Why the "Big 3" is now the "Detroit 3"

This article was intended to make us feel sorry for people displaced in the current economy. To a degree, I do. In my career, I've been on every side of a layoff. I've survived a layoff, I've been laid off, and I've had to choose who to let go. None of them are pleasant. Being laid off can completely destroy self-confidence for years. Laying someone off and knowing they don't find a job for a year can cripple you with guilt. It's bad on all sides.

What this article really told me was why GM needed a federal bailout. They were paying $100,000 a year to a heavy machine operator. A guy who had nothing but a high school diploma and 26 years experience. Ten years ago when a fork lift driver made a $1 million endownment to the University of Detroit, I had the same concern about GM's viability, and its relationship with the union.

In a union job, 26 years experience meant overtime, seniority bonuses, annual raises, etc. It also meant a company that could not be competitive with countries, like Indonesia, that can pay mere fractions of that amount for the same skill set. Unions have destroyed our urban industrial complex. That's who you blame for the mess in the US.

Unions in other countries are reasonable. In Japan, when mass transit drivers were upset and wanted to negotiate their contract, they didn't strike. Their form of civil disobedience was to simultaneously blow the horns of their trains at the same time for seven minutes. No work stoppages. No strikes. The unions partner with the businesses and know if there is no revenue, there is no money, and no one wins.

Back to the poor sap who is working several fast-food jobs to make ends meet. He should sue his union. He should sue them for taking a protectionist stance that protected their revenue stream (his dues), but not his job. He should sue them to fund his retraining now that the job he was paying them to protect is gone.

Ultimately, he also needs to look inwards. The best protection from a recession is an education. If you want job security, don't pay a union for it, pay a university or community college. Job security comes from in-demand skills. Job security comes from a constant, driving curiosity that continuously improves your skills and increases your value over time. Fungible skills are the cornerstone of economic viability.

Don't blame CEO's making tough decisions to keep their company viable. Don't blame investment bankers doing what they are paid to do - take risks in pursuit of high returns. Blaming others just gives you an excuse to be bitter and do nothing.

Take a positive approach. Do what so many people I know, including myself, have done when they have lost their jobs. Learn a new skill. Educate yourself. Stop worrying about what you used to have and focus on what you can have. Make your avocation your vocation.

Most of all, stop complaining. It never solves anything and just makes everyone around you miserable.

Proud Parent

Somewhere I'm sure someone has compiled a list of parental milestones. I have an idea it looks something like this:

1) Having a child
2) Changing diapers
3) Getting vomit on you
4) Dealing with late-night crying
5) Having someone else watch them
6) Enrolling them in school (may coincide with #5)
7) Attending a school program
8) Parent-teacher conferences
9) Summer camp
10) Losing them to friends
11) Losing them to the opposite gender
12) Child starts puberty
13) Child loses mind and impulse control
14) Child attends college (if they have lived through #13)

As of this Saturday, we have made it to step 7. For the last several weeks, our daughter has come home and regaled us with her singing of the song "A better you, a better me" that she was learning in school as part of their year-end performance. We finally got to see the completed product.

I must say, I was extremely impressed. This is a school for kids from about 2 years of age until around 7 or 8. The program started at 8:30 on Saturday morning and the auditorium - as it were (really just the school's large entryway) - was full by 8:15 with parents, digital recording devices locked and loaded.

Shortly after 8:30, all levels of students marched down the aisle in their costumes, clambered up on the stage and sang a musical number - and it was intelligible! Not only did they all sing, it was choreographed! So far, this is what I was expecting. I remember the school recitals I participated in during grade school, and this was similar. Then, it got interesting.

Each of the grades had their own numbers to perform. What amazed me is that, other than the youngest group - which included my daughter - these other groups had costume changes! The oldest group - 7/8 year olds, learned a poem in Chinese, a song in Indonesian, and played TWO musical instruments while dancing. Many also had to recite platitudes about character, manners, self-respect, and thankfulness. Rodgers and Hammerstein have nothing to worry about, but Leonard Bernstein could learn a thing or two!

My daughter participated in three separate numbers - two with the whole group, and one just for her age group. She appeared to be the only one in her age group who knew all the words to the songs in which she participated. For the age-group specific number, the kids all walked down the aisle with different cleaning supplies. The theme was "Helping Around the House". My daughter was center stage with two other children who had mops and pretended to mop the stage. At the end of the final, all-school number, my daughter's age group turned back-to-back with the person next to them, leaned back, and folded their arms.

Seeing my daughter participate in such an event made my wife and I both beam with pride. She is a remarkable little child and is growing up very fast. We both eagerly anticipate who she will become over the next year of her life.

The good news for those of you for whom the above, somewhat rambling description is insufficient - I have everything with my daughter in it on tape. The bad news, my new computer's operating system is not compatible with my camera. My work laptop should be compatible, so I'm going to try that this week and see if I can get a copy to upload to this site.

One other thing of note - falling asleep one night my mind went off on a rant against unions. I don't know if it is a result of the fact that one of my initiatives is delayed because we are currently negotiating the Collective Labor Agreement, or because I'm tired of all the unions whining about the demise of the auto industry. In any event, if you are interested, you can read my rant here: http://nuclearfather.blogspot.com/