Automakers Make Their Bailout Pitches

Big 3 Vow To Slash Workers, Exec Pay In Return For Federal Lifeline; GM Seeks $18B To Survive

(CBS/AP)  Humbled and fighting for survival, Detroit's once-mighty automakers appealed to Congress with a retooled case for a huge bailout Tuesday, pledging to slash workers, car lines and executive pay in return for a federal lifeline. GM said it wouldn't last till New Year's without an immediate $4 billion and could drag the entire industry down if it fails.

General Motors Corp., asking for as much as $18 billion to keep afloat and survive even worse economic storms, painted the direst portrait to date of what could happen if Congress doesn't quickly step in.

"There isn't a Plan B," said Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson. "Absent support, frankly, the company just can't fund its operations." Without help, the company warned, "the company will default in the near term, very likely precipitating a total collapse of the domestic industry and its extensive supply chain, with a ripple effect that will have severe, long-term consequences to the U.S. economy."

On the assembly line, autoworkers are bracing for the worst, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason.

"You know you are seeing the company basically going through a meltdown. It's pretty frightening," one auto worker said.

And business keeps getting bleaker. GM's sales fell more than 40 percent for the second straight month and Chrysler was down 47 percent in November, reports Mason. Ford, Toyota and Honda all were off more than 30 percent.

"This is an incredibly weak market," Rebecca Linland of Global Insight told Mason. "They're getting no revenue at all. And all of the manufacturers are really suffering - not just confined to the Big Three."

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports that nationwide, 750 dealerships have already closed this year and 150 more are expected to shut down in the next four weeks - putting nearly 40,000 employees out of work.

Democratic leaders have said they might call Congress back next week to pass an auto bailout - but only if the carmakers' blueprints show the Big Three have reasonable plans to stay viable with the help.

Making no commitments, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday, "We want to see a commitment to the future. We want to see a restructuring of their approach, that they have a new business model, a new business plan." She said, "it is my hope that we would" pass legislation to help the industry.

All three plans envision the government getting a stake in the auto companies that would allow taxpayers to share in future gains if they recover.

Along with detailed stabilization plans, the auto executives were offering up a hefty dose of humility and a host of symbolic concessions designed to repair their images, badly tattered after they arrived in Washington last month on three separate private jets to plead for federal help.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally, GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Chrysler chief Bob Nardelli all planned to road-trip to Washington in fuel-efficient hybrid cars for hearings on Thursday and Friday.

Mulally and Wagoner both said they'd work for $1 per year if their firms took any government loan money, while Ford offered to cancel management bonuses and salaried employees' merit raises next year, and GM said it would slash top executives' pay. Both said they would sell their corporate aircraft.

The executives are going out of their way to show deference to lawmakers and a willingness to flog themselves for past mistakes. "I think we learned a lot from that experience," Mulally told The Associated Press in an interview.

Ford Motor Co., in far better shape than GM and Chrysler LLC, asked for a $9 billion "standby line of credit" to stabilize its business but said it didn't expect to tap the funds unless one of Detroit's other Big Three went bust. Its plan projected Ford would break even or turn a pretax profit in 2011.

The company plans to cut its number of dealers by more than 600, to 3,790 by the end of the year.

The unions were preparing to make sacrifices as well. United Auto Workers leaders summoned local union leaders from across the country to an emergency meeting Wednesday in Detroit to discuss possible concessions. Up for discussion were the possibility of scrapping a much-maligned jobs bank in which laid-off workers keep receiving most of their pay and postponing the automakers' payments into a multibillion-dollar union-administered health care fund.

U.S. automakers are struggling to stay afloat heading into 2009 under the weight of an economic meltdown, the worst auto sales in decades and a tight credit market. GM, Ford and Chrysler went through nearly $18 billion in cash reserves during the past quarter, and GM and Chrysler have said they could collapse in weeks.

Ford's recovery blueprint said it would invest $14 billion over the next seven years to boost its vehicles' fuel efficiency, and it said it would improve the overall efficiency of its fleet by an average of 14 percent next year. The company plans to speed its rollout of electric and hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

And Ford is calling for a partnership among automakers, parts suppliers and the government to develop new battery technologies domestically, so the U.S. doesn't have to rely on foreign batteries - as it now does on foreign oil - to power its cars.

