“They plan to cut our elected officials down to half of what we have now by eliminating half our union offices. Despite agreeing with the UAW last year to wait until contract time, they did this today, one day before the election. They did this despite the people who took days off to campaign and who spent hundreds of dollars on their campaign flyers, buttons and pens et cetera,” said Jordan.

In the face of this attempt to disrupt the union, Jordan adds Kokomo autoworkers will continue to fight, “From elections to product lines, management is sabotaging our work here in Kokomo. The membership of UAW Local 292 will not continue to accept these actions.”

#KokomoIN #News #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #Delphi #UAWLocal292

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.

When reviewing and voting on the rules we observed our first glimpse of the theme that was to punctuate every event of the week. Mike Parker, a convention delegate from Local 1700 Chrysler, made a motion to amend the rules allowing resolutions to be submitted from the floor of the convention and debated for adoption. Although Mr. Gettlefinger and others extolled the need for change in the UAW, delegate after delegate stood to proclaim their opposition to any change in the rules stating, “We have done it this way for 33 consecutive conventions; the rules are fair and democratic; don’t change them.” I attempted to speak in support of the motion waving a sign in an exaggerated manner. Even while I was waving the sign the chair President Gettlefinger asked if anyone was in support in region 4. The chair did not recognize me at any time throughout the entire week. The motion was defeated, with the exception of possibly a dozen delegates dissenting

Mike Parker also stated that due to the unprecedented attack on Auto Workers at Delphi, GM and Ford Motor Company we should have a more open discussion of the issues and democratic debate. The chair, Mr. Gettlefinger, stated that this was the Constitutional Convention and these were issues for the Bargaining Convention that will possibly, allegedly, maybe take place in 2007. This was a startling statement considering we were voting on resolution after resolution that had nothing to do with the Constitution.

Day two saw another blow to democracy. Gary Walkowitz brought to the attention of the delegate body a proposed submitted resolution that would have allowed retirees the right to vote on those contracts that diminish their retirement pension, health care or other benefits. It required 207 delegate votes simply to get it on the floor to debate it. When the chair called a vote to call the submitted proposal up for debate only nine delegates voted in favor of allowing a debate. While on break I asked a delegate wearing a Ford hat what he thought of the proposal and he said, “I thought we should at least discuss it.” When I asked him if he raised his hand in favor of bringing it on the floor he said, “Oh no way.” “Why not?” I asked. “Because they are watching me,” he replied.

Wednesday brought a farce called an election, the preordained replacement for retiring Vice Presidents and Regional Directors. On Tuesday afternoon an invitation was passed around inviting people to a Sunshine breakfast provided by the Administrative Caucus. I am not a member of the Administrative Caucus so I did not attend. When arriving at the Convention Wednesday morning it was adorned with thousands of balloons and on every table was poised Administrative Caucus election material. Virtually everyone was wearing a nauseating sticker that proclaimed, “I am on Ron’s Team.” I was asked why I didn’t come help decorate. My reply was, “Because I was not invited to decorate. I was invited to an Administrative Caucus breakfast.”

Thursday brought more regurgitation of the same rhetoric of the previous part of the week. John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, spoke and there were more resolutions to stamp. Sunday when we arrived I browsed through the resolution book and when I saw the resolutions on Veterans Protection and National Security I decided I would put a speech together. Being a veteran I thought I am entitled to speak to these issues I earned it through ten years of service. Again I was denied access to the floor and was not recognized by the chair.

The last resolution to come up was one for protecting the 40-hour week. I was stunned when I realized there was not one word in the resolution about protecting the eight-hour day. I began to realize that the other delegates might be unaware that at Caterpillar Inc. they have started Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) and Irregular Work Schedules (IWS) that are three thirteen-hour, twenty-minute days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) over the weekend. The Alternative Work Schedule might also be three twelve’s (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and four hours on Monday. I was planning to oppose this resolution from the floor, merely to point out the fact that in some places the eight-hour day is being violated. The plan was cut short when someone made a motion to bind the remaining resolutions together and vote on them. The motion passed with one person speaking in favor and one opposed then someone called for the question and the motion passed unanimously with myself abstaining.

To summarize: I along with the other four delegates from Members for CHANGE represented our active and retired membership as promised. We hand-delivered a letter with the issues we ran on to the International Executive Board; additionally we mailed the letter to the president’s office and to the media. We voted in favor of debating the retirees’ right to vote on contracts that took any benefits away from them. We met and networked with other delegates.

