They wish. The UAW has a complete monopoly over their labor resources. In the case of a bankruptcy, the courts would have trashed those idiotic work contracts

They wish. The UAW has a complete monopoly over their labor resources. In the case of a bankruptcy, the courts would have trashed those idiotic work contracts and brought in something more in line with their competitors. Bankruptcy would have also gotten rid of the dealer safeguards the are currently preventing the 3 from downsizing (shutting down a dealership usually means that said dealership needs to be bought out -- very expensive but the fact that GM has been doing this for the last several years shows how desperate they are to downsize their US operation). With the bailout, all that pressure is gone. The only real way GM et al. have a way of pressuring the UAW now is to convince the UAW that they are willing to go out of business to turn a profit... no longer a credible threat because the next congress will happily bail out the UAW for the chance to waste more money on "green cars" (Ie. overpriced cars that nobody wants). Toyota and the other foreign manufacturers were careful never to become too dependent on unions and they are also not subject to the two fleet requirements (too much, they are careful to skirt them) of the CAFE regulations thus giving them a credible bargaining chip against unions like the UAW when negotiations are necessary. For more info, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122584326266699163.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122584326266699163.html