The following statement was issued by Will Lehman, a socialist and Mack Trucks worker who ran for United Auto Workers president on a platform of abolishing the bureaucracy and putting the rank and file in control.

Brothers and sisters,

Last Friday, Stellantis announced plans to lay off 2,500 workers at Warren Truck near Detroit. Autoworkers must prepare mass action to stop the cuts before they take effect on October 8.

Workers across the world must defend Warren Truck workers. This is a battle in a global war on jobs which has already claimed 8,000 in the United States and many times more around the world.

Stellantis workers in Canada, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany and other countries must defend their co-workers in America. Autoworkers in Detroit and across the United States, including striking Dakkota parts workers in Chicago, have a duty to defend the Warren Truck workers.

A rebellion against the UAW bureaucracy is needed. These cuts were made possible by the new sellout contract. The bureaucrats are working with management to help lay people off. They have lost all right to lead. Instead, workers should replace them with leaders drawn from the shop floor, exercising leadership democratically through rank-and-file action committees.

This campaign must begin now. On Thursday, August 15, Warren Truck workers will attend a local union meeting where union officials will not honestly answer questions and try to deflect blame. UAW members should eject the bureaucrats from the hall and turn the meeting into a discussion on how to organize a campaign to save the plant.

I propose to my brothers and sisters at Warren Truck that they move the following three-point resolution at the meeting:

1. We, the autoworkers of Warren Truck, declare we are prepared to take any actions we deem necessary to defend our jobs. The new contract, which UAW officials claimed was a major victory, was passed under false pretenses. Therefore, it can only be considered null and void. Its terms are not binding on us, including any and all prohibitions on strikes and other forms of self-help.
2. We appeal to our coworkers across the world to join us in a counteroffensive to defend jobs. We urge autoworkers at every plant to contact us to begin preparing joint actions.
3. We call for new UAW elections, overseen by rank-and-file workers and not the UAW bureaucrats or the Labor Department. In helping the companies lay us off, the Shawn Fain administration and the entire UAW apparatus have lost the right to lead.

There is no time to lose. For assistance in building rank-and-file committees, fill out the form below. A representative from the Autoworkers Rank-and-File Committee Network will contact you right away.