Only the lonely...

"I side with the UAW, as the large auto companies should have told the government to 'stuff it', when the government told the auto makers to make stuff we don't want."

How is the strike coming? You know, the one against the big three auto companies? It is in its fourth day now, and the picket lines are looking more like a circus than a strike. How so? Just about every Democrat is out there expressing support for the strikers. This picture has been painted by the Democrats. Auto industry greedy and bad; strikers good. And this Mary Barra at GM? With the money she is making right now, it is just plain criminal (according to the UAW). 

I worked at a factory which had IBEW has their collective bargaining union. And as luck would have it, in the five years I was there, they had a strike. Every day, driving through the gate to get to work, you did not know if you were going to get egged or let in unscathed. Was it an interesting experience? Yes, I learned quite a bit. Was it fun? Not a bit. In fact, some days very unsettling. When the strike was finally over, it took a long, long time for e pluribus unum to return to the shire.

Later in my career, I worked for another factory which had UAW as their bargaining unit. Even though they did not strike when I was there, a dichotomy existed. Us office folks were referred to as "suits" by the union folks and were generally not very welcomed out on the floor. Friendships with union folks were not impossible but were also not common.

Now I am going to take a sharp turn. There are many reasons I am siding with the union on this strike. Not their outlandish demands. Those come straight out of the land of "never happen". But I think what they really want can be summed up in the following: They want to make stuff in America, by Americans, for Americans, that Americans want, in return for a fair salary and fair benefits.

But here is the rub - many don't want to make EVs for two reasons. First, the labor content on an EV is less than on a non-EV car or truck. And second, most Americans do not want, nor can afford an EV. What does the UAW really want then? For the most part, they want to keep making internal combustion cars and trucks.

Wait - why in the world would car makers decide to make such a high percentage of EVs if the American public does not want them, and cannot afford them? Simple - they were strong-armed and lied to by the government. Specifically, the Biden government. By now, the landscape was going to bristle with high-speed chargers with very affordable charging rates. None of that turned out to be true. If you buy an EV today (if you can afford it), be prepared to stick close to home. Or else, you could be stuck someplace, out of juice and out of luck.

Will EVs have a future in our economy? Maybe - or maybe they will go the same way as the "pig tail" light bulb. The "pig tail" was going to be the next best thing - until the led bulb came out. I think when the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) has a "go to market" price and availability, it will send the EV the way of the Edsell (or the Dodo Bird). Until the HFCV becomes viable, most of us normal folk want to stick with the internal combustion vehicles, thank you.

Here is the bottom line. Our auto industry is a mess right now. Thanks in large part to our "woke" idiots in our government. Period. The UAW is caught right in the middle. I side with the UAW, as the large auto companies should have told the government to "stuff it", when the government told the auto makers to make stuff we don't want. And that - is the end of the story.