Newspaper Continues Unfriendly Reporting Of Union Action

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The Janesville Gazette has been relentlessly over reporting the UAW strike against American Axle along with it's effects on the GM factory here in Janesville. For the past month now, the paper has given the strike front-page and/or top headline news with repetitive articles here, here, here, and here, while downplaying the effects the record high gasoline prices and peak-Bush economy has on the sales of large SUV’s. All the articles cast a pejorative tone against the strikers. Of course none of the articles offer a shred of support for the union action.

JG Excerpt:
American Axle, which is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings today, says it could close some or all of its original U.S. facilities if the UAW won’t consider “a U.S. market-competitive labor agreement.”

Before they turn their backs on American workers, AA executives need to talk to CNBC's Trish Regan about the low productivity and poor profits Tenneco experienced in Beijing, China.

Only one recent article titled "Strikes hurt GM Less than oil prices" seemed to address the potential long-term economic impact on GM large-SUV sales resulting not from the strike, but from the skyrocketing price of gasoline.

JG Excerpt:
But for GM’s DiGiovanni, there is an even bigger concern: the price of oil and gas.

Sure, the strike has resulted in a production slowdown at Janesville GM but long after this strike is over, GM will be grappling with a problem they only wish a strike could settle. Consider ourselves lucky....for now.

Surge in gas prices leads to scaling down of the vehicles Americans drive. In the end, you can bet the Janesville newspaper will blame the unions for the eventual demise of the SUV.