Auto Workers Issues
Ford workers speak out against sexual harassment, UAW corruption
By our reporters, 28 August 2017
Autoworkers in Michigan and Chicago reacted with disgust and anger to reports of widespread sexual abuse at Ford coming alongside indictments of UAW and Fiat Chrysler officials for corruption.
“Everyone high up in the UAW must have known what was going on”
US autoworkers react to new UAW corruption indictments
By a WSWS reporting team, 25 August 2017
US autoworkers contacted by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter expressed disgust and anger over the results of a federal investigation into allegations of bribery of top United Auto Workers officials by Fiat Chrysler executives.
Pseudo-lefts lament United Auto Workers defeat in Nissan vote
By Shannon Jones, 23 August 2017
In their commentaries on the union recognition vote, the International Socialist Organization and Jacobin magazine seek to cover up the anti-working class character of the UAW.
“If you don’t stand up, nothing happens”
Union isolates Chicago-area auto mechanics strike in its fourth week
By Jessica Goldstein and George Marlowe, 22 August 2017
Rank-and-file mechanics of in the Chicago area spoke out against poverty wages and unfair labor practices, as the union attempts to shut down the strike.
More charges in Fiat Chrysler corruption scandal
UAW executives accepted bribes “to take company-friendly positions”
By Joseph Kishore, 21 August 2017
The multimillion-dollar bribery scheme exposes the UAW as a corrupt agent of corporate management, which has worked to impose massive concessions contracts at FCA, General Motors and Ford.
Company faces allegations of abuse by both management and UAW officials
Ford settles claims over sexual and racial harassment at Chicago auto plants for $10 million
By George Marlowe, 19 August 2017
For the second time in nearly 20 years, Ford Motor Company faces sexual harassment claims by female workers against supervisors and union officials.
German automaker VW collaborated with Brazilian dictatorship
By Ludwig Weller, 10 August 2017
Volkswagen not only offered its services to collaborate with the Brazilian military regime which ruled from 1964 to 1985, but was an independent actor in the repression.
UAW debacle at Mississippi Nissan plant
By Jerry White, 7 August 2017
Workers have drawn conclusions about the UAW after decades in which it has focused all of its efforts on suppressing the class struggle and partnering with the auto companies to destroy jobs and living standards.
A letter from a reader on social conditions and the Fiat workers’ strike in Serbia
5 August 2017
The WSWS received a letter from a reader describing the social situation facing workers and the rural population in Serbia today.
As worker anger over UAW corruption scandal grows, union president defends sellout contracts
By Jerry White, 3 August 2017
With the corruption scandal threatening to ensnare wider layers of the UAW bureaucracy, union president Dennis Williams is trying to contain the growing anger of autoworkers.
“This only verifies what so many of us thought was happening before and after our so-called contract negotiations”
Indiana Fiat Chrysler workers react to UAW bribery indictment
By Jerry White, 31 July 2017
Workers at the Kokomo casting plant spoke out on the charges that company officials handed more than $1 million to the United Auto Workers’ top negotiator between 2009 and 2014.
“Every contract we wonder how we are going to get shafted”
US autoworkers speak on bribing of UAW official
By Shannon Jones, 29 July 2017
A federal indictment Wednesday charged that a former vice president at Fiat Chrysler funneled more than $1 million in bribes to a UAW vice president between 2009 and 2014.
After sellout of Fiat-Chrysler Serbia walkout unions agree to three-year strike ban
By Markus Salzmann, 29 July 2017
The contract signed by the unions and backed by the Serbian government is designed to maintain the country as a cheap labour platform for transnational corporations like FCA.
Aisin Automotive workers in India’s Haryana state face a new company-government witchhunt
By Jai Sharma, 28 July 2017
The workers are being subjected to a joint company-government vendetta for fighting slave labor conditions in an attack similar to that faced by Maruti Suzuki workers.
