Dangerous Work

What is your best response when given a direct order by the fat cats?

In general your best response when given a direct order is simple: Obey now, grieve later.

But there are exceptions and we will discuss them in this post.

Two factors should be understood by working folks up front; 1) the concept of Imminent Danger, and 2) What constitutes an order. Let's define each.

1. Imminent Danger: Imminent danger is a workplace hazard that puts us at immediate serious risk of death or serious physical harm. It may be a safety hazard such as an unstable trench or exposed electrical wiring that could cause a serious of fatal accident. It could also mean exposure to toxic substances, dangerous fumes, dust or gases that may cause death or irreversible physical harm, shorten life or reduce physical or mental performance. 

In teaching classes as an International Represent-ative when discussing worker's rights I always included a couple of imminent danger scenarios in my simple hillbilly fashion. For example I would tell classes that if you were ordered to jump from the roof of a first-floor, partially in ground building, and it is a relatively short fall to the ground, you'll likely want to consider using the "obey now, grieve later" approach. On the other hand, if it is a 10-story building, all above ground and the imminent danger is obvious, your response to the order should be, "Oh, HELL NO. I'm not jumping."

2. What constitutes an order? This is important. If your boss starts an "order" with words such as "will you," "can you," "you should," "please," "maybe," etc. it is not likely to meet the test of a direct order. Remember, my last post discussed the Daugherty Seven test. One of the questions the company must answer is did the company give the employee forewarning or foreknowledge of the possibility or probability of disciplinary consequences of the employee's conduct. An order mean that the DEMAND be clear and precise. You must know what your fate becomes for failure to comply.

So what are our rights to refuse dangerous work? How should we use those rights to refuse imminently dangerous assignments?

1. If possible or practicable raise the issue with the supervisor. Inform him/her that you believe carrying our the order places you in imminent danger.
2. Although you have rights to file a complaint with OSHA concerning a hazardous working condition at any time, this option is useless in cases of imminent danger, so . . . 
3) You should not leave the worksite merely because you have filed or will file a complaint. When the condition clearly presents a risk of death or serious physical harm, there is not sufficient time for OSHA to inspect, and, where possible, you have brought the condition to the attention of your employer, you may have a legal right to refuse to work in a situation in which you would be exposed to the hazard.
4) Remember that OSHA cannot/willnot enforce union contracts that give employees the right to refuse to work.

So, what triggers our rights to refuse unsafe work assignments? Your rights in refusing to perform a task are protected if all of the following conditions are met:
1) Where possible you have asked the employer to eliminate the danger and the employer failed to do so; and
2) You refused to work in good faith. This means that you must genuinely believe that an imminent danger exists; and,
3) A reasonable person would agree that there is a real danger of death or serious injury; and,
4) There isn't enough time, due to the urgency of the hazard, to get it corrected through regular enforcement channels such as requesting an OSHA inspection.

Given the above these are the steps you must take:
1) Ask your employer to correct the hazard or to assign you other work;
2) Tell your employer that you won't perform the work unless and until the hazard is corrected; and,
3) Remain at the worksite until ordered to leave by your employer.

If you stay within the guidelines and your fat cat attempts retaliation; contact OSHA by calling 1-800-321-6742 and ask to be connected to the closest area office. No form is required to file a discrimination complaint, but you must call OSHA.

If you are challenging orders to work with an unsafe substance, request a list of workers made sick by the substance, the material safety data sheet (MSDS) supplied by the manufacturer, copies of OSHA citations, and any studies by the employer concerning the substance. When necessary, the union may arrange for an outside specialist, such as an industrial hygienist, to conduct an inspection of the workplace. You are entitled to such information through the following decisions: 158. Hercules, Inc. 281 NLRB 961, 124 LRRM 1213 (1986), enforced 833F. 2d426,126 LRRM 3187 (2nd Cir. 1987) 

Under federal law you are entitled to a safe workplace. Your employer must provide a workplace free of known health and safety hazards. If you have concerns, you have the right to speak up about them without fear of retaliation. You also have the right to:
1) Be trained in a language you understand
2) Work on machines that are safe
3) Be provided required safety gear, such as gloves or a harness and lifeline for falls
4) Be protected from toxic chemicals
5) Request and OSHA inspection and speak to the inspector.
6) Report any injury of illness, and get copies for your medical records
7) See copies of the workplace injury and illness log
8) Review records of work-related injuries and illnesses. Get copies of test results done to find hazards in the workplace

The following comes from my University of Massachusetts class notes and is intended to explain what triggers worker rights to refuse unsafe work.

