Here is a draft of a LTTE (or op-ed, given its length). Your comments please.

[Jackpine Radical]

If you liked the Wall Street bailout, you're going to love the auto industry giveaway. According to an article in Saturday (Nov.22)'s Latin American Herald Tribune, “General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market.... According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to 'complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012.'”
What kind of “problems” in the “home market?” Well, there are those pesky unions, and employees who keep demanding a living wage, for example, not to mention those unreasonable U.S. environmental restrictions that that prevent factories from maximizing their profits by poisoning the environment.
Here's my proposal for a solution: Let the moribund American car companies go into receivership. Then take the bailout money, loan it to the workers, and let THEM buy the car companies. Let them democratically set up a management system. That way management salaries will be kept in line, the jobs don't go away to Brazil or China, the executive deadwood is cleared away from the top, and the way is opened for a new wave of innovation and competition to prepare us for a post-oil world. The new owners can repay the loans as they start to make profits.
Here is a quick sketch of how such a company might be structured:
The company would be entirely worker-owned. If you work for that company, you will earn increasing shares in the company as a function of the number of years you are employed in that company. If you leave the company for any reason, you may hold your shares until your death, collecting any dividends that they pay. However, when you die, the company will give your estate a fair cash settlement for your shares and the remaining workers will retain ownership of the company. This is necessary in order to keep ownership from spreading out among people who have no vital interest in the company.
Not all workers will have an equal share in the company. For example, if this model were applied to a small-business startup, it would be expected that the entrepreneur who starts the company would retain a larger share of ownership than the other employees. Also, shares in the company may be differentially assigned on the basis of the type of work done. Each worker will receive wages or salary commensurate with their job responsibilities, and in addition each will receive a share of the profits commensurate with the number of shares they hold. Thus every worker will have a stake in making the company more profitable in the long run.

[NewJeffCT]

1. a few typos

I believe it is "moribund" and not "morbund?

Pretty good letter, even though I don't agree with letting the car companies fail.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I'm not sure if they should fall or not. I think we need to consider all options

including this one.

Thanx 4 spotting the typo.

[scarletwoman]

3. Very well done! Excellent explanation of how worker ownership would work.

There's just one piece that I don't quite get: "For example, it would be expected that the entrepreneur who starts the company will retain a larger share of ownership than the other employees."

In the case of taking over ownership of, say, GM, that's not really "starting" a company, is it? I can see that phrase as part of a general explanation of how worker ownership can be set up for any enterprise, but I think your argument is stronger if you confine it the specific case of the auto companies.

That aside, it's a great piece, JR! Also, I definitely think it should be an op-ed. Send it in!

:hi:
sw

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I think you're right about that entrepreneur thing.

I scavenged that section from a more general thing I had written on worker ownership, and, as you point out, I don't think it would apply to a takeover like this. The more general piece is the latest entry in my journal; you might like to glance at it. It got absolutely no response when I posted it here.

[scarletwoman]

5. Ah, I sort of suspected as much. Yes, I'll go read your journal entry. nt

[TWiley]

6. Its not really a bail-out gift. It is a loan.

Think about previous "bail-outs"

Airlines ...... benifit to white collar workers ........ typically vote republican
Wall Street.....benifit to white collar workers ......... typically vote republican
AIg ........... benifit to white collar workers .......... typically vote republican
Oil Subsidy ....benifit to white collar workers .......... typically vote republican
Farm Subsidy ...benifit to farm owners ....................typically vote republican

Auto mfg .......benifit to blue collar workers ............typically vote democratic ....... they get the big FUCK YOU.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Assuming they repay it.

And I didn't support those other bailouts either. BTW, there are lots of pro-union, hard-core Democratic white collar workers.

[TWiley]

8. They got a govt loan before, and paid it back early.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Things weren't exactly as desperate then. Besides,

if you get the drift of my opening paragraph, a lot of that money will do no good for jobs here.

[TWiley]

11. There is a lot of hype on both sides right now

The bushies want to safeguard all the bail-out money for their klan.

You should also notice that NO cars, foreign OR domestic, are selling right now. A little problem with the bushtapo's planned collpase of the banking system to scuttle the next administration ... oops, it collapsed 6 months too soon and the repukes should take the blame.

Bush demanded that $850 BILLION be given without strings to the financial sector. AND HE GOT IT. Why NOT a $25 billion dollar loan to auto manufactures with some strings? I think an equitable solution can be found if the hype does not scuttle it.

[Vinca]

9. Let me get this straight. Our tax dollars will be loaned to GM

so they can use it to strengthen their BRAZILIAN factories? If that's the case, send them to the bankruptcy court.