Filed under: General Motors (GM)
Normally, unions blame management for corporate problems and management blames unions. The truth? Both are usually right.
But the Associated Press reports that exiled General Motors (NYSE: GM) CEO Richard Wagoner is being defended as a “sacrificial lamb,” “scapegoat” and “fall guy” by workers and union bosses.
“We knew someone was going to have to take the proverbial `bullet,’ and it would have made it a lot easier to accept that had the CEOs of the banks also been required to give up their jobs,” said Jim Graham, president of a union local in Lordstown, Ohio, where GM produces the Cobalt and Pontiac G5 fuel-efficient cars.
The comparison isn’t entirely unreasonable: Ken Lewis and Vikram Pandit should have been dumped out on the street too, and it’s a testimony to both appallingly bad corporate governance and poor oversight by the federal government that either of them currently has a job doing anything other than dogwalking.
But why defend Wagoner? By defending Wagoner’s “leadership”, people like Mr. Graham are essentially admitting that GM was essentially destined to fail because of overseas competition and its uncompetitive labor costs. If they want to deflect blame from themselves, they should be embracing the Richard Wagoner as The Man Who Ruined General Motors script. Otherwise, there’s nowhere to point the finger but inward.
Unions leap to Wagoner’s defense: Why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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