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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Mobilize to Support Autoworkers</b></span></font></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">Socialist Party USA, Labor Commission</font></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">sp-labor.blogspot.com<br>
sp-usa.org<br>
</font></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">September 24th, 2007</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">On Saturday September 24th over 73,000 UAW workers
across the country walked out in the first nationwide GM strike in 37
years. The Socialist Party USA calls upon its members and allies to
demand a decisive victory for striking UAW workers and upon the entire
labor movement to mobilize in solidarity.</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">The UAW has shut down production at more than 80
facilities owned by GM in 30 states. An economic ripple effect will
likely spread through the industry up and down the supply chain causing
more stoppages at other North American facilities which either supply
or depend on GM components. The eminent large-scale halt of production
brought on by the strike marks a watershed moment for class struggle in
the US not seen since the Teamsters struck UPS in 1997. The outcome of
this strike will impact not only the quality of life for workers at GM,
but the disposition of workers toward militant class struggle
throughout the United States and Canada.</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">This strike repeats the themes raised in recent
years by other major strikes, namely job security, the cost of health
care, and equality for new employees. The Socialist Party supports the
UAW’s demands at a minimum in order to hold on to hard won wage rates
and job security. In particular, the Socialist Party condemns GM’s
attempt to offload its responsibility for retiree health care to the
UAW through a notoriously insecure Voluntary Employee Benefits
Association (VEBA), while funding it at only 60-70% of the total cost.
We urge striking UAW workers to reject any contract that includes VEBA,
two-tier wages, supplements to be negotiated after ratification, or any
cuts in pay or benefits whatsoever.</font><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS"> </font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">In the 1940s, the UAW led the union movement by
winning full health care benefits from auto industry employers. Today,
that incentive to join a union is quickly evaporating as employers roll
back decades of struggle. The Socialist Party USA joins UAW workers to
demand that GM honor its commitment to provide complete health care
insurance at no cost to its employees and retirees. We also call for
the labor movement to join us in demanding universal socialized health
care for all.</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">We applaud the Teamsters for their speedy pledge
to not cross or work behind UAW picket lines. For this strike to
succeed, collective action must not be limited to GM employees. The
labor movement’s history has shown us that major battles are rarely won
without support from fraternal labor organizations and popular forces
in affected communities.</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">The US auto industry has suffered from a
competitive disadvantage in the increasingly global market for various
reasons. Cheap labor in Korea, our lack of a universal single payer
health care system, and the failure of US automakers to innovate are
just a few of the major causes. As GM’s market share dropped, the
company shed employees to only a fraction of the number it employed a
decade ago. Nevertheless, in the past year GM has rebounded with $207
billion in revenue while paying $10.2 million a year to its CEO alone.
The large shareholders and executives of GM should not be allowed to
fleece such profits from the labor of GM workers. Their reckless
mismanagement of the company and its finances is just one more reason
to remove these parasites and let the workers manage production for
themselves!</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">Accepting the framework of the modern capitalist
economy severely limits the ability of trade unions to make substantial
gains of any kind. The UAW’s leadership has openly recognized this
fact, agreeing to many concessions in recent years in the vain hope of
bolstering the competitiveness of GM as well as Ford and Chrysler. The
UAW’s impressive $900 million strike fund has done nothing to encourage
militant collective action. While corporate mismanagement and US
government policy each have a share of the blame, as socialists we
recognize that capitalism places an inevitable downward pressure on
workers, beyond the control of any particular institution. Only a
movement that abolishes both markets and the private ownership of
production can ensure full economic security for workers.</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span"
face="Trebuchet MS">Because of the central role of the automotive
industry in the US, GM employees have the potential to pave a new way
forward for the US working class. We must unite behind this strike to
take initiative away from the bosses and reinvigorate the union
movement with the basic principles and demands of socialism. The
Socialist Party’s Labor Commission will coordinate Party solidarity and
serve as a clearinghouse for information and analysis about the strike.
We also suggest supporters contact your nearest Socialist Party local
for details on particular actions in your area.</font></div>
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