The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees is holding an online public meeting Sunday, August 25 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern US time to discuss a program and prepare action to stop job cuts in the auto industry. Register for the event.
Stellantis’ announcement of nearly 2,500 job cuts at Warren Truck Assembly Plant near Detroit is a major escalation of the global war on jobs. The transnational auto giant is also threatening 12,000 jobs in Italy, with a further 13,000 parts supplier jobs at risk.
Similar cuts are being carried out by virtually every automaker in the world, from Tesla to Volkswagen, as well as parts suppliers. Auto and other industries are using new technologies such as EVs and automation to increase profits by destroying whole sections of the workforce.
A line in the sand must be drawn! Autoworkers must make this as the start of a broad counteroffensive, counterposing workers’ right to employment and a decent standard of living against management’s so-called “right” to profit.
This requires a global campaign. Workers at Warren Truck or any other plant cannot fight back without the support of a coordinated counteroffensive by autoworkers everywhere.
Workers must establish lines of communication with workers in every country where Stellantis is active, as well as at other global auto giants such as GM and Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota and Tesla.
Workers in every country are also fighting a two-front war against management and union sellouts, whether IG Metall in Germany, Unifor in Canada or the UAW and Biden-backed SINTTIA union in Mexico.
Next Sunday’s discussion will lay the groundwork for a global campaign. Delegations will attend from Warren Truck and auto plants across both the US and the world, as well as workers from other industries facing mass layoffs. They will discuss a common program in defense of jobs and joint actions across the world.