Even rats leap from sinking ships, but unions continue to cling on

One might think that the auto workers would have gotten the message before now, that they have to disorganize and/or concede on their ridiculous benefits and salary packages if they want to keep their jobs building cars. But then one would be wrong....

NEW YORK — Chrysler says it will close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month starting Friday.

The company needs to match production to slowing demand and conserve cash.

Chrysler claims it is nearing the minimum level of cash it needs to run the company and will have trouble paying bills after the first of the year.

Operations at the 30 plants will be idled at the end of shift on Friday, Dec. 19, and will not come back online until Jan. 19, 2009, or later.

If not working or getting paid for a month doesn't get the unions' attention, then nothing will and they'll deserve to go down with their ship when the time comes.

Just so you know that I'm not just a union basher. I'm also a pragmatist and a free marketeer. The average union worker gets around $80/hour for performing a repetitive job you could train a monkey to do for a handful of peanuts and a banana. The average work year is 2,080hours. That comes to over $160,000/year....not to mention their lavish benefits packages. If the labor market were non-unionized and competition were introduced, the cost of labor to build a car would be less than half that. In other words, there are thousands of unemployed dudes standing around Detroit who'd work the factory line for a fraction of what these guys are paid. Labor is like any other commodity, it should be subject to the economic forces of supply and demand.