Federal indictment charges Fiat Chrysler paid top UAW negotiator $1.2 million in bribes
By Jerry White, 27 July 2017
A federal indictment filed in US District Court in Detroit Wednesday charges that a former vice president of Fiat Chrysler funneled more than a million dollars in bribes to United Auto Workers Vice President General Holiefield between 2009 and 2014.
As Wall Street demands new auto job cuts, UAW rants against Mexico and China
By Jerry White, 26 July 2017
General Motors has announced plans to reduce production as US automakers prepare a new onslaught on jobs.
Harley Davidson to cut 180 jobs at Milwaukee and Kansas City plants
By Benjamin Mateus, 24 July 2017
Neither the International Association of Machinists nor the United Steelworkers have made even a pretense of fighting the threatened layoffs.
Union shuts down Serb auto strike
By Verena Nees, 22 July 2017
The unions shut down the strike after it had inspired workers at other factories to engage in job action and won widespread sympathy within the Serb population.
Five years since company-provoked incident used to frame up Maruti Suzuki workers
By Shannon Jones, 21 July 2017
Tuesday marked five years since a management-provoked incident that authorities used as a pretext to railroad 13 Indian autoworkers to life in prison.
Fiat workers in Serbia launch strike
By Ulrich Rippert, 15 July 2017
Around 2,000 workers at Fiat-Chrysler’s Kragujevac plant in Serbia have been on strike for two weeks against starvation wages and terrible working conditions.
GM Korea autoworkers vote to strike
By Ben McGrath, 14 July 2017
While autoworkers are determined to improve their wages and conditions, the unions, which are tied to the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), have no intention of conducting a genuine struggle.
Many questions in Detroit GM plant explosion
By Shannon Jones, 6 July 2017
A Wednesday morning explosion at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant has left three workers injured and one hospitalized.
The Maruti Suzuki frame-up and the history of international labor defense campaigns
By Shannon Jones, 5 July 2017
The ICFI’s worldwide campaign to free the Maruti Suzuki autoworkers rests on a long tradition of international workers’ action on behalf of the victims of capitalist “justice.”
US auto sales fall for sixth straight month
By Shannon Jones, 5 July 2017
US automakers have experienced a six-month decline in sales for the first time since 2009, the year of the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies.
Support the strike by VW workers in Slovakia!
By Ulrich Rippert chairman of the SGP and SGP candidate in North Rhine Westphalia, 26 June 2017
The 8,000 striking Volkswagen workers in Slovakia deserve the support of VW and all autoworkers throughout Germany and the world.
US auto layoffs take toll on workers and their communities
By Shannon Jones, 24 June 2017
Autoworkers describe the impact of job cuts on struggling families and indict the United Auto Workers for facilitating layoffs.
Over 8,000 VW autoworkers launch unlimited strike in Slovakia
By Dietmar Henning, 22 June 2017
The autoworkers are engaged in the first strike since VW began operations in the Eastern European country in 1991.
GM announces 1,000 layoffs in Kansas amid warnings of a “swift and material downturn”
By Shannon Jones, 17 June 2017
All the US-based car companies face enormous pressure from Wall Street to drive up profits and cut costs.
After UAW claimed there was no money to end two-tier wages
John Deere plans $5.2 billion takeover of German road construction company
By George Gallanis, 7 June 2017
The vast cash hoard of the farm machinery maker explodes the myth that it could not afford to improve the pay and benefits of its 11,200 hourly workers in 2015.
GM announces more layoffs as US auto sales decline
By Shannon Jones, 3 June 2017
General Motors announced 300 job cuts at its Warren, Michigan transmission plant amid continuing signs of a slowdown in US auto sales after a seven-year boom.
What we have said:
The World Socialist Web Site and the Maruti Suzuki workers
By Usman Khan, 3 June 2017
The WSWS has covered the struggle of the Maruti Suzuki workers over many years, explaining its international significance and providing a political perspective to fight the workers’ persecution by Indian authorities.
Auto parts workers fired after “Day Without Immigrants” protest
By Nick Rodriguez, 26 May 2017
Over 20 immigrant workers have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against their former employer, EZ Industrial Solutions, after being fired for participating in the protest on February 16.
