I find it quite convenient that at the end of Robert Samuelson’s commentary about how much assistance (or welfare) all people and corporations are receiving, he ultimately blames General Motors’ unions because they “wouldn’t surrender benefits.” The only blame he then assigns to management is that it “acquiesced” to these demands.

What about the fact that GM management kept building bigger and bigger cars and ignored the importance of protecting the environment? Or what about the huge salaries, bonuses and other benefits that company executives continued to justify? Or is it simply that they wouldn’t surrender any of what they consider to be their benefits? Shouldn’t we be past blaming unions for all of our problems? The so-called managers of these large organizations are just as responsible. We all are.

Gary C. Carrel

Buffalo