My Letter to Government Concerning GM Bailout
I have followed recent economic events closely and I am glad that the government is helping to shore up the economy in this time of stress. However, I do have issue with some aspects of the proposed General Motors bailout. As stated by CBC News on Friday February 20, 2009: “GM expects there will be no further plant closures in Canada, but it plans to slash executive salaries by 10 per cent, cut benefits to hourly employees, and build new models at its Ontario plants. Under the plan, GM's Canadian workforce — which numbered 20,000 in 2005 and currently stands at 12,500 — would be pared down to 7,000 by 2010.”
What bothers me the most about this course of action is that it tries to stabilize the economy by stabilizing the companies who are most affected by the downturn. Part of this process seems to be the cutting of jobs. I am not sure how well the economy will fair if no one is working in the end. It disheartens me that the above quotation includes the slashing of 5,500 jobs, while cutting executive salaries by 10%. At the very least, GM should be cutting the same percentage of executive positions as they do plant positions.
This tells me that General Motors and the government are only interested in the well-being of the company at hand and its role in the stock market, and have no real sense of how this plan will affect the working population. I frequently hear the government during times of plenty use a statistic of low unemployment as a yardstick to show how the economy is fairing. But as soon as times get tough, unemployment does not seem to matter anymore – keeping the stock value of a company is more important.
I urge you to tailor a bailout plan for GM that is better suited for Canadian citizens and that geared more towards helping the economy, and not just helping a single company. All the experts are talking about how the collapse of the American/Canadian auto industry would be devastating to the economy. This is probably true, but please do not let the auto industry use that leverage to manipulate you into signing bad deals. I urge you to ask yourself “how did these companies get in this position?” and use the bailout as a tool to make the Canadian economy stronger in the long run. The Federal Industry Minister has been quoted as saying “We’re not bailing out pension plans. Let me be crystal clear on that.” I suggest that he should be bailing out pension plans – those of the plant workers in the company. Sure, have them take paycuts, do whatever it takes. But do not mortgage their future just so GM can have a viable corporate future, especially in light of their ineptness to become a viable institution on their own.
Sent to:
Tony Clement, Federal Industry Minister Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
Scott Brison, Liberal Trade Critic Brison.S@parl.gc.ca
Brad Trost, Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Trost.B@parl.gc.ca
General Motors Customer Services
What bothers me the most about this course of action is that it tries to stabilize the economy by stabilizing the companies who are most affected by the downturn. Part of this process seems to be the cutting of jobs. I am not sure how well the economy will fair if no one is working in the end. It disheartens me that the above quotation includes the slashing of 5,500 jobs, while cutting executive salaries by 10%. At the very least, GM should be cutting the same percentage of executive positions as they do plant positions.
This tells me that General Motors and the government are only interested in the well-being of the company at hand and its role in the stock market, and have no real sense of how this plan will affect the working population. I frequently hear the government during times of plenty use a statistic of low unemployment as a yardstick to show how the economy is fairing. But as soon as times get tough, unemployment does not seem to matter anymore – keeping the stock value of a company is more important.
I urge you to tailor a bailout plan for GM that is better suited for Canadian citizens and that geared more towards helping the economy, and not just helping a single company. All the experts are talking about how the collapse of the American/Canadian auto industry would be devastating to the economy. This is probably true, but please do not let the auto industry use that leverage to manipulate you into signing bad deals. I urge you to ask yourself “how did these companies get in this position?” and use the bailout as a tool to make the Canadian economy stronger in the long run. The Federal Industry Minister has been quoted as saying “We’re not bailing out pension plans. Let me be crystal clear on that.” I suggest that he should be bailing out pension plans – those of the plant workers in the company. Sure, have them take paycuts, do whatever it takes. But do not mortgage their future just so GM can have a viable corporate future, especially in light of their ineptness to become a viable institution on their own.
Sent to:
Tony Clement, Federal Industry Minister Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
Scott Brison, Liberal Trade Critic Brison.S@parl.gc.ca
Brad Trost, Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Trost.B@parl.gc.ca
General Motors Customer Services
posted by Kris at 9:49 AM
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