Besides cutting its number of dealers, it will trim its major sourcing suppliers by more than half, to 750 from 1,600.

GM said it would make huge cuts in its numbers of workers as well as reductions in its vehicle brands and plants by 2012. The auto giant is seeking a $12 billion loan to keep it running, plus a $6 billion line of credit in case market conditions worsen.

GM would focus on four brands - Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac. By 2012, the plan calls for 20,000 to 30,000 fewer workers, a reduction of nine facilities and 1,750 fewer dealers. The company also outlined efforts to negotiate swapping some of the company's debt for equity stakes in the automaker.

Chrysler was expected to outline changes that would include a swap of debt in the company for equity stakes and reductions in some vehicle models, according to a person who was briefed on the plan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

GM, according to its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, owes creditors $45 billion and it must pay more than $7.5 billion early in 2010 to a UAW-administered trust fund that will take over retiree health care payments.

Ford owes more than $26 billion, with $6.3 billion due to its UAW trust fund at the end of 2009. Chrysler, a private company, does not have to open its books, but its CEO, Nardelli, has said it would be difficult for the company to make it without federal aid. All three likely are negotiating with the UAW for delays in payments to the trusts.

The companies are resisting calls that they file for bankruptcy, arguing that no one would buy a car from an automaker that might not survive the life of the vehicle.

[antoniof123]

They shouldn''''t get anything. To hell with them.

Their inability to properly manage their companies, as effective and intelligently as the foreign car makers, IS NOT the fault of the American people, and we should not be expected to subsidize their failures.
Posted by IwasHungry68 at 08:20 AM : Dec 02, 2008

While I agree with you and think that this money would be better spent on other things the truth be known the employees and layoffs did not cause this. It was the fault of the managers no one else and nothing any one else says can change that.

Although the ripple through effect on our economy and the world would be great and would earn us more hate from other nations I have to say we are going to have to do something.

Let''s fire all the managenment and hire the Honda and Toyota managenment away. That way we would have car companines that work with management that understand how to run a company and treat its people.

[gmcnally2]

I would buy a car from a company that was bankrupt. The aftermarket parts would still be available. Also, I would assume I would receive a big discount. Let the courts sort it out.

[straightmate]

Let them fail, no charity for the JET SET. *** them for their pathetic excuse for leadership.

[biblethumpar]

Old Dinosaurs getting a rude awakening.
Deisgn follows function, not the other way around.

[straightmate]

Don''t give these punks one dime. They are exactly what is wrong with this country. RICH PEOPLE STINK. I HATE THEM. It is rebuilding time folks...get used to hunger, it''s coming on strong

[pensacola98]

This time, the automakers have something substantial - a plan and it includes a modified compenstation structure from both craft and management. The plans for shedding brands is a must, since marketing is more efficient when you promote fewer of them.

Working for $1 a year is not required, and accepting stocks options instead as deferred compensation, while they would have a rock bottom stike price of under $5 is not acceptable, unless it is tied to a long term performance plan lasting at least seven years. Job cutting and sell-offs can make stock performance look good for a 3-5 years, but the real performance is in the production and marketing operations, not wholesale sell-offs of divisions, although some of that is required.

I still want to hear what plans exist for marketing the most affordable automobile value to the consumer. Brand loyalty isn''t there, when credit driven sales are harder to achieve.

This isn''t musical chairs where three automakers compete for two seats, when the music stops playing.

One other mandate, if we help the automakers, they have to suspend all lobby efforts with PACs and lobbyists until they pay back their loans in full.

That means, when the Chinese come knocking and asking us to open our auto sale markets to their vehicles, I don''t want any US automakers using their loan money to make political lobby efforts to ask congress for favors.

[biblethumpar]

Even if these guys get Socialised welfare,
i really dont see how they wont come back at a later time and panhandle congress for a new handout.
the problem is the leadership,
not the workers,
the industry is being run by Dinosaurs,

[louiville2]

When Bass Pro moves into a city (usually at tax payer expense), all of the "mom and pop" fishing / outdoor stores, are allowed to fail and go out of business because they can''''t compete against the big box store. Nobody cried for "mom and pop", did they?

