- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
Since at least the 1930s, the Republican Party has done everything it could to undermine unions and, more broadly speaking, the right of all people to earn a living wage. This anti-worker posture is much more constant in the party's history than its reliance on the religious right, which only came along with Reagan. Anyone who is surprised by their recent actions hasn't been paying attention.
My take on this is exactly opposite the Republican senators'. The UAW did its job well - to get the best possible deal it could for its members. Management, however, was derelict in its duty, which was to agree only to what it thought was sustainable for the long term. Why? Although I try never to underestimate incompetence, I think the bigshots always thought that they were "too big to fail," and that the government would come to their rescue when times got hard. So it was easier to placate even unreasonable union demands than to go through the unpleasantness of a strike. After all, they could always count on the taxpayers.
But of course, you won't hear Republicans demanding the resignation of the top tier of executives in return for government help. Those are God's people, after all, not the great unwashed on the assembly lines.
