A Corner reader posed the question:

Now that the UAW has an ownership stake in GM and looking good to have an even bigger position in Chrysler, how is this market power going to be addressed. While the obvious question is the role of ownership in two competitors, there is a more significant question. How can the UAW continue to be certified to conduct collective bargaining with Ford? You would have an instance of them being in a position to negatively impact a major competitor. There are all sorts of anti-trust concerns raised by this.

Ford is the only one of the Big Three that hasn’t (yet) received any tax-payer funded bail-out money. So it is already at a disadvantage compared to GM and Chrysler. Now it has to negotiate its labor contracts with the largest shareholder of its two American competitors. That’s going to put Ford at an even bigger disadvantage. Us poor tax-payers can do a little bit to level the playing field: boycott GM and Chrysler.