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Left with No Future by GM and Delphi
Tough talk from United Auto Workers (UAW) leaders will abound at the union's convention in Las Vegas June 11-15, which takes place amid the union's strike threat at bankrupt parts maker Delphi Automotive Systems.
But back at Delphi's Needmore Road brake plant in Dayton, Ohio, management is still ratcheting up the pressure on the members of UAW Local 696.
A decade ago, Local 696 demonstrated that the declining UAW still had strength when a strike by the local shut down virtually all of General Motors' production across North America. Today, with Delphi demanding wage cuts of up to 60 percent and seeking to void union contracts in bankruptcy court, it's management that is using the Needmore Road plant to flex its muscles.
On May 5, management ordered an indefinite suspension for the local union's shop committee chair, Tony Keen, after he told workers to shut down machines because of unsafe conditions. When Local 696 President Joe Buckley arrived on the scene, management accused him of trespassing and called police, who arrested him.
As every UAW old-timer knows, suspending the chair of the shop committee-a UAW local's top representative in the plant-is a provocation, a move guaranteed to trigger a walkout, if not an all-out strike. And the arrest of the local president on the shop floor? Unthinkable.
Yet Buckley urged workers to stay on the job, even as he was taken out of the plant in handcuffs by Dayton, Ohio police, according to workers on the scene. Instead, Buckley-who didn't return repeated phone calls requesting comment for this article-asked a well-known union activist in the plant, Dan Lamb, to call a press conference about the incident.
Lamb, who had challenged Buckley for the local presidency in the last election, explained the situation to the media and workers in the plant's parking lot. Days later, Lamb was himself placed on indefinite suspension after management accused him of failing to perform his duties.
Keen was eventually permitted to return to work after several days off the job-long enough for management to make the UAW appear weak in advance of a possible strike, and show who's boss.
The message to veteran union members from Delphi couldn't be clearer: Take early retirement or buyouts, or be prepared to take a wage cut and be hounded out of your job with practically nothing.
More
http://counterpunch.org/sustar06122006.html
A decade ago, Local 696 demonstrated that the declining UAW still had strength when a strike by the local shut down virtually all of General Motors' production across North America. Today, with Delphi demanding wage cuts of up to 60 percent and seeking to void union contracts in bankruptcy court, it's management that is using the Needmore Road plant to flex its muscles.
On May 5, management ordered an indefinite suspension for the local union's shop committee chair, Tony Keen, after he told workers to shut down machines because of unsafe conditions. When Local 696 President Joe Buckley arrived on the scene, management accused him of trespassing and called police, who arrested him.
As every UAW old-timer knows, suspending the chair of the shop committee-a UAW local's top representative in the plant-is a provocation, a move guaranteed to trigger a walkout, if not an all-out strike. And the arrest of the local president on the shop floor? Unthinkable.
Yet Buckley urged workers to stay on the job, even as he was taken out of the plant in handcuffs by Dayton, Ohio police, according to workers on the scene. Instead, Buckley-who didn't return repeated phone calls requesting comment for this article-asked a well-known union activist in the plant, Dan Lamb, to call a press conference about the incident.
Lamb, who had challenged Buckley for the local presidency in the last election, explained the situation to the media and workers in the plant's parking lot. Days later, Lamb was himself placed on indefinite suspension after management accused him of failing to perform his duties.
Keen was eventually permitted to return to work after several days off the job-long enough for management to make the UAW appear weak in advance of a possible strike, and show who's boss.
The message to veteran union members from Delphi couldn't be clearer: Take early retirement or buyouts, or be prepared to take a wage cut and be hounded out of your job with practically nothing.
More
http://counterpunch.org/sustar06122006.html
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