As I type this post, the St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that United Auto Workers at the General Motors Corp. plant in Wentzville, Mo. and at other factories across the country, are preparing to walk off their jobs and basically cut their own economic throats.

General Motors, which is bleeding money like a wound to a major artery, is attempting to lighten the burden of its skyrocketing health care costs by implementing a multi-billion dollar independent trust fund to manage retiree health care costs. The automakers see this plan as the quickest way to close a $25 – 30 labor cost gap with their Asian competitors. The VEBA or Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association would remove $50 billion in health care benefit liabilities from their balance sheets.

Besides the sheer stupidity of a strike in this current economic climate, Union leadership is planning to spend members dues -which should be used for strike benefits – on partisan politics. A weekend Wall Street Journal article, under the headline: “Unions Bolster Election Budgets,” reports that the unions are preparing to spend record amounts on helping to elect Democrats to the Congress and the White House.

The AFL-CIO said it will spend $53.4 million in next year’s election, up 11% from 2004. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) said it will spend $60 million, a 25% increase from 2004. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said it will spend more than the $60 million it spent in 2004.

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