Mack: UAW President Should Share Wagoner's Fate

Demonstrating an appreciation for symmetry, Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) suggests that if the Obama administration is willing to force CEO Rick Wagoner out at GM, it should do the same to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Wagoner's labor counterpart. From a statement Mack released this afternoon:

For decades, U.S. automobile executives have made one bad choice after another and led their companies down the path toward ruin. But at the same time, union bosses share equal blame for failing to act responsibly to achieve long-term stability and prosperity for their members, consumers and the auto industry as a whole. 

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger deserves particular blame for his failures to modernize the UAW, for organizing and threatening labor strikes that have heavily contributed to the demise of the U.S. auto industry, and for refusing long-term concessions that would help General Motors, Chrysler and Ford create cost-savings and preserve jobs.

If President Obama is willing to fire the CEO of General Motors because of his failures, then he should be even-handed in demanding Ron Gettelfinger's resignation for his equally egregious failures.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04/mack-uaw-president-should-share-wagoners-fate/7171/