Socialist Equality Party vice presidential candidate Jerry White spoke to second shift workers Friday afternoon at the Stellantis Warren Truck Assembly Plant north of Detroit outlining the socialist program to defend jobs. Warren Truck workers were stunned by the recent announcement by Stellantis that it will eliminate the second shift at the plant in early October with the loss of 2,450 jobs.
The layoffs at Warren Truck are only the latest round of a continuing jobs bloodbath by Stellantis and other automakers, including the mass firing of temporary Stellantis Supplemental workers earlier this year.
White and supporters distributed an open letter from the campaign to Warren Truck workers. In the letter White explained that unlike the corporate-backed candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Socialist Equality Party insists that jobs are a social right that must take precedence over the capitalist “right” to profit.
White called on workers at Stellantis to take matters into their hands by forming rank-and-file committees rather than looking to the corrupt UAW bureaucracy or capitalist politicians to defend jobs. These committees, White said, should join with Dakkota auto parts workers in Chicago who have voted down four sellout UAW contracts, and with other autoworkers around the world to fight the global attack on jobs.
Many workers expressed interest in hearing that there were socialists on the ballot in Michigan and stopped to take campaign material and learn more about the campaign. Workers listened intently when White explained that socialists considered a job a fundamental social right, a concept completely at odds with the pro-capitalist and nationalist line espoused by the United Auto Workers apparatus.
A younger worker spoke out about the firing of the Stellantis supplemental workers in the wake of the supposedly “historic” 2023 contract.
“They promised that they would be rolled but only hired a portion of them.” She added, “They said the closure of Belvidere was only ‘postponed’ but there is no official postponement date; so, they are playing games.”
White responded, “the fact is the UAW leaders allow this. The standup strike had nothing to do with a real strike. It was all a PR stunt.
“What we are saying is that we can’t look to the UAW leaders, we can’t look to Harris, we can’t look to Trump, because they represent a different class,” White said as the worker said, “That’s right.”
White said that while asking workers to sacrifice at home through attacks on their jobs and living conditions, the capitalist class seeks to recruit young people into the military.
“They also want to take your generation off to fight these wars.”
The worker responded, “Yes, it’s horrible, it’s not right. I grew up with someone in school who went into the military and a current friend’s daughter went into the Marines.”
White added, “They tell workers these wars are about freedom and democracy, when they are about oil, about resources, about the giant corporations.”
“That’s right,” the worker agreed. “It’s all about cash flow.”
Referring to the threatened layoffs, another worker said, “We don’t know anything. We think the [Jeep] Wagoneer is not going to last much longer. We were told 500 people were going to SHAP [Sterling Heights Assembly Plant] then they said 200 people. But now that is probably null and void because they may be losing a shift too.”
White explained, “We say that workers need to develop the idea that we have a right to a job. We make billions for these corporations.”
She continued, “They said we have five years to be called back. But that will only happen if they get another truck. But this building is the oldest one there is. They don’t care about fixing it back up.”
White pointed out that the attack on Warren Truck workers was part of a much bigger picture. “They are cutting 12,000 jobs in Italy. And it is not just Stellantis. When Fain says this is because it is a foreign boss who doesn’t want to invest in America. That’s to make us think that the red, white and blue bosses like Ford and GM are good.
“I am worried. And I feel bad for the next generation. It could be my kid in there. I know that one girl quit a sixteen-year job to come here for a stable job. Then this happened to her.
“They tell us to go the UAW International. But I am really disappointed in [UAW Vice President] Boyer. He used to work at Warren Truck they went to the international,” she said adding that the lead UAW negotiator with Stellantis agreed to the mass firings of supplementals and the current layoffs.
A worker with six years stopped to speak to White. He said that he was not expecting to be laid off but still felt his situation was precarious.
White explained, “The UAW leaders are in bed with management along with Harris and the Democratic Party.
“Tavares said he planned to shut this plant a year and a half ago. We are saying there has to be a fight. How many more families are going to be destroyed with the layoffs? How many more schools are going to close? How many more suicides are there going to be? We believe workers have the social right to a job regardless of what the billionaires say.”
The worker responded that while he felt no animosity toward immigrants, he felt that immigrants were being given preferential treatment in housing and jobs.
White replied, “Immigrants are being treated like dirt. They are putting them in detention centers and breaking up their families. They are being hunted down and threatened so they can be used as cheap labor.
“Trump knows that people are angry at the rich. He is using the traditional diversion, saying it is not the rich who are to blame, it is these poor immigrants who are struggling to put food on the table who are taking it from you. No, Jeff Bezos is taking it from you. Elon Musk, Carlos Tavares are taking it from you. And the UAW leaders are working right with them.
“Thank you,” the worker responded, “I will take a look at this.” He agreed to be contacted by the campaign for further discussion.