There is not an enormous difference between the strategy set forth by the UAW International and that of the recently split off Change to Win Coalition that left the AFL-CIO last year. They give lip service to ‘organizing the unorganized,’ while ignoring the needs of the already organized. The UAW allegedly will diversify their portfolio, leaving current active members at Delphi, Ford, GM and other major industrial manufacturing employers such as Caterpillar wondering whose survival are they worried about.

The UAW convention demonstrated that that the labor movement needs real change. We needed a labor movement that bases itself on the principals of democracy, solidarity and the recognition that an injury to one is an injury to all. There is no seniority date for dignity and justice.

#LasVegasNV #Commentary #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #UAW #Delphi

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.

The picket line took place despite a decision of by the heads of UAW Local 651 to cancel the protest that was planned for that day. As many see it, Local 651 officials used bad weather as an excuse to cancel the picket, march and rally that they never wanted to hold in the first place.

After the picket line, auto workers packed a nearby sports bar for an indoor rally. A banner reading, “Spark the movement,” hung out front. Speakers called for a serious and determined resistance to concessions at Delphi.

Delphi CEO Robert Miller wants to cut wages and benefits by more than 60%. This is the leading edge of an attack by the owners of the auto corporations. Their goal is to destroy an entire way of life for workers and their communities, transforming the industry into one characterized by low wages and benefits. The outcome of this battle has an impact on the livelihood of everyone who works for a living.

#FlintMI #News #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #UAW #Delphi #SoldiersOfSolidarity

A statement from Soldiers of Solidarity, the group that organized the march, noted, “ Corporate greed, not necessity drives GM/Delphi’s planned attack on workers and our communities. Delphi was a healthy, debt-free corporation in 1999 after they were spun off from General Motors. The pension was fully funded. Delphi had no retirees. Six years later Delphi is broke. They drained the pension fund and the stock is worthless.”

“Delphi ’s failure is not the fault of workers, it is the fault of overpaid, incompetent frauds. GM/Delphi planned the bankruptcy in order to break the contract and dump their responsibility to retirees onto American taxpayers. If the court sanctions this scam, other multinational corporations will follow suit. Delphi is the test case, ” the statement continued.

Most of those at the demonstration were rank-and file-members of the United Auto Workers. The UAW did not endorse the protest and has a record of making big concessions to the auto corporations.

The stage is set for a major confrontation between this crucial section of the working class and some of America’s biggest corporations. All workers have a stake in the outcome of this battle.

#DetroitMI #News #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #UAW #Delphi #SoldiersOfSolidarity #GeneralMotors

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.

Delphi workers make auto parts for General Motors and for all practical purposes the two companies are the same. Delphi has filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy courts are used by many corporations – for example those of the airline industry – as a vehicle to escape union contracts, slash health benefits and gut pensions.

This rank-and-file upsurge in auto has put the heat on UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. On Dec. 30 the Wall Street Journal noted, “Growing resistance from auto workers is putting pressure on the head of the industry’s most powerful union and threatening the tenuous ties he has forged with Detroit's Big Three.”

As Fight Back! goes to press, negotiations concerning Delphi workers are continuing between the UAW and GM.

Fight Back! : General Motors and Delphi are pushing for huge concessions. What do they want from Delphi workers?

Gregg Shotwell: Cheap labor. Delphi wants to dump their obligations to retirees – pensions and health insurance – onto the taxpayers. Delphi also wants to cut our wages in half, reduce benefits, close plants and lay off workers. But it’s not just about the money. Delphi wants to break the union by imposing a contract that would make our day-to-day life in the factory miserable. Delphi does not want to honor seniority rights or human rights. For example, no excuses would be accepted for absence from work and discipline would not be grievable.

Fight Back! : Rank-and-file meetings of auto workers have drawn large numbers and the organization Soldiers of Solidarity has emerged from these mass meetings. Why such an enthusiastic response? What are the goals of Soldiers of Solidarity?

Shotwell: The enthusiasm is a direct result of two things: One, the severity of the threat and two, the lack of a strong response from the leadership of the UAW to the threat.

In the meetings we turn control over to the members. People who never had a voice before are given an opportunity to speak their minds to an attentive audience of peers. Participation is direct and energetic. It makes for an exciting atmosphere.

Our goals are simply to resist concessions and to exert rank-and-file power by involving all the members in an organized effort to assert our dignity. We are not helpless victims. We control production. We can make or break profits. We have power.

Fight Back!: A call has been made to ‘Work to Rule.’ Practically speaking what has this meant?

Shotwell: Work to Rule is a method of challenging management control by insisting that all rules – safety, production and quality standards – be observed to the letter of the law.

When we Work to Rule we stop giving the boss that extra effort that makes the difference between profit and loss. We withhold our knowledge because the bosses do not show us respect. We used to give a baker’s dozen for the price of twelve. But with Work to Rule the boss gets just what he deserves.

