Workers at the car components manufacturing facility in Saline, Michigan, owned with the aid of the giant French conglomerate Faurecia, were sent back to paintings through the United Auto Workers union closing Friday morning after the UAW sabotaged their strike, which can have speedy led to a shortage of crucial components for Ford and different automakers.
AFTER THE SIMPLEST NINE HOURS, the UAW ended the walkout, claiming that it had suddenly settled with control after months and months of stalled settlement talks. Workers have been given no records approximately the terms of the deal—if one even exists—and were informed that they would learn about the settlement and vote on it sometime this week.
Approximately 1,900 people exertions at the manufacturing facility owned utilizing Ford before it spun off its parts production to a new corporate entity, Visteon, which speedy declared financial ruin if you want to rob people of their own difficult-earned pensions and wages. Faurecia took over management of the plant in 2012 even though the belongings continue to be owned by Ford.
In May, ninety-seven percent of Faurecia people voted in the desire of strike movement to recoup a long time of misplaced wages and the destruction of protection conditions and medical advantages, which the UAW gave up at each level the company shell game of changing control.
For the final four a long time, the UAW has blocked any serious moves—the remaining country-wide auto strike became at Ford in 1976—and the last car components strikes at Nexteer (2015), and Lear (2014) had been close down after a day. This is not due to the fact—as the UAW has sought to convince workers—that they are vulnerable. In reality, with “Just-in-Time” production, which is predicated on the regular delivery of elements, instead of the use of up massive elements of assembly vegetation for stockpiling components—a strike at an essential manufacturing unit like Faurecia would quickly have led to the lack of parts for tremendously profitable vehicles, which include Ford’s F-a hundred and fifty pickup vehicles.
The ultimate factor the UAW wishes but is a successful strike demonstrates the vast social power of workers. This would inspire similar movement through a larger range of autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler, whose contracts are expiring in mid-September. With the collusion of the UAW, the auto companies are the usage of the risk of more plant closings and layoffs to extract a new round of devastating concessions, consisting of increasing the range of low-paid contract people and imposing crushing out-of-pocket costs for fitness care insurance.
The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter has said several instances of the horrific situations confronted by using people inside the Saline plant, and employees continuously say those situations are getting worse. “In one part of the warehouse, if it rains, they may be working in the rain,” stated a younger employee who has recently been employed in. “If you notice liquid on the floor, you don’t understand if it’s water or gas or a few different chemicals. It may be anything.”
Another delivered, “The roof leaks. If I get water on my head while I’m running, I don’t know in which that water’s been or what’s in it. “A lot of humans don’t understand it. However, there was a hearth in [the plant] closing week,” he persevered, “…so huge they had to name the Salina Fire Department to put it out.” These situations, blended with subsistence wages and grueling hours, enraged Faurecia workers and provoked the strike.
“In my head, we were placing for better wages and better healthcare. But perhaps that became me,” this employee persevered. He was confused that any troubles that the employees were hanging for had been only “rumors and hearsay” on the wood line. “There becomes no leadership,” he stated.
“I trust that we’ve more strength than they do if we stick together. Yesterday, we stopped the F-one hundred fifty Ford manufacturing. We have to stick collectively and combat for what we need,” he persisted. “We don’t recognize what’s within the settlement. That is the crazy part about it. Everybody is talking approximately it, and we do not have any information about what’s in it.”
His colleague went directly to touch upon the wretched person of the union. “We had a strike for sooner or later. We got here lower back the next day. We did now not have an assembly or anything. The manager said that the UAW might come round but don’t prevent production. That’s all he stated. As a way as him announcing something about the agreement, he didn’t say anything approximately it.”
“I just don’t like the reality that we’re inside the dark approximately everything.”
Another young Faurecia employee stated, “I agree with there’s electricity in numbers. If we stick together worldwide, not anything can stop us.” On Saturday, workers coming out of Ford’s Dearborn Assembly additionally answered to the UAW’s shutting down of the Faurecia strike with an assist to fellow employees and disgust closer to the union. “That’s now not right; it’s tousled what they may be doing to them.
They need to have saved placing. Have you visible their running situations? They have no bathrooms, and so forth. They better cross again, placing. We had our shift stopped for an hour whilst this came about due to a shortage of components.” “I’ve been right here in view that 2014 and saw how the last settlement went. Everyone in here is saying that they’ll try to take the rest of our advantages. We’re talking approximately this on the floor.”
