Five hundred auto workers, retired members and supporters of the United Auto Workers Local 72 rallied May 18 outside of the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha, Wisc., to protest the plant’s closing.
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The closing of the Kenosha plant was announced less than 24 hours after the UAW signed off on an agreement making extensive concessions, including wage and health care cuts, stricter attendance rules, the merging of job classifications and a clause denying the union the right to strike until the year 2015. In exchange, Chrysler promised to keep the doors of its North American plants open.
But within hours of the agreement, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While in the process, the company was able to add to the bankruptcy plan the closing of the Kenosha engine plant along with seven others.
This breach of contract, instigated by Chrysler with the help of the U.S. Treasury Department, immediately sparked the rage of the UAW rank-and-file. Kenosha has a 107-year history of auto production. The closing of the Kenosha engine production line would jeopardize the jobs of 800 auto workers and have a devastating impact on the local community.
The town had dealt with Chrysler cutting production before, having closed plants in Kenosha 20 years earlier. But this time, according to John Drew, UAW regional representative and former Local 72 president, “We’re not going down without a fight.”
Speaking at the rally, UAW’s Region 4 Director Dennis Williams said, “The union should not have to apologize for ‘lifting up’ the standard of living for all workers,” adding that it was now time “to get pissed off.”
The production of the Phoenix engine, promised by Chrysler to be built in Kenosha, will be moved to a plant in Saltillo, Mexico. But workers recognized the class dynamics of Chrysler’s actions.
“It’s not Mexico’s fault,” said UAW machinist Victor “Cowboy” Hayden Sr. “It’s Big Business’. They’re taking [federal bailout] money to build somewhere where the labor is cheap … That’s taxpayers’ money. Our money. My money. Your money. Not Big Business’.”
All 23 of Chrysler’s North American plants will be closed for the duration of the bankruptcy process.
In an attempt to quell the discontent of the autoworkers, the UAW has been promised 55 percent stock ownership of Chrysler as part of the “restructuring” plan. Chrysler, which is set to merge with Italian automaker Fiat, will now be headed up by a nine-member board of directors.
Despite having ownership of more than half of the company’s stock shares, the UAW will only be designated one seat on that board and will receive no voting rights. This illusion of ownership and authority granted to the UAW also comes with the financial risks that accompany holding a majority share in a failing company.
This assault on the UAW by Chrysler is part of the greater assault on all workers by the criminals on Wall Street. When they find themselves unable to sell their goods for a profit, the money bags in the capitalist class will throw workers to the curb. Capitalists will readily sacrifice the needs of workers to protect their profits—or cut their losses. This lays the basis for a relationship that is inherently antagonistic and riddled with irreconcilable differences.
But the UAW workers are not giving up. Join the UAW in its fight against Chrysler. Protect workers’ gains against Wall Street greed!