And then if Bass Pro fails, we''''re going to deem them "too big to fail" and be expected to bail them out?

Posted by IwasHungry68

For once we agree, let them (big box stores)stand on their own.

[harp1963]

The executive design engineers at the big 3 are the ones to blame for the fall. Their nostalgia for the "cruise liner" cars from the 70''s is what destroyed them, not because the workers have good pay and benefits. And for those of you who have never worked in a factory that produced high volumns of products for a company that is making billions in the marketplace, your "going to work and sweeping the floor" comments just show what little insight you truely have to the world of mass production manufacturing. In other words, your either educated idoits, or just plain dumb.

[earache4]

Did they fly their private jets to the meeting again?

[pirmin3]

Send ''em home, empty handed, on a Grayhound bus.

[jonbrun]

It''s easy to discount the auto industry as a whole. The Big 3 need serious change. They have created their reputation and it''s time to pay. But keep this in mind...

Hundreds of thousands of non UAW people who support the industry will lose their jobs. They are already closing plants. And those suppliers have already gone through the growing pains - wages are less than half of UAW scale.

Development cycles for vehicles are on the order of 5 years. Nobody saw the gas prices climbing past $4 last year. Hybrids and new small cars have been on the tubes for a couple of years in Detroit and they are proceeding as fast as they can with development - not to mention current offerings. The problem is that people wanted big gashog SUV''s. So that''s what was built. Why do you think Toyota built the Tundra, the Sequoia and Nissan the Titan and Armada? They too are suffering because they were fooled. Plants are furloughed.
Granted there is excess capacity now, but I think we need to give a *** about "Made in America".

It''s almost proven by now that patently ignorant decisions made by bankers caused the financial meltdown on Wall St. Yet they are getting hundreds of billions of free money with carte blanche as to how it is allocated. Why the double standard for the auto industry? All they are asking for is LOANS. Let these newly cash flush banks help them instead of setting the money aside for bonuses!!

[hitoyou11]

The DUMB DUMBS in Congress will give them the money. They should close them DOWN.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
AMERICAN ECONOMY DESTROYER. THE BIG 3 CEO''s and the UAW. They did it. NO ONE ELSE.

[bailthisout]

lastdance134 is again attempting to defend the United Auto Workers Union by name calling. LOL Sorry bubba, but your two minutes fo begging are over. Request denied. It is called Capitalism not Communism.

[edward1975-2009]

Tell them to come back when they have exhausted all other avenues open to them. When they have the union concessions, when they cut the wastseful upper management, when they start flying commercial flights, instead of hopping in their private jets. When they can produce a quality product that can compete in a market ten yrs ago they dominated. Then we''ll talk.

[matrixrx2003]

Lets see just how these CEO''s get to DC this time.

If they are smart they will Jet Pool. If they all come in their own private jets then they have learned nothing and deserve ZERO bail out money !

[opedanderson]

I dont care if gas goes down to $1 pr gallon. The fact is most of that money is leaving our economy and is supporting others.

We need electric cars now!!!!!

[renonv5]

Their fallout is the direct result of extremely bad management and corporate greed. We can not afford to bail them out too. Tell them to file bankruptcy, fire all management, not the workers, and restructure their business plan according to today''s standards. Our government is KILLING US with these bailouts!!!

[daffy64]

I don''t see the board heads at the big three offering to cut their own salaries first.

Shameful greed.

[inventagod2]

Bankruptcy is not necessarily a death blow, these morons were already on the ropes due to mismanagement and lack of vision. Let the chips fall where they may.

[cheddarboy82]

im in the metro area, let me tell you, nothing will be fixed until they get rid of the union. Most of them are over paid, lazy idiots making 50plus k a year for pushing a broom with maybe a highschool degree. I have made deliveries to these plants and there are some lazy sob''s there. what company has to pay there employees $70''000 to be released, geez at my job I wouldn''t get a nickel if I got let go. the buyouts, the union and the quility of these companies need to change. And get new exec''s, what company let''s a guy keep his job who runs it into the ground, losing millions a day. Now they want congress to give them billions ? delaying the inevitable...

[cheddarboy82]

fire the management, fire the workers, open up the employment line to get hired in again and start up fresh. fu** all of them, from the top to the bottom, there all responsible for this. foreign cars have better quility anyways.

