Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Congress / Kotz / Politics The Downside of Bob Corker's UAW Attacks
Posted by Pete Kotz on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is in Detroit today to attend the North American International Auto Show. It's doubtful he'll get a gracious reception.
Corker got major camera time for his attacks on the UWA during the auto bailout debate. He pressed workers to take serious wage and benefit cuts--without asking the same of executives--and pushed the UAW to trade contributions to their retiree trust fund for stock, a time-honored method for screwing widows down the road.
While it made him a sweetheart with the anti-labor exec crowd--the guys who can bundle checks by the pound at campaign time--it's also made him a contender for Public Enemy No. 1 in the industrial Midwest, where they take a certain pride in regular people earning real money. Many believe he's attacking U.S. automakers for the sake of foreign competitors with plants in Tennessee.
Nowhere is that more true than in Detroit. So when The Detroit News asked residents what they thought of Corker's arrival today, the comments were less than welcoming. A sampling:
"He's one of those people who wants to kill the American middle-class to help foreign companies."
"I wanted to punch my television screen. You not only want to kill my job, an entire industry, but you want to do it for a few foreign companies. Man, you're selling this whole country down the river."
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