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Originally Posted by Silverado
How is this thread not closed? I mean, this is a political topic, and I thought we weren't supposed to have those here on C5? Unless of course, mentioning GM gets you out of the political discussion (but, since the government "bought" a big piece of GM and gave another big piece to the UAW for their own political reasons, it is kind of ridiculous to think it is anything but a political discussion).
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I haven't read much in the way of politics here. Actually, I'm quite proud how this conversation has progressed on the economics of the situation and left out any political allegiances or perogatives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverado
Sorry, the UAW (and all other unions for that matter) should have to shoulder their own pension/benefit burden like us regular working stiffs.
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And that is the point of all of this. VEBA is the "Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association", which is a program set up and financially separate from the union that will take care of all the healthcare/pension responsibilities that were once GM's. And the projected effectual life of this fund is nearly 80 years!!!
GM promised to pay xx dollars into the fund, in concert with Ford and Chrysler. But that was before the economy took a dump. So instead, during the bankruptcy, they exchanged some of their debt to the program with stock until they could afford to pay into it via the purchase of those shares. That's one of the reasons the UAW didn't actually own the company in the first place, and the reason they're selling off the shares now.