An OSHA regulation allows an employee to refuse unsafe work if the following conditions exist:
1) The employee has a reasonable belief, based on what he or she knows at the time, that there is a real danger of death or serious physical injury.
2) The employee asks the employer to eliminate the danger, but the employer fails to do so.
3) The danger is so urgent that the employee cannot risk waiting until OSHA can conduct an inspection.
4) The employee has no reasonable alternative. The U.S. Department of Transportation has a similar rule for employees in the trucking industry. 

(The NLRA also has a provision allowing employees, in certain situations, to refuse unsafe work. The work must be "abnormally dangerous.")

Keep in mind that OSHA has jurisdiction over private-sector employers regardless of size, except for industries that are regulated by other federal agencies such as mining, railroads, nuclear power and trucking. If you work in one of the listed industries your rights and protections are other than OSHA.

At the risk of being repetitive let's take another walk through the "Obey now, grieve later" response to orders from your fat cat boss. Why so much emphasis on this issue? Because insubordination charges can very quickly lead to DISCHARGE!!!

To have a reasonable shot at avoiding discipline from the precedent of "Obey now, grieve later", one should follow the guidelines below.

1) An employee who disagrees with a work order of work rule normally must obey the order and challenge its legitimacy through the grievance and arbitration procedure or other channels. Failure to do so may constitute insubordination.
2) Employees need NOT immediately obey an order if they;
     a) reasonably believe it to be illegal, unethical or immoral;
     b) reasonably believe that obedience would place the employee or others in imminent danger of harm, or,
     c) would suffer immediate and substantial harm, and would lack any satisfactory remedy after the fact.

Even in these cases, however, disobedience will be excused only if the employee has no other feasible way to resolve the dispute.

Readers interested in researching relevant cases may contact me via the blog and I will be happy to provide examples. Giving them all here would make this post too long, so in closing, please remember the following:

Before the fat cats can sustain a discharge for insubordination, arbitrators generall require that two tests be me: 1) very clear instructions were given by the supervisor to the employee and 2) an even more explicit warning was given of the consequences to the employee if he failed to comply.

There are no methods to discuss refusals to do a job without also looking at such principles as obeying now, grieve later, the principles of insubordination, the Daugherty 7 test of just cause, OSHA and the past precedent set surrounding these issues.

Even with all the past decisions concerning rights to refuse an unsafe work assignment, NO clear-cut lines exist on all examples/incidents that occur. That is why, if you refuse an assignment with a good faith belief that the assignment carries imminent danger, and you try other efforts to correct the situation, and you have made a bad decision because of the lack of facts, precedent says you should not be subject to discipline.

Hope you enjoy the read, and if the job you are about to refuse is at your top shelf employer, or your number one place of employment, be cautious. Refusing work orders in the U.S. workplace without knowledge of your rights carries many dangers.

Solidarity Forever is not just a song lyric--It is the Union way of life.




 


 

 

You and Your Representative

The single most important and valuable asset a union worker has day-in and day-out is the committee person or steward for the district.

A good rep is worth his/her weight in gold. A bad one isn't worth spit. In this, and in my next post as well, we are going to look at why that is and what you and your rep owe each other in respect and in duties.

Please note: I am not going to mince words--even at the risk of offending someone. It is far too important an issue to tip-toe around. So here we go . . . 

Many members think that the zone and chairman, by nature of their job titles, are more important than their district representative. While that may be true during negotiations, it is not on a day-to-day basis. If your district rep does a good job you will likely never have to come in contact with the zone or chair except at union meetings.

Let's begin with what you can do to make your rep the best rep they can be.

1) Call them when you need them. Don't delay.