Caterpillar, Butterball to close factories in Montgomery, Illinois, laying off 1,400 workers
By Marcus Day and George Marlowe, 24 May 2017
The dual factory closures in the far western suburbs of Chicago take place in an area already hard hit by decades of deindustrialization.
Wall Street engineers ouster of top Ford executives
By Jerry White, 23 May 2017
The management reshuffling at the number two US automaker, described in industry circles as a “coup,” underscores the complete domination of the banks and financial speculators.
Sri Lankan plantation workers support campaign to release framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By M. Thevarajah, 20 May 2017
Sri Lankan plantation workers in the hill country spoke to the WSWS, condemning the frame up of Maruti Suzuki workers and describing their own increasingly difficult working conditions.
US autoworkers discuss Ford job cuts, Washington political crisis
By Shannon Jones, 18 May 2017
The cutbacks are a further indication that the boom in auto sales is coming to an end.
Ford to cut as many as 20,000 jobs worldwide
By Jerry White, 17 May 2017
The job cuts explode the myth propagated by the Trump administration and the news media about the US economy reaching “full employment.”
VW trade union boss pockets €750,000 per year
By Dietmar Henning, 17 May 2017
It has just been revealed that the salary of Bernd Osterloh, chairman of the joint works council of the Volkswagen Group, totals around €750,000 per year.
French auto parts workers at GM&S; threaten to blow up plant to block closure
By Anthony Torres, 16 May 2017
The only way forward is a broad mobilization of workers to defend jobs at GM&S; in a break with the union bureaucracies and in opposition to newly elected President Emmanuel Macron.
US auto profits soar as sales slowdown threatens more layoffs
By Shannon Jones, 11 May 2017
Higher auto profits are being accompanied by job cuts as management intensifies its assault on autoworkers.
New evidence of UAW vote-rigging in 2015 Ford contract
Part Two
By Eric London, 11 May 2017
Documents provided to the World Socialist Web Site show a UAW conspiracy to silence autoworkers with access to evidence that the union committed election fraud to pass the 2015 contract with Ford.
New evidence of UAW vote-rigging in 2015 Ford contract
Part One
By Eric London, 9 May 2017
Information provided to the World Socialist Web Site shows a UAW conspiracy to silence autoworkers with evidence that the UAW committed election fraud to pass the 2015 Ford contract.
“They’re stuffing money into the pockets of the shareholders”
British autoworkers strike BMW to defend pensions
By our reporters, 20 April 2017
The strike is the first by the BMW’s British workforce, who could lose up to £160,000 each if pension cuts are enforced.
BMW autoworkers strike in Britain against decimation of pensions
By Robert Stevens, 19 April 2017
The introduction of an inferior pension scheme could see the retirement benefits of workers being slashed by up to £160,000.
“The only ones who gain from war are those in power, the upper one percent”
US autoworkers denounce drive to World War III, demand freedom for Maruti Suzuki workers
By Marcus Day and George Gallanis, 17 April 2017
Autoworkers at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant (CAP) and at Fiat Chrysler’s Warren Truck plant in suburban Detroit denounced the threat of nuclear war and signed a petition to demand the freedom of the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
UAW executives get pay raises as worker pay tumbles
By Shannon Jones, 14 April 2017
An analysis of its 2016 US Labor Department filing makes clear the UAW is not a workers’ organization but a business largely funded by the auto bosses.
“It is a frame-up and war on the working class”
Support grows for Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 13 April 2017
It has been nearly a month since an Indian judge condemned 13 autoworkers to life imprisonment.
Background to a labor frame-up:
What the Maruti Suzuki workers were fighting for
By Jerry White, 12 April 2017
The life sentences an Indian judge imposed on 13 autoworkers last month were an act of class retribution for the leading role of Maruti Suzuki workers in opposing the sweatshop conditions that prevail across India.
