Deer season in Detroit

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Federal money isn’t the only thing the Big Three will be hunting this weekend. Deer season opens tomorrow in Michigan — and that apparently is a really big deal for autoworkers.

So big, in fact, that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler shut down all of their U.S. operations today. The closure ostensibly is in observance of Veterans Day, which was on Tuesday, but the word around Detroit is that the day off traditionally is moved to the eve of hunting season.

“I guess they need a day to clean their guns,” one auto industry wag observed.

The U.S. automakers have been canvassing Washington in recent days trying to line up support for financial aid. They have been spending cash at an unsustainable pace as the global credit crunch and weakening U.S. economy have knocked the floor out from under new car sales.

Whether they manage to bag a lot of bucks, or just a buck, won’t be known until next week, when Congress is expected to consider proposals to bail out the Big Three.

By the way, workers at foreign automakers with manufacturing operations in the United States, including Toyota and Honda, were on the job today, their employers said.

-- Martin Zimmerman