2) Be completely honest with them. They can't do their job if they don't know the facts.

3) Give them adequate time to answer your questions. They may not always have the answers at their fingertips. An honest rep who says, "I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you," and who actually does just that, is priceless. One who BS's you or fails to get back is worthless. 

4) Screaming at your rep when you are really angry with something management has done is both a waste of time and a good way to poison your relationship.

5) NEVER speak badly of your rep to management! If you think your rep needs a boot in the ass then do it privately or when they run for re-election. (For that matter never speak badly of a brother or sister to management either) Management is NEVER your friend--even though they might pretend to be. They WILL sell you out if ordered to do so by their higher-ups. 

6) Don't waste your rep's time. If you need time away from the line get a bathroom call or a nurse call. Your rep has 250 or more people to care for. Help them to do that.

7) Demand that they do their jobs! If the only place you can find them is in the work center, the cafeteria or bathroom then they are not a rep--they are simply free-loading. 

8) Never take, "They can do that," for an answer without demanding to be shown WHY "they can do that" in the local, national, or in relevant minutes or a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU's).
     8a) When your rep shows up for a call he/she should have, at an absolute minimum: a) the national agreement; b) the local agreement; c) MOU's and relevant minutes of meetings with management; d) a notepad for recording notes of your meeting and the supervisor; e) a pen, and, f) a grievance pad. If they show up without this minimum--SEND THEM BACK TO GET THEM!

9) Thank them when they try to help. Sometimes being a rep can be a thankless job. I used to tell new reps that, "First you get sworn in--Then you get sworn at." Believe me, they will appreciate your thanks.

Now to what your rep should be doing for you (Reps, this is as much for you as for the member on the floor).

1) Go as soon as you can to answer a call. Don't delay. Even if you think you may be getting an ass-chewing go as quickly as you can. If you don't things can only get worse. (You do have to prioritize calls, but in general take them as you get them--or at least by foreman's area).

2) Be honest with the member. Don't lie! I guarantee that if you lie to a member they will NEVER forget it . . . and they will tell their friends . . . and they should.

3) Get back to them with answers to their questions if you weren't able to answer them at the time of the call. Let them know if it will take longer than a day or two. They will appreciate it.

4) Sometimes when you arrive the member will be upset. Sometimes they will be VERY upset. If so, give them a bit of time to vent. If necessary, adjourn the call to let them calm down. Then listen carefully. Often I discovered that it might be more than just the supervisor or fellow worker that has them upset. A child may be sick or acting out; there may be marital or money problems; they may need to be referred to EAP. If you listen they usually will tell you once they have calmed down. All that said, if you are truly just being abused by a member TELL THEM TO STOP. If they do not adjourn the call and DOCUMENT why you did. 

5) When you show up for a call notify the supervisor why you are there (paragraph 20, National Agreement) and then DO NOT SPEAK WITH THEM ANY FURTHER! If you stand around talking with management you will look like a suck-ass. Go stay with your member and talk with them about other things until relief arrives. Remember this: Management is NEVER your friend. (Sound familiar?)

6) Take the member to a quiet place to discuss their call per Document 5 and paragraph 19 of the National Agreement. Do not discuss their call in front of others--unless you are gathering witness statements.

7) Take notes! Take notes! Take notes! They are vital if a grievance goes to higher steps in the procedure

8) If, after discussion, you determine the member does not have a grievance under the agreements, etc. don't just tell them why--SHOW THEM WHY!
     8a) Sometimes after your discussion the member, or you, may still want to write a grievance or simply give an abusive supervisor an ass-chewing. That is find; but don't BS the member. Tell them the truth and show them why the grievance will eventually fail. A pile of unwinnable grievances doesn't even make decent toilet paper--and neither do you if you are not truthful with the member.

(I will speak more about the relevant paragraphs of the National Agreement in my next post per 9 and 10 below)

9) If the member tells you the supervisor, rather than try and solve their problem or at least explain that he/she doesn't have the authority, simply entered the call--or worse said, "If you don't like it tuff--put in a call," then write a grievance charging them with a violation of paragraphs 5 and 28 of the national agreement. If this is a plant policy, then ask the chairman to charge management with a violation  of paragraph 5a. 
     9a) If the member tells you that, after they had requested a call, the manager continued discussing it or tried to talk them out of the call then write a grievance charging them with a violation of paragraph 29 of the national agreement.

