L.A. union workers rally in support of auto industry bailout

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rally7-2008dec07,0,2913361.story

Scores of electricians, nurses and other workers gather at the federal courthouse downtown. 'If the Big Three go down,' one says, 'we all go down.'
By Robert J. Lopez

December 7, 2008
Willie Rodriguez had two choice tickets to the USC-UCLA football game Saturday, but he passed on it to join scores of union workers at a rally to voice support for a government bailout plan to keep the auto industry afloat.

About 200 people, many of them union members, marched in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles in an effort to keep pressure on congressional leaders to approve an emergency aid package for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler.

Passing cars honked horns as the marchers shouted: "Hey, hey, ho, ho! Bridge loan is the way to go!" Many waved signs reading "Support the Bridge Loan" and "All I Want for Christmas is a Job."

Democratic congressional leaders agreed late Friday to a stopgap compromise that would provide at least $14 billion in loans to the auto industry by diverting money from an existing fund that was supposed to help automakers produce more fuel-efficient cars, according to senior aides.

The measure still needs support from some Republicans to get through the Senate, as well as White House approval. But President Bush already has come out in favor of using money from the Energy Department's $25-billion advanced technology fund to help the car companies.

"This is not a union fight. This is an American fight," said Rodriguez, 54, a vice president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770.


FULL story at link.