Less than a month after Vice President Joe Biden told labor union leaders that he believed that the best way to build the middle class is to help their unions grow, General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection and few in the auto industry seem willing to discuss the role that unions played in its demise.
With the United Auto Workers’ benefit plan expected to receive nearly a 20% ownership stake in what is now Government Motors as a result of the bankruptcy filing, some reports indicate that the current deal means that the union was successful in taking on less risk than it would have under earlier proposals. The question remains how much influence the unions will continue to have over the newly-structured, government-run GM and whether union involvement, particularly at the management level, will jeopardize the automakers chances for revival.
Recently, CFIF’s own Timothy Lee, a former private practice employment lawyer, joined Renee Giachino, CFIF’s Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President, to discuss the political force of unions, the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act and why Big Labor cannot save the middle class or the auto industry.
What follows is the interview originally heard on "Your Turn - Meeting Nonsense With Commonsense" on WEBY 1330 AM, Northwest Florida's talk radio…[Listen to the interview here.]