10) Don't write the grievance without first trying to get the foreman told solve the problem. Why? The notes from the discussion could make your grievance a winner further down the line. Take notes of your discussion with the supervisor . . . take notes of your discussion with the supervisor . . . take notes of your discussion with the supervisor . . .you get the idea?

11) If you write a grievance then work at getting the damned thing settled! An open grievance indicates a failure of the union to get justice for the member. If you write a good grievance then see that it moves through the procedure! (paragraphs 30-34, national agreement). When I was commiteeman I never had more than 25 OPEN grievances at any one time. Why? I met with the superintendent EVERY to settle them. EVERY week. If I couldn't settle I moved it through the procedure. And--an added benefit to the member came from this. Once the superintendent realized he looked better than the other supt.'s if he had a low grievance count he worked with me to get things settled. There is nothing a superintendent likes better than to look better than his/her peers.

In my day I never wrote a health & safety grievance. That is the job of the health and safety rep (their job title should give you a hint). But, you do have health and safety responsibilities! You should take regular health and safety walks through your district. If you find a problem notify the superintendent and the health and safety rep. Then, follow up to see that they took care of it.

A final note or two to wrap up: When I was committeeman I walked through as much of my district as I could EVERY day. I would begin at one end on one day and the other end the next. My members knew they would see me unless I was caught up in a DLO or other important meeting. As a result I had far fewer calls than any other committeeman. Why? I solved a lot of problems on my daily walks before they ever got to the grievance stage. Try it. You'll soon see that it works.

Walter Reuther said this about the UAW at the 1970 Constitutional Convention: "Our membership are the strength of the UAW, and the membership and the families of our members, they are the purpose of the UAW. And in the years ahead, this union must remain true to its commitment to the welfare and the well-being of our rank and file. This union is not about Solidarity House; it is not about your local union headquarters; this union is about the men and women that we represent, and behind them their families." We need to compare the present UAW leadership with the ideals expressed in Reuther's quote.

Solidarity forever isn't just a song lyric. It is the union way of life.



     

The Future of our Union

My name is Justin Mayhugh. I am a line worker at the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant located in Kansas City, Kansas. We currently build the Chevy Malibu and the Cadillac XT4.

I began working at Fairfax in May of 2011. I have been a member in good standing in the UAW since then. I am what is commonly referred to as an "in-progression" employee, or what was previously known as a tier-two employee. I started off as a flex--meaning that I was a part-time worker, usually working Mondays and Fridays every week. In April of 2012 I was hired on as a full-time permanent employee.

Prior to working at Fairfax, I had little knowledge or interest in unions or the labor movement in general. I grew up in a rather conservative household so my thoughts on unions were shaped mainly from the ideology of my upbringing and whatever propaganda I was fed via Fox News. "Unions are greedy. Unions bankrupt companies. Union workers are entitled and lazy."

Yes, I used to have those thoughts about unions because I didn't know any better at the time.

Luckily for me, life is full of learning experiences, and over the last seven years I have had the opportunity to experience the reality inside the UAW and inside of an auto plant, which has greatly altered my opinion about unions, line work, and just how vitally important the labor movement is in this country.

The last seven years have also afforded me the opportunity to learn the history of our union, which has become somewhat of an obsession for me. I now have a much better understanding of what made the UAW such an effective force at one time, as well as to better understand the factors that changed over the years that brought us to where we are today.

When I was first approached about the prospect of contributing to this blog, I honestly asked myself what I could possibly bring to the table that would be of actual value. Robert Boone. Wray McCalester. Tom Laney. These are all union people who have experienced more within the UAW than I could ever imagine. They are all real union people who have been involved at multiple levels within the UAW, and who have forgotten more knowledge than I will probably ever have the privilege of knowing.