[torva-2009]

Before agreeing to any bailouts I would like to see the board of directors work for $1 a year.

I would also demand that the board of directors and CEOs, CFOs, etc return their bonuses from last year.

The auto makers should also be required to introduce cars, trucks, etc. that use alternative fuels, get better mileage, whatever it takes to reduce the U.S. reliance on foreign oil.

The unions should also belly up and agree to the immediate elimination of the JOBS BANK what a rip off.

And last but not least I would like to see the congress to reduce its pay by at least 50% - because they certainly haven''t been doing their job for the last 14 years! In addition, congress should also lose their government health care - so they know how the average American feels when it comes to medical issues!

[steamed2]

Frankly, while I support leting the ''Big 3'' file bankruptcy I''m amazed at how casually Congress seems to regard the entire auto industry being flushed down the tube, yet they ran around screaming ''the sky is falling'' when A.I.G. and Citigoup held out their hands for billions. Why is that? There is a very real, measurable difference in the two, and as we have seem, Henry Paulson lied like a theif concerning both his intentions with taxpayer money AND what the banks would do with it once it was recieved, which is NOTHING! Take a minute to check out http://www.peak.org/~LW584

[aldon61]

I am totally against taxpayer money being used to bail out these companies. That said, congress is going to do it regardless of what we think or want. A caveat should be inserted that ALL of the CEO''s and board members be ousted! The Federal government should "take over" temporarily and begin interviewing for top management positions. Hopefully, most of the applicants will come from Nissan, Toyota and Honda. Put new blood into the organizations and start union negotiations immediately. The big three have been paying too much for labor and everyone knows it. This is part of the overall problem; their expenses are too high. With new mangement and a re-negotiated labor agreement in place, maybe, just maybe, the bail-out might work. I''s still rather see them go chapter 11 though!

[brianp55]

I seriously doubt that a bailout of any magnitude would allow these companies to turn things around. The pivotal problem is that the American consumer has lost confidence in their products. If they get the bailout, Americans are probably not going to purchase their cars in the quantities required to keep these companies afloat. Hence, in two years, they will once again be appearing before Congress and pleading for assistance. If they are allowed to file for Chapter 11, consumers will not want to purchase cars from companies that have gone bankrupt. Either way, they''re sunk. However, the latter of the two scenarios is far less expensive to taxpayers. Think about this for a moment. These CEOs have done such a thorough job of destroying the credibility of their respective companies, that most Americans would like to see GM, Ford and Chrysler disappear. Wow.

[indivthinker]

And last but not least I would like to see the congress to reduce its pay by at least 50% - because they certainly haven''''t been doing their job for the last 14 years! In addition, congress should also lose their government health care - so they know how the average American feels when it comes to medical issues!

Posted by torva at 11:23 AM : Dec 02, 2008

Do you realize that Congressional salaries are around $200k a year? They don''t need the money. They spend millions of dollars each to get elected, and a huge bulk of that money supply comes from personal wealth. When compared to the fact that 90% of those serving in Congress are millionaires (look at Kerry, Kennedy, McCain, etc), they don''t need their salaries or health care.

That and you are wrong about the average American and health care. 250 million out of 300 million people (83.33%, which is a very large majority) in this country have health care, whether that be Medicaid, Medicare, business provided health care, or private coverage. Just because YOU might not have health care does not make your voice any more significant than those who WORK hard to get health care.

And by work hard, I don''t mean working 60+ hours at a minimum wage job. I mean busting their butts to get through high school, college, graduate school, and never giving up until they get a good job. THOSE are the people that are average Americans... those with health care that worked for it.

[craigh9]

Bankruptcy is the proper avenue to handle this situation. The concept that no one will buy a car from a company in bankruptcy is misguided. When airlines were in bankruptcy people still bought advance tickets from them versus only from solvent companies. If people really won''t buy cars because of their financial situation they won''t buy them even after the government bridge loan because that doesn''t ensure the auto makers will still survive.

[hitoyou11]

Let thaem go down. They all, The CEO''s and the UAW have RIP the people off for a LONG LONG time, it is time for them to pay up. GO BROKE.

