Fight Back!: It seems like some important locals at Chrysler are rejecting the proposed contract. What are the main issues?

Shotwell: Two tier appears to be the main issue. Union members understand that two tier is “the concession that keeps on giving,” as Jerry Tucker used to say. Workers are concerned that eventually everyone's wages will be cut.

The contract calls for “non-core” workers to earn half as much in compensation with no pension and no health care in retirement. The contract does not define what “non-core” means. The union says that they will sit down with management and decide what jobs are “non-core” after the agreement is ratified. This 'after the rat' clause raises suspicion.

We do understand that 'non-core' jobs are basically the preferred jobs; the jobs earned by high seniority that enable one to get off the line and away from repetitive stress.

The establishment of an underclass in the union threatens solidarity in a very pointed way. Senior members will have a target on their backs. Management will have an incentive to get rid of them and new hires will envy their higher wages. No one likes two tier, it's cancerous.

Another important issue is the lack of job security commitments from Chrysler. The Chairman of the National Bargaining Committee, Bill Parker, asserted in his Minority Report that Chrysler will be able to use the 'non-core' item to whipsaw competition between locals precisely because they do not have product commitments from the company.

Finally, the issue of the VEBA which is a trust fund for retiree health care that will be managed by the union. The VEBA is under funded by 45% and will likely lead to higher out of pocket expenses for retirees down the road.

Fight Back!: What effect has the anti-concessions movement in the UAW had on this round of contact negotiations and votes?

Shotwell: Soldiers of Solidarity, which sprang up during the Delphi debacle, has roots in the UAW New Directions Movement of the 1980s, and branches in the generation that takes the internet and the cell phone for granted. SOS sprang out of the Delphi bankruptcy with a simple mantra: Concessions won't save jobs, pensions, benefits and wages. SOS gained notoriety during the Delphi struggle and an extensive network of communication developed.

SOS made actual contract language broadly available to the rank and file for the first time in the history of the UAW. The union published the Highlights, a sort of sales brochure for the contract, and SOS published the Lowlights, which cited actual contract language and page numbers.

SOS posted fliers which were easy to download and print. SOS made a network available to rank-and-file members so they could get accurate information readily and communicate quickly.

The day after Bill Parker distributed his Minority Report to the UAW-Chrysler Council it was on the internet. When a skilled trades committeeman, Shawn Fain, who was present at the meeting in Detroit posted his version of the events along with his challenge to the International, it spread like wildfire.

When the International cut the mic for the rank and file, SOS handed them a megaphone. Now they can't shut up.

Fight Back!: What's wrong with the contract that was ratified at GM and why did autoworkers vote for it?

Shotwell: The contract at GM is wrong for all the same reasons that the Chrysler contract is wrong. Namely, two tier, and a union-controlled, under funded health care VEBA for retirees.

The GM contract like the Chrysler contract rolls back some of the most significant gains the UAW made in collective bargaining: COLA and pensions. Ten cents per quarter will be deducted from cost of living adjustments and pensions are eliminated for new hires.

According to most reports, the contract passed by 66%. But 7% of those who likely voted were temporary workers who were promised permanent positions if the contract was ratified. Without the temp vote, the contract passed by 59%. [Temps at Chrysler were not promised permanent jobs.]

59% is a majority, but not a mandate for two tier, COLA diversions, or an under funded, union controlled VEBA.

I think GM workers were disadvantaged by voting first because that gave them less time to consider the consequences. GM workers also lacked leadership. There was not a Minority Report at GM and only one local union president, Al Benchich, advocated a no vote. And finally, I believe, the demographics at GM and Chrysler had a significant impact. The Chrysler workers are younger and more energetic and they are ready to fight back.

#UnitedStates #Interview #Interviews #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #SoldiersOfSolidarity #VEBA #Chrysler #twotier

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