FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WHAT: Solidarity Rally at the 2012 Auto Show —Fight for the 99% and the Planet
WHO: Autoworker Caravan, an advocacy group for rank and file autoworkers (www.autoworkercaravan.org)
WHERE: Across from Cobo Hall, Downtown Detroit
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 8, 2011, 1:30-3:00 PM
CONTACT: Nick Waun 810-728-1717, Stacey Kemp 810-814-3738
This year autoworkers, along with labor and community supporters, celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Flint Sit-Down Strike. The 44-day occupation that ended Feb. 11, 1937 when General Motors recognized the UAW was part of a movement that brought economic justice, dignity and respect. Today, the Occupy movement of the “99%” seeks the same.
Auto executives—part of the 1%—are crowing about their return to profitability at this year’s auto show. Their recovery comes at autoworkers’ expense: the deteriorating working conditions on the shop floor including less break time, overloading of jobs and draconian absentee policies.
The issues that the Flint Sit-downers were fighting for are issues that autoworkers today are still struggling to win:
* Good jobs for all
* Equal pay for equal work; bring wages and benefits up, not down
* A shorter work week.
Now, with the crisis of global warming facing us, at the same time as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, we also must demand that the closed plants be reopened and retooled for green jobs.
The 2011 contracts kept workers’ total compensation down to an annual 1% increase—if that. The claim of new jobs overlooks the 150,000+ auto jobs cut since the Wall Street financial crisis. And some “new” jobs are paying poverty wages.
We maintain that workers need good jobs, not more work to perform in less time, with more management monitoring and control. The 1% -- not workers -- are profiting from the rise in worker productivity.
We want meaningful work—jobs that will help us build a better future. That means prioritizing mass transit and constructing alternatives to fossil fuel. We call for the rapid conversion of closed plants for the manufacture of renewable energy components, electric vehicles, and public transit vehicles. Though politicians promised to create “green” jobs, little has been done. The Detroit Woodward Light Rail, a promising alternative to reliance on the automobile and boon to local development, has been derailed, due to a lack of funds.
We see the 1% making the most outrageous demands. Chrysler/Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne is threatening to pull out of Canada and Italy if workers resist his demands for more concessions. He has attempted to co-opt the demand for equal pay to bring all wages and benefits down.
In addition, here in Michigan Governor-appointed Emergency Managers are dictators: shredding contracts, laying-off workers and contracting out essential public services. Foreclosures in Michigan remain third highest in the nation. Autoworkers stand with public sector workers in demanding decent working conditions. We also need the public services that are deteriorating in this period of austerity.
As tough as times are, it’s possible to make gains. The Flint Sit-Down strikers in 1937 showed us how to win. We as workers will stand together in solidarity. We are the 99%! We demand a future! Come speak to rank and file workers and community supporters about how we feel about the so-called recovery.
Join us January 8 at Cobo!
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Video from last year's "Rally for Jobs & the Environment" at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show:
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