You could say I’m anti-union. You wouldn’t have problems like this if you were to hire non-union workers, would you?

Responding to the proposed wage cuts of 63% for some union employees, “UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker said Wednesday that Delphi’s proposal ‘was not designed for an agreement. It is a road map for confrontation.'” But, According to David Healy an analyst at Burnham Securities Inc., via Bloomberg News:
“It’s become a high-stakes game of poker,” said Merkle of IRN. “There’s a lot riding on it. If the UAW decides to strike, it could shut down GM if the strike goes on long enough.”

Considering Michigan’s higher than average unemployment rate, there are alot of people who would be happy earning $12.50 an hour. This is simply a matter of revealed preferences: Union workers will not aren’t allowed to work for less than an agreed upon wage – even so, there will be people who cross a picket line because some wage is better than no wage. Unemployed people, by definition, are that part of the labor force who do not have jobs and who are actively seeking employment. Again, some wage is better than no wage. Unfortunately, this set of workers probably consists of non-union individuals, and they are thusly unable to find employment due to exclusion.

Years of union strongarming has created a ballooning liability with regards to wages, pensions, etc. This has taken place as the auto industry has come under increasingly heavy competition, from Japan, Korea, Germany, etc. The cost of inputs are steadily increasing + the price of outputs are decreasing. This is not an economically or financially sustainable business model; outright refusal to accept the basic tenets of economics is certainly not improving the lot of the thousands of UAW workers who risk long-term unemployment if GM goes under. GM can declare bankruptcy and restructure. After which, they will not be able to approach the wages currently demanded by the UAW. This is not a poker game. Nobody can win this hand, there are only losers.