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Vol. 79/No. 36 October 12, 2015
VW scandal: Bosses junk safety
in drive for profits
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Revelations about Volkswagen cheating on emission tests highlight how
the auto barons sacrifice safety and the environment in their drive for
profits.
For years Germany-based Volkswagen, the biggest automaker in Europe,
rigged exhaust emissions to pass laboratory tests. On the road, however,
the cars emitted up to 40 times the amount of nitrogen oxides allowed by
the U.S. Clean Air Act.
After the California Air Resources Board noted these high pollution
levels, VW recalled half a million cars in December 2014, purportedly to
adjust software devices. But a new on-road test in May found little
difference.
The two agencies threatened to withhold government certification for
VW’s 2016 diesel models. The company in mid-September then admitted it
had installed “defeat device” software that programmed cars to produce
acceptable emission results during lab tests — on some 11 million diesel
cars worldwide!
As VW stock plummeted and CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, company
officials said they’d set aside $7.3 billion — over half VW’s annual
profits — for penalties and recall costs.
Volkswagen, the largest corporation in Germany, employs some 300,000
workers in 29 plants.
Under capitalism auto companies, and other industrial giants, often rely
on “cost-benefit analysis” in determining whether fixing a
malfunctioning part would cut into their profits more than paying for
resulting injuries and deaths.
One of the most blatant examples was the Pinto, millions of which were
produced in the 1970s. “For seven years the Ford Motor Company sold cars
in which it knew hundreds of people would needlessly burn to death,”
said a Mother Jones article in September 1977.
The subcompact car’s fuel system was placed in the rear not far from the
bumper, making it highly likely a rear-end collision even at slow speeds
would rupture the gas tank and explode. Fixing the problem would cost
between $5 and $8 per vehicle. But a secret company memorandum argued
that the company had little to gain financially from making the repair;
it was cheaper to pay out for deaths and injuries resulting from the
auto fires they knew would occur. More than 500 people died from the
defect.
The bosses’ callous attitude hasn’t changed. In 2012 Toyota recalled
about 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. because of window switches that
could cause fires. The automaker also paid $1.2 billion in fines for
withholding information on sudden acceleration problems with some of its
vehicles.
Hundreds of people died in crashes in General Motors cars as a result of
defective ignition switches and likely related air-bag failures. The
company, which has recalled 1.6 million of these vehicles, knew about
the defect in 2001 and did nothing. Fixing the problem would have cost
as little as $1 per car.
Two decades ago General Motors installed defeat devices on half a
million cars that distorted actual carbon monoxide emissions. And in
1998 seven manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines, including
Caterpillar and Volvo Truck, implanted devices disabling nitrogen-oxide
controls.
Related articles:
Join Oct. 11 march for rail safety in Quebec!
Rail workers framed up for gov’t, boss disaster
Steelworkers picket ArcelorMittal mills protesting bosses’ cutback demands
On the Picket Line
Deaths on the job rise as union membership falls
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