On Feb. 14, automaker DaimlerChrysler, one of the richest corporations in the world, announced that it would cut its U.S. workforce by 13,000.
Under its restructuring plan, the motor company included a 16-percent reduction in its workforce, shift reductions and a
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The Chrysler plan calls for closing the company’s Newark, Del., assembly plant and reducing shifts at plants in Warren, Mich. and St. Louis. A parts distribution center near Cleveland also will be closed, and reductions could occur at other plants that make components for those facilities.
This devastating news for Chrysler workers comes on the heels of anti-worker actions that have taken place in the automotive industry over the past year. Tens of thousands of jobs have been cut by other automakers, including General Motors, Delphi and Ford.
“Today’s action by DaimlerChrysler is devastating news for thousand of workers, their families, and their communities,” United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger and vice president General Holiefield said in a Feb. 14 joint statement. “While Chrysler Group’s recent losses are not the fault of UAW members, they will suffer because of the reductions announced today.”
Using their declining market position and profitability in the domestic automobile market as an excuse, auto monopolies have won concessions from the UAW union.
Massive layoffs, plant closings and buyouts are greatly eroding living conditions for all auto workers.
Chrysler’s plan openly refers to their decision as the “right path” for more profits.
“We believe that this represents a solid plan to return to profitability and lay the groundwork for a solid future,” Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda said at a news conference.
Chrysler is not hurting for money. Its current corporate crisis is based on the fear that after one year of financial losses it will not be able to continue to make enormous profits in competition with other auto monopolies. In a time of crisis for corporations, workers are always the first to suffer with losses in jobs, wages and benefits.
The layoffs are part of an industry-wide attack on autoworkers designed to reverse decades of gains in salaries and benefits.
In June 2006, General Motors announced it would cut 35,000 jobs and Delphi, an auto parts manufacturer, cut 12,500 jobs.
Also, in September 2006, Ford Motor Company announced that it would cut 10,000 jobs and close two plants.
Then, in November 2006, General Motors laid out its plan to cut the jobs of an additional 30,000 union members. It also announced its intention to close 12 plants in the United States and Canada.
In the United States, corporations have used “free trade” agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement, as a threat to move plants overseas or across the border when unions demand better wages or working conditions. These agreements have contributed to the weakening of traditionally more militant sections of the labor movement.
Yet, the working class remains the producer of all wealth. Without our labor, the capitalist class is unable to make profits. The strike—withholding labor—is still an effective weapon in the arsenal of the working class.
The layoffs and plant closings do not just affect the workers losing their jobs. They affect the surrounding communities as well.
An appeal that channels the autoworkers’ union’s potential strength and militancy, directed toward the whole working class, could stave off the layoffs and plant closings. It would be an important initial step toward turning back the anti-worker offensive of the capitalist class.
