Crushing unemployment rates are changing the debate over financial help for the auto industry, Sen. Chris Dodd said Monday.
With more and more people losing their jobs, Washington has no choice but to intervene to keep the Big Three automakers from collapsing, Dodd said on ABC's "Good Morning America".
Any such plan should include a change in the top leadership of the carmakers, Dodd said. Although he added, "it's not my job to hire and fire."
Overhauling the top management of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors is necessary as a gesture of good faith with the American public, whose money would be used for the bailout, Dodd said.
Meanwhile, the head of the United Auto Workers, Ron Gettelfinger, said his union was ready to "go back to the bargaining table" to work with the companies to keep them in business.
On NBC's "Today" show, Gettelfinger also said that unions represent only about 10 percent of the total cost of running the companies and "we cannot let workers in this country be the scapegoat for this problem."
