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On
May Day, more than a million French workers marched in 283
demonstrations across the country. They were not in a jovial mood. The
British daily Guardian commented, "When the former prime minister
Dominique de Villepin warned that there was a
risk of revolution in France, it was not just because he
wanted to make life difficult for his arch-rival Nicolas Sarkozy. It was also because social unrest is
genuinely on the rise."
Since
then there have been mass marches of tens of thousands of GM’s Opel workers in Germany, and Fiat workers in Italy, in defense of their jobs.
Steelworkers physically assaulted the headquarters of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg, protesting job cuts.
In
sharp contrast, the International Workers Holiday also found the once
mighty United Auto Workers marching—not in the streets—but lock step
with the White House, and the new emerging bosses at Fiat-Chrysler, in
to bankruptcy court. They asked the same judge that presided over the
disasters at Enron and WorldCom to quickly implement a tripartite
restructuring plan dictated by Obama’s
strategy. A similar plan had been agreed to by the Canadian Auto
Workers under an ultimatum from the Tory Federal and Liberal Ontario
governments.
Articles
in the May Socialist Action by Marty Goodman and Barry Weisleder gave good background to this latest stage
in the auto crisis. Since then, articles on the Labor Notes website and
in the Detroit boss press have revealed
and fleshed out new odious details of the Chrysler deal in addition to
those earlier reported such as:
• A
six-year no strike pledge. Bush had made a
strike grounds for default on the initial emergency "bridge
loans" that kept Chrysler and GM barely alive until his successor
could take over. Obama has imposed the
six-year condition, which will remain in effect even if the companies
pay off their new loans. This not only eliminates the strike option
when Big Three contracts would be up for negotiation next fall; it also
effectively prohibits strikes over local issues, such as safety and
line speed, that have historically protected
UAW workers. All disputes must now be submitted to arbitration.
•
Cuts in retiree health-care benefits. Since dentists don’t accept
Fiat-Chrysler equity in payment for services, the cash starved
union-run VEBA has had to eliminate dental and vision care, and has
reduced prescription benefits for retirees.
•
Jobs are down to Depression levels—and more are to be slashed.
Chrysler’s hourly payroll is at its lowest since 1934, and they are
seeking buy-outs of 3500 more. All U.S. and Canadian plants will
remain closed for the duration of the bankruptcy process. Eight plants
have been targeted for permanent shuttering.
Restructuring beyond the
shop floor
In
addition to UAW and CAW production workers, there are thousands of
salaried employees; tens of thousands more at outsourced parts
suppliers; thousands involved in transportation of parts and vehicles,
all adversely affected. Dealerships being closed by Chrysler and GM
amount to a lot more than salespersons—160,000 mechanics, helpers,
clerical, janitorial, and security workers will get the axe as well.
And
there are more than 700,000 Big Three retirees and surviving spouses
who have good reason to fear for the future of their pensions and
health care.
I
think we could safely say that the tripartite disaster at Chrysler is
the single biggest American working class defeat in living memory. But
this dubious recognition will be short-lived. Probably by the time you
read this article the Chrysler opening act will have already been
eclipsed by this season’s main show—General Motors.
The “Buy American” poison
pill
UAW
president Ron Gettelfinger is an
"OK" guy. Generally, what ever the boss or Obama says is OK by him. After all, he sees the
survival of the union depending on the success of his employer
"partners" and political "friends." He never ceases
to explain that it is "all about jobs."
But
even mild-mannered Ron got a little testy when it was revealed that a
GM restructuring plan, worked out with Obama,
projected a 12-fold increase in imports of GM
vehicles from Asia by
2014—while
shutting down 16 U.S. plants. Ron huffed and
puffed. “Buy American” forces, led by Canadian Leo Gerard of the
Steelworkers, started organizing petitions and rallies. But this spat
among partners quickly cooled down when GM announced they were prepared
to scale back imports as part of negotiating a new agreement with the
UAW, required by Obama.
One
area of imports that will be definitely scaled back is Canada—where GM projects cutting
half the CAW workforce. It’s all about jobs up there too.
Just
as the UAW once set the trend for labor advances, it now does the
opposite. This summer rubber negotiations will open with the
Steelworkers—who also previously swallowed the poison pills of VEBA and
two-tier wages/benefits.
Gettelfinger is not the only U.S. union bureaucrat to reject
European-style resistance in favor of partnership. None of the
mainstream mis-leaders of today’s unions seem
prepared to go as far as Lane Kirkland—the "Old Guard"
AFL-CIO president who once summoned hundreds of thousands of workers
into the streets of Washington.
Even
as the business press revealed Obama’s
personal "hard ball" intervention in the auto debacle, the
AFL-CIO was proclaiming, "Obama’s First
100 Days Mark Major Wins for Working Families." Change to Win was
just as lavish: "As the last 100 days have proven, with a leader
like Obama at the helm, workers once again
have a shot at achieving the American Dream."
The
need for a class-struggle labor left wing to fight in the workplace and
in the streets has never been more palpable and urgent.
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