Talk about killing the golden goose

and you read about this:

The proposed contract would recall about 570 GM workers currently on layoff, revive a now-idled assembly plant in Tennessee and pay signing bonuses of about $5,000 for each worker, a person with knowledge of the terms said.

For those who forgot, the UAW owns 39% of General Motors now that it's been bailed out and gone through bankruptcy.  So basically the UAW just negotiated a contract with itself and decided that it should re-open a factory, hire back some workers, and give everyone a bonus for agreeing to continue to cash pay checks with "GM" stamped on them.  That's right, GM is paying a quarter of a billion dollars in bribes to its own workers to keep them from refusing to work for their own union.

Apparently next on the chopping block is Chrysler, which the union has a 55% stake in.  Something tells me that's going to be a pretty quick negotiation for a sweet deal.  After that comes Ford, which did not take government money in 2008-2009 and did not go into bankruptcy.   Of course, the union has already voted to authorize a strike if the only remaining independent American auto company doesn't knuckle under to union demands.  I wonder which side the government will take when the company it doesn't own stock in stands up to the union that fills the administrations re-election warchest.

Remember what I've said about employment not being a right?  I still think I'm correct, but when the unions and the government hold majority stakes in 2/3 of the companies in a large industry, a Potemkin village economy of guaranteed employment in bailing out sinking ships could take hold in the minds of a lot of American workers.  Why compete when you can just vote yourselves new factories to work in and free money?  Worst thing that happens is that Uncle Sugar cranks up the 3rd shift at the unionized mint again.