AIG employee contracts

The idea of corporate America as a singular entity is just laziness. It isn't as though GM defended the pay of its employees in the same way that AIG has defended the pay of theirs.

Anyhow, it seems as there are two prongs to the argument being made by AIG. First, they are contractually-bound to pay. Two, they need the expertise of these employees. I think that Felix Salmon is right regarding the response that Obama should make in light of these arguments:

"We know we promised you this money, but it's clearly politically impossible for us to pay it to you. So you're not getting the bonus you were counting on. Sorry about that. At this point, you have three choices. You can continue to work for us, and keep your job. You can quit, and find a better-paying job elsewhere. Or you can quit, and sue us for the bonus that we promised you. Your call. But if you choose the third option, you'll probably want to hire a PR person at the
same time as you hire a lawyer"

One thing that is not mentioned as much as I would like it to be is the employment realities faced by these workers. Of all the careers out there, would you want to be:

1. A hated financial industry expert,
2. During the worst financial crisis in decades,
3. With AIG on your resume?

Maybe you could roll the dice on a new job. Or maybe you'd just shut up and get back to work.