On January 23, over 100 United Auto Workers (UAW) activists and union oppositionists gathered in Detroit to discuss how to build on the momentum produced by the national contract rejection by Ford workers last November. This was the first time in history that UAW members in the Big Three automakers have voted against a contract endorsed by the UAW leadership.
The conference was called to discuss how to turn this historic rejection of further concessions into an active movement of autoworkers to retake their union from the anti-democratic and corporate-friendly bureaucracy that runs the UAW. It brought together veterans of previous UAW opposition movements, including New Directions and Soldiers of Solidarity, as well as some workers fresh to the movement. Many of the Ford workers that organized Vote No campaigns were present.
The discussions covered a wide variety of topics, from attacks on retiree health care to shop floor issues such as dealing with speed-ups, to big picture questions like how to fight plant closures. Many discussed the idea of running candidates for delegates to the upcoming UAW National Convention. However, while the idea of a united opposition platform for the elections was discussed, no concrete initiatives came out of this conference to turn that idea into reality.
Socialist Alternative members from Minnesota argued for the need to retool to-be-closed plants to produce green technology. With massive overcapacity in the auto industry, its not enough to simply say no more concessions without a clear strategy for what to do with plants facing closure and mass layoffs.
We cited the example of Fords Twin Cities Assembly Plant, which is slated to close in 2011. This plant could easily be converted to produce an electric version of the small Ranger pickups currently produced there, for which there is already a working prototype.
However, shuttered plants can only be kept open and retooled if there is a massive investment by the government. By taking them into public ownership under democratic control by the workers and wider public, we can use these plants to produce the things we need as a society.
There is an urgent need to build a national rank-and-file opposition movement within the UAW in order to fight against concessions and factory closures. Socialist Alternative supports the call for a follow-up meeting at this Aprils Labor Notes conference in Detroit, and hopes this can be used to discuss how to build such an opposition movement.