My list of accomplishments within the UAW are much shorter than that of my fellow contributors: I was elected as an alternate delegate by my peers at Local 31, which allowed me to attend the 37th UAW Constitutional Convention this past June. It was an honor to be elected by the membership to attend the convention as one of their representatives.

Earlier this year, I started a website called The Solidarity Review. It was my way of sharing my thoughts about the current state of the UAW on a wider platform rather than just talking about it on the shop floor or going to a monthly union meeting, asking questions, and being given extremely vague answers as to how everything works and why our leadership continues to allow the rank-and-file to lose year-after-year.

Rather quickly, The Solidarity Review seemed to resonate with many of our members. After a while a few other union people from across the country offered to contribute their talents to the site as well.

(Editor's note: I highly recommend you visit The Solidarity Review site by clicking on the tan print above. It is an excellent site and the reason I am happy to have Justin as a contributor here.)

For me, The Solidarity Review is all about questioning the current system utilized by our leadership. It is about being critical of certain aspects such as joint funding and joint programs that the International UAW has partaken in for decades now. It is about questioning our union's failed strategies in regard to organizing non-union auto plants. It is not about pledging blind loyalty to our leadership, which is far too often the "approved" standard within our union.

I also created The Solidarity Review as a way to offer an outlet to share certain aspects of the history of the UAW with the membership that are not often remembered. The saying, 'those who forget the past are  doomed to repeat it," is an old adage that has unfortunately come to fruition in the UAW of today.

When I was campaigning for delegate, often I would have workers ask me why I chose to run for delegate instead of something along the lines of committee person. I have all the respect in the world for anyone who truly fights for the best interests of the membership via the roles of committee person or on the executive boards at their locals. But for me, I realized that I wanted to have a direct way to help effect positive change on a larger scale in regards to the processes we utilize within the UAW, and running for delegate wa a way for me to have an opportunity to make that happen. I documented my experience at the convention and you can read about my experience by clicking on the link in tan.

During my time working on the assembly line at Fairfax, I have often spoken to numerous fellow in-progression workers who have expressed envy towards their traditional worker counterparts. I can--to some degree--sympathize with those feelings. There are no pensions for in-progression workers. In-progressions will receive zero health benefits when they "retire." The "golden handcuffs" that once made being a UAW auto worker one of the most coveted jobs in our country were removed during the bankruptcy bailout. 

I know the feeling of working on the line where every worker around me does have a pension, or was making almost twice the hourly wage as myself. The part that disturbed me most of all was not the particular situation of being a tier-two, but rather that many traditional workers had little interest in making things right again. In fact, on many occasions I experienced resentment directed at me from traditional workers, which I could never quite wrap my head around. I cannot count the number of times I have been told a traditional worker that I should, "just be happy to have a job," or, "you knew the situation when you agreed to work here."

This is obviously not meant to bash all traditional workers. Not by any stretch. For as many traditional workers that I would meet who would look down on me for being a tier-two, there were plenty of others who were adamant that we all needed to work together to make everyone equal once again. Many traditional workers would give me advice on how to survive at Fairfax, or would empathize with the tier-two situation. I always try and think of those workers when looking at the predicament we find ourselves in today.

So, while I can understand the feelings of indignation about being an in-progression or temporary worker in the UAW in 2018, I believe it is vitally important for my fellow UAW members to realize that we must not buy into the ideology of the current system.

The two-tier system is a system fueled by resentment. The success of that system, in management's eyes, is contingent on creating ill-will and pitting worker against worker. That allows management to continue to extract concessions from us as well as keep us divided, and makes us ineffective as a union.

Should we be fighting for equality? Absolutely! 100%! Without a doubt! We cannot survive in the long-term if we continue to buy into this me-first mindset of the two-tier system. Some union members have told me that there is no longer a two tier system, and that the 2015 contract negotiations got rid of it. That is simply NOT true. Until every UAW has a pension, we are not truly equal. Until we fix the broken system that allows companies to exploit "temporary" workers for years on end, we are not truly equal.

