;

*Suspension of quarterly cost-of-living adjustments for wages until "almost" the end of the contract, with them kicking back in by June 2012;

*No annual cost-of-living adjustments to pensions for the duration of this contract;

*Paid time off reduced by an additional 40 hours (one work week) annually, additional to another 40-hour reduction in yearly vacation pay already implemented (how much vacation time were these guys getting?);

*An annual $1,700 special bonus payment diverted to help offset the cost of retiree health-care benefits; and

*A new monthly co-payment for health care benefits of $30 monthly for active workers and pensioners under 65, and $15 per month from pensioners over 65 and surviving spouses.

Ken Lewenza referred to these conditions at a news conference as "significant sacrifice" that "will cause real hardship for our members and their families," who "will feel the pain."

Cry me a river! What planet are these people from?

What I had been hopefully but foolishly anticipating was some real concessions that might actually make a difference, late in the day as it is. As one web forum commentator observed, with the current desperate straits GM is in, what was called for from the CAW was suspension of the right to strike until the company returns to profitability - however long that may take, if it's possible at all - plus significant wage cuts to the tune of at least 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and a 50-50 co-pay on health care benefits for both active and retired workers.

I hasten to emphasize that even with those cutbacks in place, CAW members would still be much better off than the average Canadian manufacturing worker, and until the union agrees to making real sacrifices of that magnitude, GM (and Chrysler) should not get one red Canadian penny more of taxpayers' money.

Taxpayers, a large proportion of whom are less generously compensated, enjoy far fewer benefits than an auto worker would even after the reforms recommended above, and many of whom really are feeling economic pain.

The so-called "concessions" agreed to on Sunday are a sick joke, amounting to a proverbial spit-in-the-ocean that falls far short of what is needed if moribund GM is to have any hope of survival, which is looking less likely every day.

The federal government has already agreed in principle to give GM $3 billion (and Chrysler $1 billion) in ostensibly "repayable" loans, with GM alone seeking as much as $7 billion from the federal and Ontario governments. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has affirmed that there needs to be "some assurance that this will not be a waste of taxpayer money," with conditions like rationalization of "legacy costs," like retiree health and pension benefits, and the union must be prepared to live with competitive wage and benefit packages attached before the feds open the money tap.

Well, Mr. Flaherty; what was agreed to Sunday (still subject at this writing to member ratification) falls so banefully short of what is required here that you shouldn't even consider ponying up any more of our tax dollars in aid of a lost cause.

I'm neither a Detroit-hater nor anti-worker (unions? - that's another movie), but I am (or try to be) a realist. My philosophical preference is to drive North American built vehicles, and I will be genuinely saddened if GM (or Chrysler or Ford) goes down, but it's looking increasingly likely that at least one of them will.

GM's own auditors have reportedly expressed "substantial doubt" about GM's ability to keep operating, citing "the corporation's recurring losses from operations, stockholders' deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations."

Jim Flaherty affirmed last week the possibility that GM could still go bankrupt even with government assistance is "a major concern."

After the CAW's pathetic swipe at "concessions" on Sunday, bankruptcy's not just a possibility, it's a probability.

Time to let nature take its course. If people don't start buying cars and trucks again, no amount of government bailouts can save GM anyway.

Charles W. Moore is a Nova Scotia based freelance writer and editor. He can be reached by e-mail at cwmoore@gmx.net. His column appears each Thursday.