UAW hands auto workers a double whammy

The United Auto Workers Union has now given new meaning to the old saying; "Bend over, and we'll do the driving."

The UAW has made a good faith pledge to the auto industry, regarding moves to shave employee benefits in exchange for the possibility of preserving jobs through a massive $34 billion government bail out. Unfortunately, those people who may be affected by the proposed UAW concessions shall most likely include auto industry workers who are sick or indefinitely laid off from work.

According to a report from Bloomberg, money-saving union agreements which will delay contributions to medical funds and suspend a program that pays laid-off workers, have been offered as sacrifice to the bail-out gods of congress. Bloomberg quotes Harley Shaiken, a labor relations professor at the University of California at Berkeley as stating: "This should be interpreted as a meaningful and a painful sacrifice.'' However, no one seems to truly take notice of exactly who is doing the sacrificing here.