It is not acceptable to simply say, "I've got mine, so who cares what happens to the next generation of workers?" In our union we all have a personal choice to make--will we care only about oneself or for the greater good of us all? If we choose the later--and that is the only right course--there is little doubt that the sacrifices will be great. But I do believe it is the only way we can truly turn things around. Whether a traditional worker, an in-progression worker, a temporary worker or a retiree, we are all in this together. We are all sisters and brothers and we would be wise to remember that undeniable fact.

It is up to each of us--the membership of the UAW--to determine what our future will be.

Solidarity forever is not just a song lyric. It is the union way of life.

How Do We Get Organized?

I'm an old fashioned Union guy. Wray McCalester stood out to me on FaceBook as another of those old-time traditional kick-ass Union Thugs--you know, one of those rare, rank and file Solidarity UNION guys these days who has had a long and active love affair with the good folks who do the work. I am honored by his invitation to blog along with him and his friends here. 

I was asked by a FaceBook friend, "How do we get organized?" I think the answer lies in the UAW's beginnings.

The UAW was organized to take wages and working conditions OUT of competition. The UAW in the 1930's recognized the company union in auto. They wasted no time trying to reform it. They knew the only organizations in the world that could stand up to the enormous power of the world's largest corporations were the Trade Unions. There was, and is, no other. They built the UAW democratically. They went worker-to-worker, plant-to-plant and cemented friendships with the folks who did the work. They build solidarity powerful enough to win strikes and then won victories that benefited every working stiff in our courtry.

So what happened?

In writing this piece I ran across notes I took for a UAW New Directions story I wrote about the last, great, WINNING STRIKE at UAW local 599. That strike won 800 jobs for the late, great Buick City local. Was it celebrated?

A local 879 rep downplayed the 599 win: "How did they ever let it get so bad?" he wondered.

Right question. Wrong local union.

Local 879, once recognized by Ford as the most resistant U.S. local to job cuts, has taken its place among the most undermanned assembly plants.

Local 879's president recently participated in a Ford "communication" meeting where the company bragged about the plant being "first" in the system at coming in under annual budget. This meant that $10 million due the plant's workforce was saved through job cuts while more than 1,000 local 879 members were being injured by their overloaded jobs.

GM has a lot more workers than Ford. We need MORE Ford workers--not fewer GM workers.

"First in budget performance" means bonuses for the managers and surgeries for the autoworkers.

It got so bad through Ford/UAW company programs like E.I. and QDS (adopted--and even promoted--by the UAW's administration caucus) that the floodgates of speedup, injuries, outsourcing, whipsawing and work rule giveaways were opened up and the membership suffered. It got so bad that the members were forgotten by the administration and even attacked by the caucus.

So this is where we are today in the Ford/UAW's drive for "competitiveness" push against the Solidarity UAW for the dog-eat-dog, (lower case) uaw of the caucus.

Everything the Dog-Eat-Dog uaw does today violates the Solidarity Principles of the real UAW's Constitution; every principle of and virtue of tradition and the original UAW. 

We have come full circle. We are once again paying dues to a company union.

And the answer to the question of how we organize is the same as the UAW faced back in the 1930's--We must organize each other. We must help each other. We must be friends. We must resist all the calls to cheat each other out of our jobs. We must be friends who support each other or simply give up and die.

Below is a solidarity appeal from around 1985. It is ever more true today.

To our Brother and Sister Autoworkers in North America:

We are Ford workers from Edison or St. Paul or Lorain or Dearborn or anywhere. We have families and enjoy our coworkers, communities and our lives.

We see ourselves being dragged into a competition against each other that can only benefit the company. All across the world Ford workers are being forced by fear into conceding jobs, plants, wages (and) working conditions; even the 8 hour day and weekends to 'compete' against other autoworkers. This competition destroys our union, our jobs, our hands and backs, our children's future and does the same to you.

We are interested in joining with you to talk about how we can fight this fear and regain our strength in numbers.

Where is the union?

The fear that separates us is cause both by the company and the UAW. UAW officials stood aside as Ford closed the Lorain T-Bird and Cougar assembly lines.

UAW porkchoppers helped Ford to whipsaw our locals and move production around North America, making the Lorain closing--and future closings--possible.

UAW officers threatened Rouge workers with competition from other UAW workers to gain concessions at the Rouge plant last month.

