GM filed for bankruptcy, not the union

Re: “Letter doesn’t tell full story,” Sept. 7, 2016

Dear Editor,

While Mr. Shalapata is welcome to his opinion, what high-paying SWE jobs is he referring to? Is he referring to those hired prior to 2008 making more than $23 an hour, or is referring to the high paying jobs hired after 2008 making more than $20 an hour, or is he referring to those senior employees who have not had a pay increase in 10 years or is he referring to the parts supplier employees?

Mr. Shalapalta need not be jealous any longer of those greedy autoworkers. As for those autoworkers lucky enough to have worked and retired having made a decent living wage, these GM workers don’t need to apologize to anyone. They earned every penny they were paid working on a production line.

Is. Mr. Shalapata speaking from experience of having worked on a production line? If not, there’s a saying I believe is true: unless you have walked in someone else’s footsteps, keep your opinion to yourself.

The mayor of Oshawa recently said you should be able to buy the product you build. Mr. Shalapata appears to believe otherwise. As I recall, it was GM U.S.A. that sought bankruptcy protection, not GM Canada. It was GM, not Unifor, looking for bailout money to survive because of mismanagement. The GM autoworkers didn’t cause the financial crisis. It was bad management.

Gord Vickers