Congressman Conyers: The Crisis in the Auto Industry

[cal04]

This afternoon I participated in a roundtable discussion with senators Evan Bayh and Debbie Stabenow, Congresswoman Marcie Kaptur (Toledo, OH), the President of the UAW, and other experts to see what can be done about the ailing auto industry.

One focus of ours was the bill the Senator Bayh and I introduced in response to the Delphi debacle. In case you haven't heard this story, auto parts manufacturer Delphi filed for bankruptcy and used these proceedings to relieve itself from fulfilling obligations to its employees' health insurance benefits plan and pension. What made this particularly egregious was that, while slashing benefits and hiding its profitable overseas assets from creditors and the courts, Delphi gave its executives million dollar bonuses. While in bankruptcy.

I recorded this interview(at link) for LaborRadio.org after the forum to discuss some of these concerns.
http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm

[sam sarrha]

1. we have a 93 Ford Escort that gets 38-42 mpg/ 87 sentra 38-42, so why cant

new cars get good gas mileage.. i run 38 mpg on 20 year old technology...

someone is lying and the rest are not telling the truth.

the american people want/need a fuel efficient car.. the big profit is in dangerous 250 hp engine cars..

we need to change the corporate laws that allow crap like you described.. but first we need to learn how to hack into voting machines and reprogram them like they are supposed to be.. fair

[dweller]

2. 27-32 mpg in a 91 Subaru

while new hybrid SUVs are touting 28 mpg.

big deal is all i can say to the monstrous beasts.
dp

[tech3149]

4. It's not just technology but driving style

I drive a 98 Honda that has an EPA mileage rating of 32/37 mpg. When I bought the car I got about 24-28 mpg doing a 50 mi trip to work that was mostly highway (if you consider the Garden State Parkway as highway miles]. After moving back to western PA, I've been getting a 40 mpg figure when most of the driving is a couple of miles to the store or 15 miles to the parents place. I've only done two trips to evaluate highway mileage. The first was to FLA and the speed was between 80 and 100 mph and I matched the EPA highway figures. The second was to southern VA with speeds under 70 mph and I managed 40 mpg over the trip down and back. My younger sister just bought a Prius to replace her worn out old Toyota and is getting about 60 mpg driving from one end of Oahu to the other. Sitting in traffic really helps a hybrid get better efficiency numbers. I'd love to be driving a hybrid, but I just can't afford it right now.

[dweller]

3. check this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=219511

WSJ: As Workers' Pensions Wither, Those For Executives Flourish
Companies Run Up Big IOUs,
Mostly Obscured, to Grant
Bosses a Lucrative Benefit
The Billion-Dollar Liability
By ELLEN E. SCHULTZ and THEO FRANCIS
June 23, 2006; Page A1

To help explain its deep slump, General Motors Corp. often cites "legacy costs," including pensions for its giant U.S. work force. In its latest annual report, GM
wrote: "Our extensive pension and obligations to retirees are a competitive disadvantage for us." Early this year, GM announced it was ending pensions for 42,000
workers.

But there's a twist to the auto maker's pension situation: The pension plans for its rank-and-file U.S. workers are overstuffed with cash, containing about $9 billion
more than is needed to meet their obligations for years to come.


Another of GM's pension programs, however, saddles the company with a liability of $1.4 billion. These pensions are for its executives.

This is the pension squeeze companies aren't talking about: Even as many reduce, freeze or eliminate pensions for workers -- complaining of the costs -- their
executives are building up ever-bigger pensions, causing the companies' financial obligations for them to balloon.


------

WSJ link provided in thread.

dp