CAW Signing It's Own Pension Death Warrant

Is Ontario legally, or for that matter morally obligated to ensure GM retirees are guaranteed a pension? CAW president Ken Lewenza thinks so, once again proving my theory that big unions are currently living on another planet. I got to thinking about my own parents who have recently retired. They're small business owners. Aside from the money invested in their business and in the stock market, they have no other money coming in. Since they are both under 65, they cannot even collect the pittance that is the CPP. They, like most other retirees, saw their savings plummet when the market crashed back in October. So through no fault of their own, they have less and less to retire on. There is no government safety net for them. To rub salt in the wounds, the CAW is now asking, no, demanding that Ontario tax payers pay for their pension fund should GM and Chrysler go under. The fund was never intended to support the massive number people should a large company like these two auto giants go under. There is only $100 million in the fund while GM is in the hole for $6 billion.

The threads are starting to unravel on this saga with each new story that comes out. There is a clear and present culture of entitlement within the North American automotive industry; stretching from the boardroom right down to those on the assembly line. Every single person employed by GM and Chrysler is equally at fault for the financial mess that the two companies are in. I know Lewenza is trying to protect his union members but to make such a crass statement that Ontario is morally obligated to shovel over tax payer dollars to their pensioners is just outrageous. It was the CAW that demanded, nay, forced the cradle to grave care that pushed pension costs through the roof in the first place. Of course GM executives are equally at fault for not reining in the union and not putting enough aside to pay for the expenses. However, the fact that Lewenza thinks that these pensioners are loosing through "no fault of their own" just shows how arrogant he is. So many other pensioners are being forced to go without yet the government only has a moral obligation to help the members of this one union; and they honestly expect the rest of us to pay for them? Socialism only when socialism is convenient for our group; that's the mantra of big unions. It is getting really difficult to feel sorry for autoworkers who are loosing their jobs when stuff like this comes out. They seem to think that they can keep operating at the status quo regardless of outside market forces and the stupid things they do. It's never their fault in their minds. It's GM's fault, it's Ontario's fault, it's the fault of consumers for not buying GM vehicles. No, never the CAW's. This is precisely why the government should not bail out the auto industry. Like I said in past articles, when you keep handing these idiots money whenever they screw up, it only serves to continue the culture of entitlement and arrogance that got them into trouble in the first place. Of course Dalton McGuinty will fold like a deck chair though. So far, no politician in this country has had the balls to take on big unionism, save Mike Harris. The auto industry needs to be allowed to fail if only to purge the idiocy that currently rules it.