[BonzoHansen]

Does that mean all the workers in BMW's plant in SC are less safe then ones in one of GM's plants? I'd have to disagree on that. OSHA didn't exist 'back in the day', but they do now. As do insurance companies that underwrite workers comp and liability insurance. Back in the day the union acted as a lone force of change, but now there are other forces at work too. And like Chris pointed out, we are specifically talking about assembly line workers.

There is a similar thread at every car forum right now. And it is all the same…’how can GM do this', yadda yadda yaddda. GM has no choice but to do this, and if you think otherwise you are terribly naive. GM can't 'fight the good fight' if it means loosing tons of money. Everything I have read says all this should result in reversing the negative cash flow generated by the North American business. What is the alternative, stay the course? If they do they will inevitably file for bankruptcy and then dump all the retiree benefits on the US tax payer, who will in turn give those retirees $0.10 on the $1 for their pensions. Welcome to the PBGC – an almost bankrupt version of the FDIC for pensions.

How about this - instead of hammering GM, why not go hammer the non-UAW factories out there? Or get in your elected officials faces? How the hell is GM supposed to compete with Toyota & Honda if the playing field is so uneven? Our government sure has no interest in helping the big 2.5 (I’ve downgraded Chrysler in my head to less then 1). And if you say ‘make better cars’, ugh, go look at the numbers. Adding $1500+ per car in legacy costs per car (a number that grows daily) sure puts them in a big starting hole. It is no coincidence that the new GM cars are much nicer and R&D is really starting to shine now that they did a lot of cost restructuring. But they need more. The market is changing, the global market is bigger then the US market. GM is trying to position themselves worldwide. And as Al has pointed out, they are leaders in many other markets, such as China.

I’m not a GM sycophant, and the General does not need my defense, but I know what I see & read.