Subprime auto loans threaten new crisis
By J. Cooper, 11 April 2017
Wall Street is concerned at the surge in auto loan defaults, a further indication that the sales boom of recent years is winding down.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 3: The prosecution’s untenable “mob attack” narrative
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 11 April 2017
The prosecution’s narrative of the July 18, 2012 altercation is full of inconsistencies, contradictions and dubious claims, including concerning police investigative “lapses.”
Indian railway and transport workers denounce Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our correspondents, 11 April 2017
Workers in Chennai spoke out in defence of the jailed auto workers.
German trade unions at GM Opel hold secret talks with French auto boss
By Marianne Arens, 10 April 2017
The sale of Opel-Vauxhall to Peugeot Citroen PSA threatens at least 6,000 jobs and possibly several facilities.
German autoworkers support Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 10 April 2017
Workers at Opel’s Rüsselsheim factory expressed their support for an international struggle by autoworkers to defend jobs and basic rights.
Bob White, trade union bureaucrat who led Canadian split from UAW, dies aged 81
By Carl Bronski, 8 April 2017
White’s 1985 breakaway from the UAW was a nationalist maneuver, aimed at protecting the union bureaucracy and blocking a joint struggle of North American autoworkers against all concessions and job cuts.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 2: The factory fire and the death of Avineesh Dev
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 7 April 2017
The fire was the pivot of the prosecution’s case, but it provided not a shred of credible evidence tying any of the workers to the blaze.
Workers across India condemn Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our correspondents, 7 April 2017
While there is enormous sympathy for the framed-up workers, this week’s protests were a pale reflection of the support that could be mobilized were it not for the sabotage of India’s Stalinist parties and affiliated unions.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 1: A travesty of justice
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 5 April 2017
Careful examination and systematic refutation of the state’s legal case has always been a critical part of international defense campaigns.
German auto workers oppose Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By K. Nesan, 5 April 2017
Many Daimler workers in Stuttgart agreed to sign the online petition demanding the release of their colleagues in India.
In the background of the Maruti Suzuki frame-up
Portrait of the Suzuki corporation, a ruthless transnational employer
By Shannon Jones and Saman Gunadasa, 4 April 2017
Suzuki is typical of the transnational auto corporations that scour the world in search of the cheapest labor and lowest production costs.
Days after UAW claims contract ratification
Caterpillar confirms plans to close Aurora, Illinois plant, lay off 800
By Marcus Day, 3 April 2017
There are reports of angry confrontations between workers and local UAW officials following the announcement.
Sri Lankan university students condemn Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our correspondents, 3 April 2017
Students and workers in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna denounced the heavy sentences imposed on framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
India: Stalinist-led unions call token protest against frame up of Maruti Suzuki workers
By Deepal Jayasekera, 1 April 2017
The CPM and CPI and their respective labour federations, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and the All India Trade Union Congress, have systematically isolated the Maruti Suzuki workers.
Australian workers and youth speak out against Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our reporters, 31 March 2017
Many of those who spoke to SEP campaigners signed the petition demanding the release of the victimised Indian car workers.
Allegations of vote fraud mount
The UAW betrayal at Caterpillar and the case for rank-and-file committees
By Jerry White, 31 March 2017
The alleged ratification of the UAW-backed deal has provoked widespread charges of vote rigging and fraud.
Ford warns of layoffs to cut inventories as Trump boasts of “JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!”
By Shannon Jones, 30 March 2017
Ford’s warning follows a string of layoffs by GM, belying the claims of the Trump administration of a jobs revival in the auto industry.
Indian auto workers demand release of Maruti Suzuki workers
By Moses Rajkumar and Yuvan Darwin, 30 March 2017
Indian auto workers voice their support for the ICFI campaign and demand release of the Maruti Suzuki workers.
Caterpillar workers react with anger, suspicion to UAW contract ratification
By Marcus Day, 29 March 2017
While the UAW has claimed that a new six-year contract with Caterpillar was approved by workers at ratification meetings Sunday, it has yet to release company-wide vote totals.
“This is nothing but class war”
International support grows for petition to free framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By Jerry White, 29 March 2017
Workers and youth from 33 countries on five continents have signed the petition, with many denouncing the frame-up and expressing solidarity with the imprisoned Indian workers.
