Don't you think that the industry ceded
Years ago, when the omens weren't heeded?
When every outsource
Determined that course,
Why is Delphi, as oracle, needed?
Staggering blow: Delphi's bankruptcy ominous sign for fading auto industry
By Bill Vlasic and Brett Clanton, The Detroit News 10/9/05
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
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3 comments:
I think the demise of Delphi spells more doom than first glance might assume.
I have never figured out why the media has to villanize the American blue collar worker? Union members are always depicted as ignorant, low-life gravy-train riders. Obviously,it plays a part for the corporate tract bent on totally destroying union muscle.
Middle America better wake up and smell the roses. They most likely have, and discovered there's not a damn thing they can do to halt the blight...unions have been castrated, and the middle-class blue collar worker (as well as his/her pink collar counterpart) are on their way to becoming dinosaurs.
I'm afraid that Delphi is more like the last nail in the coffin, CP. After years of eroding clout for the unions, an American auto industry located primarily in the U.S. is pipe dream.
It's unfortunate, but not surprising, that management has blamed workers and the union for Delphi's financial woes. From what I have read, GM unloaded Delphi in '99 because they were seen as a failed division that would only contribute further to their financial decline.
Anyone who hasn't seen this coming has not been paying attention. I think the union leadership has not served their members well by failing to adapt to the changing economic environment. Of course, corporate greed cannot be discounted but what that really means is greedy stockholders who expect phenomonal returns on their investments. This is the legacy of Ronald Reagan, who, I understand, was recently voted the all time "greatest American." Ha!
Maybe the movement of manufacturing jobs offshore and south of the border would be a "good thing" (thanks Martha) if it help raise the standard of living in those countries; but, too often, it just becomes an excuse for exploiting a different group of workers.
The good news is that we, as a species, don't tolerate a wide gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" for long. And apparently it is part of our evolutionary heritage.
I had the rare opportuinty to listen to NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday (a favorite)last week. Ira Flatow interviewed primatolagist, Frans de Waal of Emory University and the Yerkes Research Center. De Waal spoke about "inequity aversion," a trait he says we share with chimpanzees and bonobos. A little research of my own lead me to an article he co-authored in Nature entitled, "Monkeys reject unequal pay." Worth a read.
BTW, I apologize for requiring the extra "letter code" entry but I have been getting many spam comments whenever I ping the aggregators.
I love NPR!
As to the anti spam lettering code, what don't they come up with something that is at least humorous, something racy?
How about these combinations (and pardon the coarseness, but can't you just see SOME bloggers having a hard time copying these phrases?):
screwyou
frickoff
kissmyass
bitemybutt
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera
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