What have they done?

I am saddened today, by what the short sighted outgoing losers in the Senate did last night. Killing the auto bridge loan may feel good to some cynics, and those that think they can remain unaffected but this will touch every American sooner or later.

Let me put a face on a couple of the “sooner” victims:

Meet my niece Stephanie. She is a sweet sprite of a girl, 23 years old. She is a talented artist. She got hired at the Delphi component plant in Lockport NY about a year before I retired. Steph is a hard worker, taking on the jobs in the plant, that most guys thought were too hard or too dirty. She liked those jobs because the day flew by and no one bothered her as long as she got the job done.

Stephanie quit college when her Dad (an electrician at the plant) got sick and died from colon cancer (a disease appearing 10X more often in the tradesmen at our plant, than in the general population). Steph has always wanted to return to college but due to concessions that the union labor force took, tuition assistance is not available to her and the $15.00 per hour she is getting paid was not enough to get her ahead enough to take a leave to go back to school.

Yes I said $15.00 per hour. No, not $70 per hour like the media reports; that figure includes, inflated projected costs for a benefit package none of the tier two employees ever received (health care reform anyone?), and the legacy costs of all of us that retired before them. I was the highest paid hourly employee in the place, a Journeyman in advanced engineering. and have never been paid more than $30/per hour ( I had a 4 year degree, 4 years apprenticeship, and hundreds of hours of additional specialty training).

Delphi is in its fourth year of bankruptcy, and after we were all forced out, the plant is now down to around 2000 employees from its peak of 11,000. Stephanie got her lay off slip today. The official word is it will only be for 6 weeks (Merry Christmas), but the rumors are that they will never be called back, now that the bridge loans have been killed.

Meet the Josie’s crew. Josie’s Place is a little gin mill around the corner from the plant. Mike and Barb, Diane and Jim are the second generation proprietors. Mike and Diane’s parents opened the bar and along with the income from their farm, and Big Mike’s job at Chevy, supported a large family on the regular factory crowd.

We frequented the place for its friendly atmosphere, good polish home cooking and reasonable prices. We looked forward to Lunches of Spaghetti on Thursdays, the Steak Special on Tuesdays and Fish Fry on Fridays.

After we all were forced out the business began to falter. Mike and Barb have a large family and are worried because they are just starting the college thing. Diane went into the factory (as a 2nd tier employee) when her husband Jim was forced out, to supplement their family’s income. She has since been permanently laid off, and the future is uncertain for the business and the families that depend upon it for their livelihoods.

So it goes in the small factory towns around the country. These are the faces that I want you all to see when I hear anyone say dump the Union, and let those businesses crash and burn, it’s their fault it came to this. Don't get me started.

Happy Holidays!