[craigh9]

There is a HUGE difference between keeping the banking industry strong and able to support business growth - and bailing out manufacturing companies. If the big 3 go south others will step forward and pick up the pieces and through bank loans reestablish the auto industry in the USA. If the banks collapsed everything would go down the tubes without the opportunity to rebuild as money wouldn''t be available to any business ventures.

[lilly1232]

So you think it ok that there are no American Autos?
I hope you also think that the ones we will be left with does not support our economy. Every nickle of profit goes back to the country that owns these companies. And why congress treating the Auto industry so differently than they did the banks, They caused their own problems as well. But the current administration is probably getting a kick back from them. Does the auto companies have problem? sure they do, but none worse the the banks who caused their own problems too. Maybe we should let them go bellyup too. then we can do all our banking with a country other than our own. that is what you are aking for the Auto companies.
Are you American or Japanese or Korean or something?
We just saw a 150 year old company go to another country. But speaking just for me. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, AND I WILL STAND BEHIND THIS COUNTRY AN NO OTHER.

[ocasanas]

If that CEO is going to work for a dollar next year, then he should not receive any benefits of any kind, including healthcare benefits, and perhaps write a new contract for him, making him not vested until after three years of work for the company. How about that, Mr. Rich? Oh, and no freebies, no business trips, take the bus to work by the way, or walk, your cars don''t work anyway.

[craigh9]

Once again it appears the executives have gone seeking bridge loans without any real plan in place. They need to CUT DEEPLY in order to survive. This concept of not paying bonuses and "seeking" consessions from the UAW don''t cut it. Once again they are looking at this as business as usual with minor bumps until they can get to 2010 and have their new cars available - they seem to ignore the fact that those models won''t produce "PROFIT" until years after they are released. Get a clue big 3

[walt1944-2009]

What is going to happen is:

1)If Congress does listen to the voters who put them into office, Congress will tell the BIG 3 "No Way" to any "rescue" package and allow all 3 of them to go into Chapter 11.

2) Then Congress will step in and tell all 3 of them they have to re-organize into ONE Automaker instead of 3 seperate ones, thus eliminating competition from within!

3) ONE automaker will emerge where there used to be 3 and that ONE will compete against the Toyotas, Hondas, Mercedes, and Hyundai''s of the world.

The Great Emperor Bush II''s GLOBAL ECONOMY mania will win AGAIN, even if it means throwing millions out of work and causing a major DEPRESSION HERE!

Remember, the Great Emperor Bush II is absolutely convinced that "FREE TRADE" does work, no matter what it does to the average citizen here, and from the looks of it, he has convinced every politician in Washington of that stupidity!

SIG HEIL, I''LL SHAFT EVERYONE YET!!!, BUSH!!!

[torva-2009]

Posted by indivthinker at 11:42 AM : Dec 02, 2008

I think you need to refine your figures and assumptions.

One - working Americans number around 130 to 150 million and perhaps, and let''s make that a big if, 80% percent qualify for health care of some sort. And further Medicare maybe average in terms of quality, but Medicaid which is for the very poorest of Americans, provides only the basic.

Two - many hard working Americans who in a good economy would be working at employers that provide health care have been or are facing the prospects of losing their jobs and their health care.

Three - your assumptions about me or other bloggers about what are education, socio-economic, or employment status are your egostistical hallucinations and you should reframe from making assumptions about others.

It is one thing to dispute a specific post but to then make assumptions about someone you don''t know is indicative of an overall lack of sophistication -- and becareful about chiding your fellow posters about spelling and grammatical errors - it is the thouhgts that are the main point.

[mycommentspg]

Congress and the bailout situation is completely out of control. There appears to be a lack of real understanding by members of Congress in regard to the economic situation currently facing the country, as evidenced by the lack of necessary regulation in relation to the financial services industry. http://mycommentspage.blogspot.com/

[craigh9]

I have a friend that has dozens of auto dealerships - he stopped adding new american dealerships years ago - WHY? Because if he has problems with Hyunda, Honda, Kia, etc. he picks up the phone and talks to someone that can solve his issue. When dealing with the big 3 the layers of management is OVERWHELMING - he can''t circumvent the layers resulting in long periods of inactivity and miscommunication due to the volume of people involved. The big 3 MUST ELIMINATE 40% of management positions to reduce costs and to become nimble enough to survive

[us_1776]

Taxpayer money should only be used to underwrite DIP financing needed during bankruptcy. The entire management teams of these three automakers need to go. The labor contracts declared void. And then maybe these automakers might stand a chance of successfully restructuring themselves in a competitive manner with new visionary management teams at the helm.

