Hi Martin,
This is Mike, Piggle's husband.
I am still working the monthly research project on the automotive industry and the news is grim. Yes---the unions will get equity to fund their legacy costs, but that is based on GM stock increasing. GM will shut down 13 of its factories this summer despite any bailout agreement. Regardless of what happens there will be massive layoffs shortly. For every worker that gets laid off at GM, ten will be laid off at support industries like car dealers and parts manufacturers.
GM and Chrysler must adjust to demand and there is little demand for their products. In the last previous 5 years or more consumers were using home equity to buy cars. That's all gone now. Americans are not in a buyng mood and we will continue to see a bad economy in this country. Some experts still predict a total collapse helped out by the Obama policies. Consumers have no more home equity to buy furniture, remodelliong or any of the other big ticket items that keep the economy moving. The Obama administration apparently hasn't figured that out yet.
Giving unions control of managing GM and Chrysler will detsroy them. We can look for the three dominant manufacturers to be Ford, Toyota and VW. If the government had not bailed out these companies they would possibly be through the worst of this situatuion and the American economy would be on its way to recovery.
Mike
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