Skilled labor at Delta Airlines intend to strangle the struggling carrier in its wheelchair rather than allow it to survive. Their version of "tough love".

Famous nameplate automobiles and airlines will be going the way of the dodo in the early years of the 21st century.

When Congress declines having taxpayers pay the pensions from dead companies, there will be a new strategy among skilled and unskilled workers.

We deferred payment for kowtowing to the unions' outlandish demands (I know that management caved in, but what option did they have?) and now, as it does to all Ponzi schemes, the end has come.

Here in geezerville, there're a lot of retired union workers whose pensions and other benefits are unbelievably generous. Amusing observation: Retired foremen and supervisors still receive deference from ordinary blue collar union workers. Old habits die hard.

Of course, none of them have any respect for the "suits" whom they blame for everything that went wrong with the union movement.

The American auto industry is dead.

No, paying exorbitant union wages and benefits are what's dead. 80% of all cars bought in the USA are still made in the USA, a ratio that hasn't changed in several years. They are made mostly in non-union plants in the South. They are owned by Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, etc.

Just read today in the NY Times about one of the plants GM is closing. Most of the workers have been 'laid off' for most of the year. However, under their union contract GM is still required to pay them even if they have assembled one car.

Nice work if you can get it...

Deficiencies in corporate law allowed management to escape the personal consequences of persuing short-term advantage at the4 cost of long-term disaster. Distortions in labor law aggravated the problem, setting up the short-term solution/ long term-disaster situation.

The American automobile industry is strong and growing stronger. Its just that the CEOs of Automobile companies will be Asian. In the last few years, Honda, Toyota and Hundayi have each opened new plants. They don't employ UAW members and they don't pay armies of retires to do nothing, but they do assemble cars in the US.

Lou its not short term. GM cars have sucked since the 70s.

GM and Ford probably still qualify under the "too big to fail" category, in that they're in enough area and have enough elected officials they can count on to force the issue through, espeically during election years. The big question is whether or not the feds will give in and take up the automakers' huge pension costs, as well as the soaring health insurance costs, which GM is already looking to shift onto the government books through support of some type of national health care system.