[cpelzar--2008]

No Money for Detroit and the UAW, any politician that is in favor of this will be thrown out of office.

[ceres5]

How nice of the executive officers of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler companies of offering to work for am annual salry of $1. If the offer is accepted, I am sure that if we read the fine print, it will indicate that their annual bonuses should be greater than $500 millon dollars.

[koyt1]

The Big Three will have to cut out ALL payments to the UAW, including the ones for health care payments, before I would consent to using our hard earned dollars for a bail out.
Let them file bankruptcy, reorganize, and then make loans. We''re all sick of their abuse.

[dbstevens]

Puh-leeeeze! As if "working for $1" hurts these CEOs. That''s a blatant PR move...they make tons of money from other sources, plus you know they will just spend company money on their own stuff. This isn''t any sort of concession that matters to me and just proves that these people are idiots.

If their plans don''t include a MAJOR shift in how they manufacture cars, where they manufacture them, and what types of cars (more environmentally conscious, better mileage, better quality and cheaper), then I don''t want to see them "bailed out." They''re in this fix because of their very bad business model and practices. From what I can tell, their "plans" are bogus and don''t really show any change in practices or policies. If "working for $1" or lowering executive pay gets them out of trouble, then it''s ridiculous that these people were being paid billions. I don''t think so...

[noloyalisti]

The slimy oil corporations, responsible for two invasions and occupations for oil and recipients of huge profits, should bail out the auto companies. If they refuse, we nationalize them like we did the banks. Why should we only nationalize failed businesses?

[jtdev1]

I would like to see the big3 get the help they need, but I still don''t think they get it...


Here you have Ford CEO saying he''ll work for $1...etc...


My only question is this:

Knowing the situation they all face, what have they ALREADY done to improve their situation? From what I''ve seen, Nothing. Still not plane listed on Ebay (or for sale) Only talk of selling it IF we give them the money...

How many of you could ask your parents for money without already doing all you could possibly do first???

[brianp55]

The slimy oil corporations, responsible for two invasions and occupations for oil and recipients of huge profits, should bail out the auto companies. If they refuse, we nationalize them like we did the banks. Why should we only nationalize failed businesses?

Posted by noloyalisti

Good idea. After all, there is a symbiotic relationship between these two industries.

[aldon61]

I''ve been posting on CBS for a long time now. Seldom, if ever, have I seen so many posters saying the same thing. It appears that none of us are in favor of this proposed bail-out, yet we all are fairly certain it''s going to happen. Let''s all write our congressmen, send an email today. It might not have an affect, but I think it''s worth a shot.

[scallywag8]

So they agree to $1 a year. That sounds great. Can''t wait to see how much the bonus is! LMAO

[ray999999]

ive never had a ford that didn''t have problems most fords are junks right off the assembly line. car makers need to get rid of unions that ask for too much hourly pay for workers who could care less about how good a car is made as long as the check is there on friday.as long as cars use gas there will be even more going under

[cyberus-2009]

Said it before, saying it again ...

... they need to declare bankruptcy and come up with a restructuring plan, lets not make the same mistake here as was made with Wall Street.
As it stands now there is NO reason NOT to believe that if given 8-10 billion dollars each that it wouldn''t be sucked up by both huge executive pay packages and bonuses AND a UAW strike demanding huge pay increases and platinum "no deductible" health plans.
Under the thumb of a bankruptcy court these (and other such abuses) could be controlled and bailout money could be doled out for approved restructuring.

[conservevoic]

I read an article that reads the CEOs of the "big three" are willing to work for $1.00 per year. Really? Is that their base pay? Normally CEO base pay is capped at $1,000,000 per year with the rest of their compensation in benefits and perks worth tens of millions of dollars. This gets them their incredible salaries with a tiny tax exposure. Don''t let them fool you. Working for $1.00 is like taking a 10 cent cut in pay for them.