1000s of GM Workers Get Company Cars & Gas

"General Motors continues to slash costs. But even as the company asks for more taxpayer loans, there's one perk GM refuses to give up: a company car and company-paid gas for about 8,000 white-collar employees.

Kleinbaum says it's one thing for a company to offer such a generous perk when it's making tons of money, but GM lost more than $30 billion last year. The company has already received more than $13 billion in taxpayer loans to avoid bankruptcy and is asking for up to $16 billion more.

GM insists its employees appreciate the impact of high fuel prices, but one current GM staffer interviewed for this story said the perk does blind some people. He recalled that when gas spiked last summer, a colleague complained.

It wasn't because of the cost. It was because he had to swipe his credit card twice to fill up the tank of his big SUV.

A former GM economist estimates that last year alone, the automaker spent nearly $12 million on fuel for its staff."

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