[Marxism] Real hope and change department

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/auto041208.html
Join the Auto Worker Caravan to Washington, D.C.

Join the Auto Worker Caravan to
Washington, D.C. -- Monday, December 8
Send-off Rally in Detroit -- Sunday, December 7

Auto workers from the Midwest will be in D.C. on Monday, December 8 to 
say the Big Three bailout shouldn't be made on our backs.  Executives 
from the Big Three, dealerships, and auto suppliers have made their 
voice heard in the Capitol.  Now it's our turn.  Auto workers will tour 
D.C. to speak with media and members of Congress about their ideas for a 
stronger auto industry.  If you can't make it to Washington, come to a 
rank-and-file rally and send-off in Detroit this Sunday from 2 pm to 4 pm.

DC Meeting Location -- Monday, December 8
Time: 9:30 am
Location: Lutheran Church of the Reformation
212 East Capitol Street, NE
Washington, DC 20003
(between 2nd and 3rd)
Contact: Mark, 413-896-4726 (onsite)
Street parking is available.

Who We Are:
We're an ad hoc group of concerned auto workers and supporters from Big 
Three plants and suppliers across the United States.

What We Think:
The UAW has agreed to give more concessions back to the Big Three, even 
though weakening auto workers' benefits and contracts will not save the 
auto industry.  Auto workers have already made billions of dollars' 
worth of concessions in recent contracts. We need real reforms, not a 
plan to take more out of the wallets of auto workers.

Auto workers are taking the fall for management's poor decisions.  Our 
wages and benefits make up less than 10 percent of the cost of a car -- 
while the companies spend frivolously.  U.S. auto workers at 
foreign-owned auto companies don't receive defined pension benefits, nor 
do the vast majority of American workers.  We need to preserve the 
benefits fought for by the UAW and secure these benefits for all workers.

Send Off the Caravan on Sunday, December 7
Auto workers from the Midwest will be in D.C. on Monday, December 8 to 
say the Big Three bailout shouldn't be made on our backs.

To get involved or for more information:
Web site: www.autoworkercaravan.org
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: Wendy Thompson, 313-892-7974

For media inquiries:
press@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or
Tiffany Ten Eyck, 313-842-6262

What We Need to Tell Washington!

As auto workers, we are not just thinking of ourselves.  Congress needs 
a comprehensive plan not just for the auto corporations and auto 
workers, but a new national industrial policy that supports and expands 
the middle class and addresses the economic and environmental crisis 
that the entire nation faces.  We see this crisis as an opportunity to 
lay the foundation for a decent life for the next generation of all 
Americans.

     * Save Auto Workers' Jobs and Communities.  The U.S. Congress and 
the incoming Obama administration should commit themselves to save auto 
workers' jobs and communities. The auto industry still stands at the 
center of the American economy, directly employing over two million 
people and indirectly affecting the lives of millions more.

     * Transform the Auto Industry.  Congress needs to establish a new 
national industrial policy that will transform the auto and other 
industries.  We need to expand our efforts to produce fuel-efficient 
automobiles and electric cars, green energy technologies such as wind 
turbines, and mass transportation such as light rail and high-speed trains.

     * No Investment without Representation.  It's our money, so we want 
accountability.  The U.S. government or other levels of government 
should have a say, providing public control when either financial 
assistance or tax abatement is provided to corporations.  Just as we 
say, "No taxation without representation," so we should say, "No 
investment without representation."

     * Strengthen the Union to Help the Recovery.  Unions and union 
contracts protect wages and benefits and work against the deflationary 
crisis which confronts us.  Unions and their membership should be 
protected.  Every study by the U.S. Labor Department and by academic 
researchers over the last several decades shows that unions raise wages 
and that higher wages have contributed to a robust economy.

     * Employee Free Choice Act(Card Check) should be extended to any 
plant, subsidiary, or subcontractor which benefits from federal or other 
government assistance.  Employee Free Choice would make it possible for 
non-union workers to join unions, to negotiate contracts, and to fight 
for higher wages to put money back in circulation.

     * A National Single-Payer Health System.  When pressed, the Big 
Three concede that a national health plan would bolster their bottom 
line, as it does now in Canada.  GM alone provides health coverage to a 
million people -- workers, retirees, and families.  The rescue of the 
auto industry should be linked to the creation of a national 
single-payer health system like the "Medicare for All" proposal in HR 
676, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you had an opportunity to address Congress about the Auto Bailout as 
a rank & file UAW member, what would you say?
Would it go something like this?

I am not testifying before Congress today to request that American 
taxpayers loan Detroit automakers 25 billion dollars so they can close 
factories and permanently layoff thousands of workers.  I am not here to 
support the Detroit automakers' intention to import half the vehicles 
they sell in the United States as do foreign competitors like Toyota, 
Honda, Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Mercedes.  I am not here to advocate 
that American workers compete for the lowest wages in the world.  Quite 
the opposite.  I think we should compete for the highest.

I stand before you to advocate for a national industrial policy that 
supports and sustains the expansion rather than destruction of the 
middle class.  I stand before you to advocate for an industrial policy 
that strengthens our economy, strengthens our national security, and 
makes the American Dream of a higher standard of living attainable for 
an ever expanding number of citizens.  I am here to advocate that 
Congress recognize that the working class is the backbone of this 
nation, that the success of our nation as a whole depends on the health 
and wellbeing of our most valuable natural resource, the American worker.

