Wow, I don't know where to start.

Do any of you really think that there is ANY car manufacturer that has not covered up safety issues? Are there any that do not outsource to little companies dictating the price and delivery?

I bought a Toyata 2 years ago because the RAV4 was the best vehicle with the best features for me compared to all other smaller SUVs. The Equinox and sister were stupidly designed with rear seats that did not fold flat and window controls on the center console instead of the door. The Honda CRV has seats that are so short my legs fell asleep on the test drive. The Saturn was too much money for the included features.

I never thought to look into slave labor facts, I bought the car that worked for me that did not appear to be junk.

Now, i really don't want to get started on unions but here goes....
I was a Toolmaker for 25 years. I worked in mostly smaller shops but did work for a few larger ones. All but one were non-union and I'll get to that in a few.

One shop I worked in, we made stamping dies for GM. I was making about $12 an hour then with moderate health coverage and not the greatest vacation time. Our dies were then shipped to GM where a Union employee making upwards close to $25 an hour with quadruple the bennies I was getting to sit and watch run in auto mode. And then those A-holes go on strike because they are unhappy with their wages and benefits. WTF is wrong with that picture? One word...Union!

I have also worked in shops where you were paid well and had good health care. You could also jump ship and go to the next shop down the street for $1.00 more an hour with no loyalty, same as the no loyalty shown by most employers.

The real problem comes down to the misuse of the concept of Capitalism. Capitalism is a great concept when one owns a good company, sells a good product, and pays his workers well. The problem starts when making more money than one needs to live well, at the expense of paying his workers, and ripping off the public is the priority of the owner and or shareholders.

Now back to my personal Union experience.
I worked for a shop called Metco, whose customers included Grumman, the maker of all the US Mail trucks as well as other auto related companies. There was a 90 day waiting period to join the Union. There were lots of Company tools that were not readily available due to the old timers hiding everything. You had to suck up to them just to use a public shop item. Then, they gave me a set of Cam Dies to build that punched all the rivet holes in the wing window panels of the mail trucks. I was used to working a certain way, with pride in my work, and making my parts as close to the prints as possible. One day the owners son came up to me and was looking at my work. He told me I was machining too many surfaces and making the dies look "TOO NICE". I was taken back a bit and asked if I was over the allotted time. He said No. I then asked what the problem with my work was if I was well under the limit. The boss said, "They might want to see that type of work all the time". I politely closed my toolbox, said "Then you don't want me working here" and I walked out.

Unions were good at one time, now they are a Defense against the abuse of Capitalism. If we returned morality to the owners of companies, corporations, there would be no issue and unions could just go away. In that same shop above, I watched as useless drones who were far from productive, have their jobs kept in place not because they were a worthy employee, but because they were a Union Member. (another way to protect yourself in the MFG industry is to be a Mason. Being part of the Club is almost as powerful as being a Union member)

Now as far as boycotting BP, that is stupid. The US let them do what they did unchecked after being cited for many many violations. BP employs 23,000 workers in the US. Also, if they were to go bankrupt, who will pay for the cleanup? That's right all US citizens.