Talks with UAW over retiree health care costs crucial for survival of GM, Ford, Chrys
 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/23/news...alks/index.htm

Detroit's $100 billion headache

Talks with UAW over retiree health care costs crucial for survival of GM, Ford, Chrysler.

By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
July 23 2007: 4:31 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The survival of brands like Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler could very well depend on whether the United Auto Workers union is willing to assume a $100 billion headace That's the estimated price tag of the combined liability to provide health care for retirees of General Motors and Chrysler Group, the unit of DaimlerChrysler being sold to private equity group Cerberus Capital Management.

As crucial labor talks get underway between the union and the three major U.S. automakers, there is a widespread assumption among industry experts that the automakers will need to cut their labor costs by nearly a third, or roughly $20 an hour, if they're going to be able to stem huge losses in their core North American auto operations and compete with nonunion rivals like Toyota Motor and Honda Motor

hmmmmm interesting. i wonder how big of cuts the "important" people are taking to help the situation. i bet i can guess though. while it may be true that this could hurt the automakers, they did make the deal and it's not the employee's or the union's fault that they don't build vehicles that people want to buy.