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General Motors Corporation abruptly withdrew its
offer to sell its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary to a
consortium composed of one Russian and one Canadian
company. GM's decision was sudden and unexpected
following months of negotiations involving
corporate, political, and private industry interests
from several European and North American nations.
Individuals involved in negotiations had believed a
final deal was near when the GM board abruptly
announced that the GM unit was no longer for sale. |
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General Motors is majority-owned and controlled by
the US government and the United Auto Workers union. |
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Why would the Obama administration terminate sale of
a major GM asset, thereby depriving this
cash-starved company of money it so desperately
needs? |
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To
understand why requires an understanding of Obama's
plan. His plan makes it necessary that -- as stated
by Karl Marx in 1848 -- the proletariat take control
of the means of production. |
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Obama already has taken control of GM. He forced its
then legitimate owners and bondholders to accept
pennies on the dollar for their existing
investments. He used the bankruptcy court to wrest
control of GM from the then stockholders and
bondholders and hand GM's assets to the US
government and the UAW. |
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The labor force working at GM's Opel/Vauxhall is
represented by the world's largest trade union
coalition. |
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Obama's actions indicate that he
plans to use the US government, through its
controlling ownership in GM, to also control the
workers at Opel/Vauxhall. Those workers are
represented by European unions including the
German Confederation of Trade Unions,
Deutscher
Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB,
an umbrella organization for eight German
trade unions representing more than 7 million people,
and the European Trade Union Confederation,
representing 60 million members in 36 countries. |
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Through continued ownership and control of GM and
its subsidiary Opel/Vauxhall, Obama will be
positioned to take control of workers in those
European unions as he has done with GM's UAW
workers. |
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This is another aspect of the "fundamental change"
that Obama promised several times during his
campaign. |
