Blaming the Union for GM’s systemic problems is foolish... GM’s problems are 4-5 decades old, and bailing them out instead of forcing them to change meant they would keep doing the same old crap... and that’s exactly what they did.
GM didn’t have to prove it had a right to exist, it had nothing to lose, so it didn’t change. Its the same GM today as it was before the bailout.. same people doing the same jobs, making the same decisions etc etc etc.
GM got bailed out, Chrysler got conditional loans.. GM could and can screw up all it wants because its got no skin in the game, Chrysler had to sink or swim, and it has come back strong.
I agree that GM's problems are four to five decades old, and bailing them out was foolish. But the union added extra dollars to the cost of each vehicle, maybe on the order of $5,000/car, or more.
That, plus the lack of change to lead technological innovation instead of following technology produced by Japan and the Europeans, contributed to their current road to ultimate bankruptcy or Chapter 11 reorganization. GM is second rate at best right now.