Labor unrest at Ford’s (F) auto supplier plant in India has prompted the company to shut down its Oakville, Ontario, plant for the week, which employs 3,000 workers in two shifts. The closure would cost Ford 5,000 vehicles. The idled employees would get 65% of regular pay from a combination of funding from the company and employment insurance.  The strike at Rico Auto Industries in the state of Haryana in India turned violent after an employee died recently during a protest. It has triggered a shortage of transmission parts to the Canadian plant. The plant produces Edge SUV, the Flex and Lincoln MKT seven-passenger vehicle and the Lincoln MKX.  Last week, labor trouble had erupted at some of Ford’s plants when some members of United Auto Workers (UAW) declined to ratify the modifications to its 2007 labor contract. The modifications include banning strikes over wages or ...

Ford Motor Co. (F) has finally reached a tentative national agreement with 250 leaders of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on modifications to its 2007 labor contract. The deal, which runs until 2011, will help Ford end its cost disadvantage while securing jobs for the union workers at the same time. However, the deal has yet to be approved by the 41,000 UAW members at Ford. Voting will begin this week. Ford was upset with its higher labor costs compared to its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Chrysler. Both of those companies were given concessions as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year. However, the deal will enable the automaker to lower the labor costs to match those of its rivals. If the members ratify the agreement, they will be given bonuses and additional work with investments at some factories. The $1,000 bonus is payable ...

Notes from theInvestment Underground

Tuesday, March 31, 2009Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Team Obama talks bankruptcy… But he doesn’t really mean it… Politics continue to drive the economy… The most ruinous CEO in history… Deutsche Bank: This crisis is “far from over”… Bailouts reach $10.5 trillion and counting… Gold is where the smart money is right now… Money supply increases… And more!

*** Is Team Obama finally coming to its senses? Instead of keeping the fatally wounded U.S. auto industry on a drip feed of tax dollars, Obama is considering allowing GM and Chrysler to enter bankruptcy.

A headline in the WSJ reads “U.S. Threatens Bankruptcy for GM, Chrysler.” How backwards has the U.S. economy become when bankruptcy for a failed company is seen as government intervention? In a functioning economy companies go into bankruptcy when they fail. It’s just a

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