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11/06/2008

Solidarity with Canadian Auto Workers CAW

GM continues its calculated, vicious assault against the North American GM employees. GM smashes truck operations in all three countries simultaneously.

GM continues its calculated, vicious assault against the North American GM employees. GM smashes truck operations in all three countries simultaneously.

The despicable GM Chairman Rick Wagoner launched the latest attack just minutes before the annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Wagoner announced the closure of plants in Oshawa, Canada ; Moraine, USA ; Janesville, USA; Toluca, Mexico.

GM plunged their knives deep into the hearts of their workforce in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada just two weeks after GM signed their national, three year collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers.

CAW Local 222 members immediately counter-attacked Wednesday, June 4, 2008 by blockading General Motors Canada Headquarters!

Please join the GM Workers Blog so that you can add your message of solidarity and support for the fightback against GM by the CAW Local 222 members and the broader labour movement.

We must join together to fight back against GM.
We must fight back against their betrayal.
We must fight back against their deceit.
We must fight back against their disloyalty.
We must fight back against their manipulation.
We must fight back against their arrogance.
We must fight back against their disrespect.

Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress CLC stepped up right away and spoke at the blockade to condemn GM and it's disregard of the process of the negotiation, ratification and administration of the CAW-GM collective agreements. President Georgetti pledged the support of his 3.2 million members to General Motors workers. The globalized GM has shown Canadian workers that they have been pushed into battling against a new phase of corporate greed and gluttony. Canadian workers have been shown that corporations no longer have a need to rely on contracts or settlements. Canadian worker consciousness is awakening to discover that defiance, resistance and domination are the types of action needed to bring GM to heel.

Chris Buckley, President of the CAW Local 222 and Keith Osborne, Oshawa Truck Plant Chairman continue to lead the workers and their supporters in this fight back. They have mounted a blockade at the GM Headquarters. They have participated in a 200+ vehicle convoy that encircled the GM assembly operation. They have spoken out at rallies, through media interviews, and personal appearance.

Many Solidarity Messages for CAW Local 222 have been posted on the GMWorkersblog. Links to these messages have been itemized here: CAW SOLIDARITY MESSAGES

Please post your Solidarity Message today!

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Thank you,
John Martyn

Site/country
Canada
Brands, Platforms, Suppliers
GMC
Union
CAW
Topic
solidarity
we only get strong when we have 1 big union and NOT 3 different ones like in the antwerp plant, that's a crap, it's like devine and concure, we started with 13000 man and now they want belowe 1300 !! thanks GM
Ok Paul, these are just words, but these are words of solidarity! Words to colleges of us that they know they are not allone!! We stay close to them all over the world!!
Lets fight together for our rights, for everyone, that everybody all over becomes a peace of that kind of cake!!
So take care - to fight back makes a difference - stay strong,
in solidarity Frank
Paul,

You pledge of support and solidarity is an important starting point. Workers who will never meet can pledge solidarity from afar, and doing so binds them together in the common struggle. One concept within a pledge of solidarity is the assurance that there will be no interference in the fight between those already engaged parties. Basic immediate examples of non-interference include not crossing a picket line, and the honouring of a boycott.

On a large level, pledges of solidarity include promises not to act in a parasitic or opportunistic manner, now that the affected group of workers has fallen on hard times. Employers attempt to cut deals with other workers using overtime payments or a job-security agreement to shift production away from the troubled location. Workers that jump and and splurge on the hardship of others are breaking solidarity. This kind of break in solidarity can greatly diminish the leverage of those workers under attack.

You are correct that escalating actions in a regional or global scale are desirable, yet many troubled workplaces need some kind of guarantee that unaffected workers won't join with the employer's attack.

Strong and powerful worker groups develop one baby step at a time. They build up confidence of their membership one pledge of solidarity at a time.

John Martyn
I pledge my full support to Oshawa GM workers. They have fought all their lives for their great wages and benefits. How dare GM try to close down a plant just because the sales have slumped. GM should be begging the workers to open their contract so that the plant can remain open, when they do CAW 222 should say no, that would really show them. Keep up the good fight
Of course I pledge my support and solidarity to all the affected workers and their families. But what's the point? These are just words. If we really want to make a stand against global companies such as GM, we need to step away from our "we first" mentality. In most cases workers still seem to think it's either them or us. And that's exactly what companies are counting on. To stand a chance, we should "really" unite. Global strikes and stuff. That would hurt them badly and force them to talk rationally instead of just continuing their agenda.

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