UK: Strikers at Fujitsu support release of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 29 March 2017
The pickets expressed their support for the campaign to release the Maruti Suzuki workers by applauding a Socialist Equality Party member who had appealed to them for support.
After unexplained delay, UAW claims ratification of Caterpillar deal
By Jerry White, 28 March 2017
Caterpillar workers expressed suspicion that the UAW had rigged the vote to push the deeply unpopular contract past the opposition of rank-and-file workers.
Sri Lankan workers support campaign to free framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 28 March 2017
Socialist Equality Party campaigners distributed the ICFI statement “Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers” in Sinhalese and Tamil.
UAW delays release of vote tally after Caterpillar workers oppose sellout deal
By Marcus Day, 27 March 2017
After announcing they would release the results of the vote Sunday night, UAW executives abruptly declared the tally would not be made public until sometime Monday.
“The way I look at it is, the UAW is Caterpillar”
Caterpillar workers in Peoria, Illinois denounce UAW sellout deal
By our reporters, 27 March 2017
Caterpillar workers voting in central Illinois Sunday spoke with the WSWS about the years of reversals they have suffered due to the treachery of the United Auto Workers union.
“We should be outraged by what is happening in India.”
US, Canadian autoworkers speak in defense of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By a reporting team, 25 March 2017
The campaign to defend 31 framed-up Maruti Suzuki autoworkers in India is winning support among autoworkers in North America.
Elect rank-and-file committees to oppose job cuts and end givebacks!
Vote “No” on the UAW-Caterpillar sellout agreement
By WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, 25 March 2017
The UAW pro-company contract sanctions the closure of the Aurora, Illinois plant and continues decades of wage and benefit concessions
UAW-Caterpillar contract “highlights” reveal new attacks on jobs and wages
By Marcus Day, 24 March 2017
What little the UAW has revealed about its deal with Caterpillar points to an escalation of the union-backed corporate assault on workers.
Maruti Suzuki workers lead protest demanding freedom for 13 workers jailed for life
By a WSWS reporting team, 24 March 2017
Thousands of workers defied a ban on gatherings of five or more people to show their support for the 13 framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers.
“The union works against us”
With contract battle looming, Canadian autoworkers at GM CAMI plant speak out
By Carl Bronski, 23 March 2017
Unifor officials have expressed concern about growing support for the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter as CAMI workers look to recoup years of union-backed wage and benefit concessions.
Campaign for release of Maruti Suzuki workers wins support in India and Sri Lanka
By our correspondents, 23 March 2017
South Asian workers denounce the frame-up of innocent workers.
Sham character of Maruti Suzuki workers’ trial further exposed
By Keith Jones, 23 March 2017
The presiding judge had to admit police colluded with Maruti Suzuki and fabricated evidence, but even as he did so, he downplayed the significance of these crimes.
The key facts of the Maruti Suzuki workers’ case
22 March 2017
There is not a shred of evidence against any of the 13 Maruti Suzuki workers sentenced to life in prison.
“Don’t believe what they’re going to tell you”
As Caterpillar-UAW contract vote nears, Deere workers warn of union betrayal
By Marcus Day and George Gallanis, 22 March 2017
With just four days left before voting, workers at agricultural equipment giant Deere & Co. spoke on the lessons of their 2015 contract struggle.
Support grows for framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India
By Jerry White, 21 March 2017
Opposition to the brutal life sentences meted out to 13 Maruti Suzuki workers is growing in India and around the world.
“I think it’s a set-up with the union and Caterpillar”
Caterpillar-UAW deal: Workers denounce information blackout
By Marcus Day and George Marlowe, 21 March 2017
Less than a week before they are set to vote on a six-year contract proposal, workers have still not received any details on the content of the deal.
Thirteen sentenced to life imprisonment in India
Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers!
By International Committee of the Fourth International, 20 March 2017
Thirteen Maruti Suzuki workers have been condemned to life in prison as the result of a monstrous frame-up mounted by the automaker, the police and judicial authorities, with the full complicity of India’s principal political parties.
