GM Admits Locking UAW Members in Trunks Of Cars Sent Overseas

GM CEO Rick Wagoner today admitted to a hastily assembled Detroit news conference that the struggling auto maker had been locking one to three UAW members inside the trunk of each car and truck manufactured in the United States and shipped overseas.

"We did provide each auto worker with food and water sufficient for the journey," Wagoner said, "but we cannot deny that we were trying to reduce our labor force, and this seemed like a good idea at the time."

Wagoner said that "upwards of 600" auto workers had been "off-shored" in the program, Operation Spare Parts, which GM management had crafted in late 2008 in order to minimize health care and pension liabilities for GM workers.

Wagoner denied that only old and sick workers were selected for "off-shoring." He claimed that "all workers, even some healthy ones, were sent overseas."

The workers were locked into cars one at a time, and as many as three in an Escalade, and sent to countries including Belgium, Singapore, and Fiji.

"Without papers, they would not have been able to return to the United States," Wagoner said. "Wall Street told us to cut costs. So we cut costs. And maybe a few corners, too, truth be told."

Wagoner said that Operation Spare Parts would not have come to light except for the fact that one of the locked-in workers, an aging, infirm windshield wiper installer two years from retirement, pushed the OnStar button while the car in which he was locked was about to leave the Port of Los Angeles for South Korea.

"At least we know OnStar works," Wagoner concluded. "Just one more reason to buy GM."