In the last thirty-five years the income of American workers has 
declined precipitously while prices for health care, education, housing, 
food, and energy have steadily increased.  Americans are working more 
hours with fewer vacation days than any other modern industrialized 
nation.  Even though we are working longer and harder, our incomes are 
not keeping up with inflation.  Fewer and fewer American workers have 
pensions or health insurance.  America, once known as a nation that took 
pride in its expanding middle class, today, has a reputation for 
degrading workers and pursuing a competitive race to the bottom.

Some members of Congress propose that the best solution for the Detroit 
automakers is bankruptcy.  They propose that the automakers should 
dispose of their obligations to retirees, as if retirees were somehow 
unworthy of the deferred compensation they earned with steadfast loyalty 
and honest labor.  If Congress sanctions the refusal to honor contracts, 
it will become a defining moment in the history of our nation, a moment 
of legislative infamy.

Civil societies rely on trust not treachery.  Civil societies rely on 
government to restrain predatory capitalists and to mediate class 
conflict.  If the highest legislative body in the nation endorses 
contempt for contractual commitments, where will it end, and who can be 
held accountable?  Such a precedent will not stop with autoworkers. 
Every retiree and every working person who hopes to retire will feel 
threatened by the willful destruction of contractual agreements.

Historically, unions have had a positive impact on our society and our 
economy.  When unions negotiated improved wages and benefits, they 
expanded the middle class and set a standard that lifted all workers. 
The expansion of the middle class created a vibrant economy that 
benefited business and government.  Business reaped the rewards of an 
upwardly mobile workforce.  In turn a growing economy enriched the tax 
base and allowed government to lower tax rates for businesses and 
wealthy investors.

When unions negotiated pensions and health care for retirees, it was 
considered deferred compensation.  Workers sacrificed higher wages in 
return for a secure retirement.  The companies passed the cost on to 
consumers, but the companies' didn't invest those higher profits in a 
trust that would provide for retiree health care.  Instead they indulged 
themselves and their shareholders.  Corporate malfeasance should not be 
rewarded with a Congressional pardon.

If companies are allowed to break contracts, the debt will be passed on 
to taxpayers in the form of social welfare.  If government assumes 
responsibility for all or part of those expenses, it will, in effect, 
charge the consumer twice.  Once, when he purchased the car, and a 
second time, when he is taxed to compensate for the companies' 
misappropriation.  CEOs should not be allowed to justify increased 
prices as an incumbent expense of a union contract, then pass on the 
cost to taxpayers when the bill comes due.

I am a UAW member, but I would be remiss if I did not speak up for our 
brothers and sisters at Toyota and the other transplants.  The workers 
at foreign transplants in the United States do not have a defined 
pension.  They have a 401-k.  They have seen the value of their 
retirement savings destroyed by unscrupulous and irresponsible financial 
policies, or the lack thereof, through no fault of their own.  Workers 
at the transplants do not have health insurance in retirement.  They 
will be forced out of work by injury or company policy before they are 
eligible for Medicare.  They too deserve a national industrial policy 
that respects their service.

Foreign automakers have the advantage of national health care for 
workers in their home countries, but in the United States they treat 
workers like disposable commodities.  They work them till they hurt 
them, then they throw them out the door.

My advocacy for a national industrial policy that ensures retirement in 
dignity is not limited to union members.  All American workers deserve 
health care and security in retirement equal to or better than that 
enjoyed by workers in Europe and Japan.  The United States should raise 
the standard, not pursue a race to the bottom.

I am not here to ask Congress for a handout, but rather a well-deserved 
hand up.  It is imperative that we rescue the flagship industry of our 
manufacturing base.  Our economic health and our national security are 
at stake.  But it is not fair to bailout the privileged and neglect the 
plight of the average worker.  Medicare for All as advocated in John 
Conyer's bill HR 676 is the one remedy that would unilaterally address 
the unfair competition that plagues manufacturing in the United States. 
  HR 676 would help all employers, all workers, and all consumers.

Furthermore, any bailout that is not contingent on job creation would 
damage our economy.  America needs a vibrant middle class and a 
revitalized industrial base to stabilize our economy and strengthen our 
national security.  Any bailout that supports the innovative malaise in 
our industrial sector or rewards companies for investing overseas while 
simultaneously breaking contracts with American workers is tantamount to 
sabotage.

I am not here to apologize for workers who constitute the backbone of 
America.  We have never failed.  I am not here to beg on behalf of the 
men and women who fought the wars, built the roads and bridges, 
manufactured the goods, delivered the services, and transported every 
conceivable product from its origin to its destination.  I am here to 
demand the respect and dignity we deserve.

For too long Congress has legislated in favor of capital over labor. 
The preference has not served our national interests.  As Abraham 
Lincoln said in his first annual message to Congress in 1861, "Labor is 
prior to, and independent of, capital.  Capital is only the fruit of 
labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. 
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher 
consideration."

The Detroit automakers need a bridge loan to survive the current credit 
crisis.  But another bailout that neglects the working class would be a 
fatal mistake.  We will not survive the worldwide recession afflicting 
our economic security if we fail to defend the people who have never 
failed their nation.

Gregg Shotwell

For more information, go to <www.autoworkercaravan.org>.
To download the auto caravan flyer in PDF, go to 
<mrzine.monthlyreview.org/auto_caravan_a.pdf>.
To download the flyer with Gregg Shotwell's speech, go to 
<mrzine.monthlyreview.org/auto_caravan_b.pdf>.

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