India: Framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers sentenced to life imprisonment
By Keith Jones, 18 March 2017
India’s ruling elite has imposed savage sentences on the Maruti Suzuki workers to intimidate the working class and reassure investors that it will ruthlessly enforce sweatshop conditions.
Workers have the right to study the full contract!
Caterpillar-UAW deal: An anti-worker conspiracy
By Marcus Day, 18 March 2017
In an attempt to overcome worker opposition to further concessions, the UAW and Caterpillar are coordinating an information blackout over details of a proposed six-year contract announced Wednesday.
The UAW’s corporatist alliance with Trump
By Niles Niemuth, 17 March 2017
UAW President Dennis Williams’ appearance Wednesday with President Donald Trump and the Big Three auto bosses to promote “American First” nationalism is further confirmation of the anti-working class character of the unions.
Indian court to hear sentencing arguments against framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By Shannon Jones, 17 March 2017
Thirteen autoworkers could face the death penalty in a case that has seen blatant collusion between company management, police and Indian state officials
India: 31 victimized Maruti Suzuki workers convicted on frame-up charges
By Kranti Kumara and Keith Jones, 14 March 2017
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for 13 car assembly workers, including the leadership of an independent union formed in opposition to a company-stooge union.
As backdoor UAW-Caterpillar negotiations and tax fraud investigation continue
Former Caterpillar worker speaks on 2012 Joliet, Illinois strike betrayal
By Marcus Day, 13 March 2017
Caterpillar is in the midst of a worldwide restructuring, laying off tens of thousands and closing multiple plants.
GM spin-off of Opel-Vauxhall poses need for international fight to defend auto jobs
By Jerry White, 9 March 2017
GM’s move is part of a restructuring of the global auto industry that threatens the jobs and livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers around the world.
“They want to cut thousands of jobs.”
PSA purchases Opel-Vauxhall from General Motors
By Marianne Arens, 8 March 2017
The works council and IG Metall union are covering up the danger facing the jobs and living standards of workers after the takeover of Opel and Vauxhall by the PSA Group.
“The corporations are our enemies, not immigrant workers”
General Motors announces 1,100 job cuts at Lansing, Michigan plant
By Shannon Jones and Jerry White, 7 March 2017
Just three days after laying off 1,300 workers at its Detroit assembly plant, GM announced it was cutting another 1,100 workers at a factory near the Michigan state capital.
Sanders covers for UAW at Mississippi Nissan rally
By Ed Hightower and Jerry White, 7 March 2017
Sanders was the keynote speaker at Saturday’s rally in Canton, Mississippi where the United Auto Workers is campaigning to win recognition at the Nissan auto factory.
As UAW maintains information blackout on contract negotiations
Federal agents raid Caterpillar headquarters in Illinois
By Marcus Day, 6 March 2017
The dramatic operation hints at the immense criminality and fraud that characterize the day-to-day workings of giant transnationals.
“They’re laying people off and scattering them to the winds to find employment”
GM layoffs of 1,300 workers at Detroit assembly plant
By a reporting team, 4 March 2017
The layoffs are a major blow to workers and to the city, which is already the poorest big city in America with an official unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent.
“They are just here trying to make a living for themselves and their families”
US auto workers speak out in defense of immigrants
By a WSWS reporting team, 3 March 2017
While the unions are aligning with Trump and his “America First” nationalism, workers are reacting against attempts of the administration to whip up anti-immigrant hysteria.
As officials end subsidies and resume water cutoffs
Michigan blames Flint water crisis on racism: Part one
By James Brewer, 3 March 2017
A 138-page report on the Flint water crisis delivered on February 7 covers up the class issues in the poisoning of the city.
UAW orders thousands of Caterpillar workers to stay on the job as contract expires
By Marcus Day, 2 March 2017
The UAW and Caterpillar have maintained a media blackout in the current negotiations as they prepare to demand further concessions from workers.
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