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Report: Some auto 'workers' get paid $31 an hour while they're just sitting at home
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Automation meant fewer workers on auto assembly
lines - but those who were laid-off could make most
of their previous salaries even if they just
sat at home. (Dept. of Labor)
The auto industry went to Congress with its hat in its hands, but has not been able to convince lawmakers to provide bailout money.
There were the corporate jets the auto execs flew in on, and said they would keep flying, even when challenged about it. There were the charges that the industry has been too slow to adapt to changing market conditions, even when those conditions have been evident for years.
But did anyone talk about the "Job Banks?"
This Fox News story talks about a program that many Americans likely aren't aware of, a way for out-of-work auto workers to keep collecting paychecks even while they're sitting at home for months. And it's a program that could continue even if the industry gets some government - er, taxpayer - money to remain afloat.
"Job Banks" has been around since 1984, part of a deal between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers. It was set up because the Big Three wanted to keep the UAW happy, and one way to do that was to provide for laid-off workers who would be let go as plants modernized.
The industry was doing OK in 1984. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
Today, not so much.
The Detroit News says some 3,500 folks are currently in the program. According to the UAW's 2007 contract with General Motors, the "workers" get full pay if they report to a jobs bank (in other words, they're looking for work), and get 85 percent of their pay if they stay home.
Read all about it. Or, to paraphrase a Fox News slogan, read the report, and you decide.
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