Although Ford is making record profits, the UAW is giving Ford extra capacity by allowing the company to work production on weekends and weekdays at straight time--reversing hard won 8-hr day victories.

Ford locals are competing against themselves, disrespecting the original values, principles and strategies of our union. During the Rouge Viability Contract debate at Local 600 in early October a UAW president pushed this concessionary contract by pointing out that if Local 600 did not agree to concede hard-won work rights other UAW locals would take the work being done by Local 600.

The (new) Local 600 contract limits seniority rights and raises 'competitiveness' to new heights with anti-union, dog-eat-dog competitive language. This agreement even contains a letter directing UAW reps to enforce competitive sections of this contract.

The compete, compete, compete fear politics of the UAW divided the Local with 70% of skilled workers voting against the agreement and 80% of production workers voting for it out of fear of losing their jobs to other UAW workers! Our union has ceased being a union.

The UAW at Ford exists today as a Ford junior partner interested in giving away the rights that other generations of autoworkers fought for, and sometimes, died for.

The top union leaders of the UAW have thrown away our union's principle of mutual support. They have given us the whipsaw and stolen our union rights guaranteed to all of us by the UAW Constitution. They have adopted the company's values of competition, greed, profit maximization and isolation. We see the effect of these corporate values in our UAW when the UAW reps use the fear of competition that they themselves have created within our own union. They used this fear to destroy solidarity at Local 600, and attack mutual assistance for the Lorain workers.

This new, dog-eat-dog UAW supports, even facilitates, the continuous concessions by Ford locals across the country. This new, dog-eat-dog UAW are traitors against Solidarity, to cut costs for Ford--And our livlihoods are those costs.

Competition vs Solidarity
While one billion workers are today unemployed throughout the world, Ford, and all huge international corporations are asking us to accept a dictatorship of wealth. The establishment of competition in our union is based in the same corporate greed that drives the company in NAFTA and the Multi-Lateral Agreement on Investment. The corporate garbage of whitemail, comparative advantage and favoritism that pushes the whipsaw and attacks us all and destroys our locals is extended in the MAI. The MAI extends the goals of the rich and will make capital's interests legally superior to city, state, national and international law. The Big Business agenda intends to formally replace democracy with the interest of the rich--everywhere.

Competition is a dead end for most of us.
Competing is the opposite of union. Competing means losing all the union gains the previous generations of UAW members sacrificed to win; union democracy, UAW independence from the corporation, overtime pay, weekends off, eight hour days, union work rules, seniority rights, classification, lines of demarcation, job posting rights, fair workloads, all are being given away under 'competitiveness.'

The result is Ford workers who ought to be friends are being made into enemies. Union principles like mutual support which could have been applied to save Lorain are ignored because local union leaders are competing against other local union leaders in a race to the bottom.

Autoworkers, no matter where they work, should be on the same side. We want to support you. We want you to support us. We want to rebuild a relationship with other Ford workers that is based not on greed and competition but on our own values of equality, solidarity, community, democracy and mutual assistance. 

We need a rebellion against competitiveness. That rebellion will not come from the UAW's officialdom since they are busy rebelling against us. A rebellion against competition is a revolutionary idea and is the only way we can win back our own values. It can only come from the rank and file.

The Larger Battle . . . former UAW President Douglas Fraser said in 1979:

"I believe leaders of the business community, with few exceptions, have chosen to wage a one-sided class war in this country, a war against working people, the unemployed, the very young and the very old, and even many in the middle class of society."

Today his words are more true than ever.

Here is a pledge for today's union workers:
1) We commit ourselves to supporting our coworkers and all other autoworkers wherever they work, in all the ways that we may devise.
2) We commit ourselves to begin a conversation with coworkers in our own and other plants about how to unite around the values we share of equality, solidarity, democracy and mutual assistance.
3) We pledge ourselves to ally with other autoworkers and with other working people wherever we can in order to start a revolution and create a truly democratic, fully-employed society.

Does this pledge ring true to you? Does your plant face the conditions written of above? Think, my brothers and sisters, then act!

Solidarity forever is not just a song lyric--It is the union way of life.