Thanks to Pat Quinn!

From: Tom Laney
To: letters@pioneerpress.com
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 9:11 AM
Subject: Thank you


Dear Editor:
Thank you to Patrick Quinn for suggesting in his letter yesterday that if there is going to be an auto bailout, this is the time to bargain with the Big 3 to improve domestic auto production. Thank you also to the PP for printing this important letter. Freeing up auto workers from the scientists to the lineworkers will have us making the world's best cars and trucks and that should be the fundamental bailout order.
The problem has never been a lack of talent and skill in the American auto industry. The problem is the restriction and minimization of this talent by the auto bigshots and their diversion of billions to Madison Avenue rather than honest product innovation and quality. Unfortunately, the auto's demise is constantly blamed on the auto workers.
American autoworkers are among the world's hardest workers and most have the work injuries to prove it. But rather than appreciation for their labor, human spirit and virtue, all they get is disparagement from the elite.
And that is the real basis not only the auto problem but for the American poverty problem as well. The richer-than-sin elites have nearly succeeded in destroying the goodness of most working people. They have attacked workers - from engineers to lineworkers - everywhere; attacked production talent & quality, cheapened production and betrayed our communities.
They have practically obliterated the truth that an economy is not for making a few people filthy rich. They deny the very purpose of an economy, that economies are to put food on everyone's table, to provide happy future's for all our children and to elevate the human condition.
Because of the immense influence and power of these greedy elites - and we can count the anti-worker, modern and thoughtless UAW as no longer part of us but them - we are now in a crisis of epic proportions. The cheerleaders of the elite are going to use this crisis to punish the folks who do the work while protecting and extending the crooks who disabled American quality production and shifted it to slave states for dog-eat-dog profit maximization.
We need to stand up and fight these people.
There is the need for a bailout but the bailout must redress the faulty auto production systems.
As bailout conditions, we should demand the government:
1. Give Equity Shares to the folks who do the work in auto.
2. Return production to the folks who own the tools.
3. Revolutionize the unions to Auto Guilds to free and enhance engineering so that the people who do the work, truly work together in inspirational settings and make the calls in product conception, production design and quality of worklife.
4. Insure that all the workers in the industry are paid comfortable wages and benefits as well as profit sharing.
5. Return to the eight-hour day, 40-hour week with the 4-day, 32-hour week a close objective so as to raise employment.
6. Return to the truth that commerce exists to serve the community.
A look at the production philosophy and operations of Mondragon Corporation proves such a production system is not only successful but far superior to anything the Big 3 has done.
And. Mondragon is true Garage Logic.

Tom Laney
Retired TC Ford Worker
E6305 866th Ave.
Colfax, WI 54730
715-962-4365