the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 20, 2012
More than 73% of Chrysler workers at the Dundee Engine plant just voted NO! on their local agreement.
A UAW Local 723 official expressed shock at the NO! Vote, stating:
“I’m bracing for the fallout....I don’t know what happened. I thought we had a good win-win contract.”
This plant of around 600 workers was the first local to vote down a contract since Chrysler’s 2009 “quick rinse” bankruptcy.
On an internet message board, a Dundee worker complained of 11½ hour workdays and getting only one day off a week. A friend of a worker summarized this way:
“With the ridiculous hours they expect, it’s not a wonder why this contract didn’t get approved. A job is supposed to be family friendly. When you work the shifts they expect you to work, it prohibits any kind of normal family life.”
Company spokeswoman, Jodi Tinson, expressed Chrysler’s intention to ignore the workers’ no vote and proceed as if workers have no say in the matter.
“There will be no impact on production....They can’t strike....We are not going to reopen negotiations....We had an agreement we expected to be ratified. Now it’s back to the local to figure out what went wrong.”
The ball is in the workers’ court. Workers who want to resist can decide together what it makes sense for them to do.
To say that Chrysler workers cannot strike is a lie.
There is strength in every union when the members decide to mobilize.