Chrysler Employees Have a Need to Celebrate

Chrysler employees have plenty to celebrate

Chrysler’s employees were at a low two years ago. Chrysler was not selling cars.

Nor should it. The product was dated, quality was poor, future products were scrapped by its new owner Cerberus, Chrylser Finance was spun off to Cerberus, thereby depriving Chrysler of a way to move products, and fuel economy was abysmal.

Consumers weren’t even walking into Chrylser showrooms.

The employee health insurance plans and pensions were threatened.

The company was facing bankruptcy, perhaps liquidation. No Lee Iacocca was in sight to save Chrysler.

That called for heavy drinking.

The outgoing Bush Administration kicked the future of Chrysler and GM down the road to the incoming Obama Administration.

The Obama Administration owed large political debts to Big labor. Chrylser and GM could not go under.

Chrysler filed for bankruptcy on April 30, 2009. The government, i.e. we taxpayers, poured $15.5 billion into the carcass. Fiat, for no money, was given 20% of the company’s stock. The U.S. government received 10% and the Canadian government 2% of the new Chrysler’s stock. The remaining 68% went to a UAW health
insurance fund.

The bondholders were sucked dry and 789 dealerships terminated without recourse.

Marx would be happy. The workers take ownership and the capitalists thrust aside.

That calls for a drink, or two.

The good old days are back at Jefferson North, the days of MoPar, Nascar, Penstar, Slant 6’s, and clunkers coming off the assembly line - the days when managerial incompetence and worker sloth drove American consumers to Toyotas and Hondas.

The workers had cause to celebrate, and they did, albeit without Detroit’s once home brewski, Stroh’s.

Detroit TV2 Fox News taped 15 workers drinking and toking over a ten day period during their ½ lunch break. They recognized that you cannot eat on a dry throat – so drink and toke they must, and then assemble the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The model of Jefferson North is one toke over the assembly line as the models roll off the line.

President Obama was at the Jefferson North plant in July 2010, self-laudotory about saving dextolling the virtues of American workers.