New jobs and new ‘opportunity’, but at what cost? There isn’t much talk anymore about Honda’s new plant or the “new jobs” and the “opportunity” that Indiana was supposed to get from it. Indiana gave $141.5 million in incentives to Honda, which included tax credits and abatements, training assistance and a promise to expedite the long-sought interchange upgrade at US 421 onto I-74. The Indiana plant will be Honda’s sixth North American plant.

Rank-and-file activists in auto and other industries are organizing a Solidarity Sleigh to support the strikers of United Auto Workers Local 364 who have been on strike since April 1. From cites around the Midwest they will caravan to Elkhart, Indiana joining striking workers Dec. 16. They will bring gifts for the children of strikers, donations for the food bank, financial contributions and, in the words of organizers, “hearts filled with solidarity and holiday cheer.”

A delegate gives an account and commentary

Las Vegas, NV – The United Auto Workers International convention was held here, June 12 – 15. This was the first convention I have ever attended. It was an honor and a privilege to be elected by the membership (active and retired) to represent them at the convention. The convention was a thorough learning experience in regards to the issues that exist not only throughout our Local and International Union but our society as a whole. I was given a lot of information on what to expect so I was not stunned by what I observed. Nauseated, maybe – surprised, no.

UAW Local 974, located in East Peoria, Illinois, held an election for delegates to the UAW International Constitutional Convention April 23 at the UAW Local 974 union hall. In a stunning upset for the incumbent caucus, the Members for CHANGE! Group, led by Rob Wilson, won a majority of five delegate positions out of eight.

Flint, MI – Chanting, “Not one dollar, not one dime! Cutting wages is a crime!” more than 75 auto workers joined together here for a spirited picket line at the Delphi auto parts plant, Feb. 16. Many on the picket line were members of the rank-and-file auto workers organization, Soldiers of Solidarity. Coinciding with the end of sparkplug production at the plant, the protest slammed Delphi/GM’s demands for concessions.

Decatur, IL – Nowhere in organized labor is the failure and treachery of business unionism more indicting than in the United Auto Workers (UAW). Today, that treachery threatens not only the existence of the organization, but the fundamental values upon which the union was built. If there exists a saving grace for the UAW, it is not in the halls of Solidarity House [UAW headquarters in Detroit], but in the rank and file resurgence against the devastating concessions at Delphi and Visteon, parts suppliers to the auto industry. The massive job losses and concessions, including tiered wages and benefits, are not a new occurrence, but a carefully crafted course that involves not only the bastards of the boardroom, but top UAW leadership as well.

Detroit, MI – More than 600 rank-and-file auto workers demonstrated here, Jan. 8, to protest attacks on working people by Delphi and General Motors. The Delphi Corporation, which makes GM auto parts, wants to use bankruptcy proceedings to make huge cuts to wages, benefits and pensions.

Interview with Rank-and-File Leader Gregg Shotwell

Fight Back! interviewed Gregg Shotwell, a key leader of the rank-and-file movement that is growing inside the United Auto Workers. A worker at the Delphi auto parts plant in Cooperstown, Michigan, Shotwell helped organize the mass meetings of autoworkers that took place over the past two months. These meetings led to the formation of the rank-and-file organization, Soldiers of Solidarity.

After decades of concessionary contracts, rank-and-file United Auto Worker activists have worked tirelessly the last two months resisting attacks on auto parts workers at Delphi Corporation.

Peoria, IL – United Auto Workers (UAW) members employed by Caterpillar Inc. ratified a six-year agreement, Jan. 9, 2005 . Many union members called it, “The worst contract in the history of the union.”