It’s simple. The machine stops. The boss says, “What’s wrong?” I say, “I don’t know.” He asks the job setter who replies, “I don’t know.” He asks another coworker who replies, “I don’t know.” Then we all look at the boss and he starts sweating because he really doesn’t know.

Bosses like to boss. So do them all a favor and give them lots of bossing to do. The boss will like you for it and everyone will be happy keeping labor costs down by outsourcing all decisions to the boss.

Work to Rule is safe and legal because we insist on following every rule and code in the book. We observe the high quality standards that the bosses demand. We observe all the safety procedures that the laws demand. The result is a slowdown in production but by the bosses orders, not ours. We just do what we are told, no more, no less.

Fight Back! : Do you think it will be necessary to strike against Delphi and/or GM? Why or why not?

Shotwell: The president of the UAW has stated that it appears we are on “a collision course” with Delphi. GM and Delphi are one and the same. We have to impact both companies to reach a fair agreement. I believe a strike is inevitable because GM-Delphi is determined to impose drastic wage and benefit reductions and to severely weaken our union.

If we do not fight back and resist this anti-worker agenda, I believe that all workers, not just auto workers, will suffer.

Full employment is a workable reality. A living wage is simple justice. Security in our old age is a fair reward for a life of labor. A national insurance plan that covers everyone is the only reasonable solution to the medical crisis in America. Health care is a human right.

A nation’s prosperity depends on a system of just rewards, not the degradation of the working class.

#UnitedStates #Interview #Interviews #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #UAW #Delphi #RonGettelfinger #SoldiersOfSolidarity

Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 8. With Steve ‘The Hatchet’ Miller, CEO of Delphi, at the helm, the company blames health care payments for retirees and labor costs as factors contributing to Delphi’s financial crisis. Approximately 24,000 General Motors workers were sold out in 1999, when GM spun off parts manufacturing and created Delphi Corporation. Now Delphi is trying to renege on collective bargaining agreements and pensions that they are obligated to pay. The company is asking for enormous benefits concessions and wage reductions – from $27 an hour down to $9 an hour – or it will ask a bankruptcy judge to nullify the contracts with UAW-represented employees.

Since early November, auto workers across the nation have rallied to what some union officials are calling ‘rebel’ rank and file meetings. The meetings were initially called by Gregg Shotwell, a longtime UAW activist and Delphi worker. The meetings began in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Nov. 6. The Nov. 6 meeting saw hundreds of UAW members from across the auto industry, including General Motors, Ford, Visteon, Chrysler, Caterpillar and John Deere, who came to hear and voice concerns.

Another meeting held Nov. 13, in Kokomo, Indiana saw another good crowd of concerned workers from the local area and across the nation. December meetings were held in Saginaw on Dec. 4 and in Flint on the 11th. During the Saginaw meeting an open motion was made from the floor to adopt a name for this workers’ movement. They unanimously approved the name “Soldiers of Solidarity” and decided to create buttons featuring such slogans as S.O.S. and WTR, for ‘work to rule.’

The meetings have not only focused on the crisis but on direct shop floor actions such as ‘work to rule.’ Work to rule emphasizes building communication on the shop floor and building solidarity among workers by strict adherence corporate and safety regulations. Following these rules to the letter has the effect of slowing production.

The meetings also talked about preparing for a strike and working without a contract. Larry Solomon, former President of Local 751 and present Chairman of Solidarity Now and George Cornwell, a UAW Local 974 Grievance Committeeman – both UAW veterans of the mid-1990s labor war with Caterpillar Incorporated – talked about their experiences working without a contract and work to rule.

The crowds at these mass meetings have been diverse, drawing from across the auto industry. The mood of the attendees is that a great battle is coming their way and the consensus is that every concessionary contract sets precedence for the corporations’ demanding more concessions. The broad-based support and concern prompted Shotwell to open the December meetings up to all workers, union and non-union, who are concerned for the Delphi situation.

For decades auto workers have enjoyed the fruits of the previous generations’ efforts and now there is a call from many at the meetings for a broad social movement uniting all workers and every faction with interests tied to the current corporate warfare against working people. While the labor movement has always emphasized political action, many people voice tremendous distrust for all the politicians within the current two-party system. Feeling betrayed by the Democratic party, many believe that only a united nationwide movement will force political change.

Rank-and-file auto workers plan to picket the Detroit auto show on Jan. 8, the showcase event in the automotive capital. Subsequent meetings are planned for Milwaukee, Jan. 15 and an unconfirmed date for Troy, Michigan in late January.

#UnitedStates #News #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #UAW #Delphi #DetroitAutoShow