So, the solution is to dump middle-class retired folk?

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

I have been watching the drumbeat to punish the unions mount as the debate over the Detroit bailout goes on. It comes mainly from the economically conservative (say as versus religious conservatives) camp. One example of this camp is Pat Buchanan.

I heard him make the argument that Detroit automakers need to be loosed from labor costs that have been killing their profitability. What are those costs? Why healthcare, retirement pensions, and, somehow, the obviously large pay that they are receiving. His claim is that foreign automakers are not saddled by those labor costs and that enables them to be more profitable.

But, let’s look closer at what Mr. Buchanan is advocating. It means that retired auto workers, who worked the line for decades, would have their retirement income cut. It means that older people who depend on their retirement healthcare would suddenly have unexpected, and maybe unpayable, costs added to their budget. It means that income, for which they had bargained in good faith and under the existing laws, would suddenly be cut with their having little input into the decision.

Who would replace the retirement and healthcare of the older auto workers? Mr. Buchanan has no answer. I suppose I could supply one by quoting Marie Antoinnette and say, “Let them eat cake.” Did Mr. Buchanan make any comparable argument against upper management? Not until pressed, and then he merely stated that he thought they could take some pay cuts. He was afraid to muzzle upper management too much because they make the creative decisions that could bring profitability back.

But Mr. Buchanan is merely a mouthpiece for many economic conservatives. And, in his answer you see both the true lack of care and disdain that they have for the common worker, and the blinders they put on to keep from seeing what is present in other countries. Is it true that automakers in Germany and Japan have a lower labor cost overhead than the USA? Good question, let’s take a momentary detour to look at those workers in those countries.

First, as a whole, the Japanese now have a slightly higher per capita income than the USA. In fact, their per capita income is so high that they are having trouble getting the lower-end jobs filled and are having to rely on temporary immigrant workers to fill those slots. Workers in both Germany and Japan have full healthcare. And, both Germany and Japan follow the much more common worldwide system that workers get a month of vacation a year, rather than the two to three weeks that is common here. Productivity statistics also show that workers in Germany and Japan, per capita, work fewer hours than workers in the USA. I know that some of you will wish to point out that Germany is having to go through some adjustments in worker benefits (as is France). But, even after the proposed adjustments, if they work, a worker in Japan or Germany will still end up with a better package than the USA worker.

But, there is a reason why there is a lower overhead for the Japanese or German worker. And, that is because the automakers do not bear the full burden of healthcare and retirement. What Mr. Buchanan failed to mention, because it is anathema to economic conservatives, is that the governments of Japan and Germany have both national healthcare and national retirement policies. Their workers are not left to wonder about their retirement years, they know that the community will be there for them. We are left to worry about our retirement years because the community has not only made it clear that they will not be there for us, rather Mr. Buchanan has gone further and made it clear that his economic viewpoint means that those who cannot defend themselves are targets for cost reduction measures. What an interesting contrast with those countries!

Unions are not perfect, and neither is management. However, unions are not responsible for the problems at the Big Three automakers, in this case. Please do not tell me stories from back in the 1960’s to 1970’s when unions were nearly out of control. We are in 2008, and most of those stories no longer reflect the current climate under which unions work. Unions are a decreasing part of this society, but make a handy target. You miss my point if you retell stories from back then, that was 40 years ago.

Here is my point. If, as a society, we make the decision that it is OK to cut the retirement and healthcare of those retirees, without someone taking up the responsibility for the missing benefits, how long will it be before the wolf comes to your door, in the name of economic responsibility, and takes away what little you have? We are called by St. James to have a care for those in our community who are in vulnerable positions. What do you think our Lord will say to our society if those who are more vulnerable become the targets of “cost reduction efforts?”

Finally, Christian, if these measures go through and we end up seeing grandpa and granny having trouble making ends meet or losing their homes through healthcare bankruptcy, etc., what are you prepared to do? Will you tell them, “be warmed and be filled?” Will you tell them that this is the way the economic cookie crumbles? Or will there be a Church-led effort to make sure they have food, clothing, lodging, etc., and that their retirement years will be peaceful and filled with love? I would suggest you read the Book of James to get a hint as to what our answer should be.