The UAW’s silence

[dcsmart]

It has been well over a week since US President Barack Obama rejected the restructuring plans of General Motors and Chrysler and threatened to throw the car companies into bankruptcy if they did not drastically downsize and impose even more “painful concessions” on auto workers.

Top executives at the two companies immediately pledged to accelerate plans to close more factories, lay off tens of thousands and impose deeper wage and benefit cuts on workers and retirees. If this cannot be achieved through negotiations, GM interim CEO Fritz Henderson said, it would be done through the bankruptcy courts.

In the face of this, the organization that claims to represent the 90,000 unionized workers and nearly 1 million retirees at GM and Chrysler has said nothing. United Auto Workers President Ronald Gettelfinger has not uttered a word, nor have any public statements appeared on the union’s web site. Asked why, a UAW spokeswoman told the WSWS, “the union has chosen not to issue a statement” and would not be “pressured” to do so.

This silence is highly significant. It can be explained only by the fact that the UAW bureaucracy is once again conspiring behind the backs of its members to impose massive concessions on auto workers.

UAW officials feel nothing but contempt for their members and prefer to keep them in the dark as the government, acting at the behest of the financial aristocracy, prepares to strip workers of their livelihoods and wipe out communities across North America.

The UAW’s previous policies, including its full support for President Obama, have been exposed as a complete failure. Noting the lack of response by the UAW, Reuters news service wrote, “Auto analysts see the union as shell-shocked by the hard line taken by Obama, a former community organizer who won huge support from the UAW and other unions in last year’s election.”
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This is not a question simply of mistaken politics. The UAW’s alliance with the Democratic Party reflects the role of the bureaucracy in subordinating the working class to the capitalist system. The interests of this organization—and the US trade union bureaucracy as a whole—are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the workers it claims to represent.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/pers-a09.shtml

[Dinger]

Sickening

I am curious. Who did the UAW support in the primaries?

[Dinger]

1. Self-Delete (nt)

[safeinOhio]

2. First off

If McCain had been elected?
Next, as this is moving toward a structured bankruptcy, that is planned ahead of time by all parties including the UAW, and not to be left up to a Judge as it will be settled before court. Who knows what is going on or will happen? I think it is just a little early to dump on the union. I'm sure the Socialist Workers, will be the first in line to apologize to the UAW is this does work out well.
Next, some of us still think the bankruptcy threat is only that , a threat to get the bond holders to the table.

I still thing Obama was the best choice. He is way smarter than you or I. Lets hold off until we see what happens.

[Phred42]

3. UAW 'leadership' appears to have dissapeared

Since Reagan they have either gone to ground and are hiding - or - have been infiltrated and partnered with the Reich.
Along the line of the Blue Dogs and DLC?

duno.....just askin....
:shrug:

[LiberalFighter]

4. What are the credentials of the guy writing the article?

[dcsmart]

5. He was Pres. candidate for Socialist Equality Party

http://www.wsws.org/search/index.php
this may not link to the info....you might have to search
jerry white.


WSWS covers a lot of union issues. You can see their activity at their site: interviews and videos with union workers. I have posted some in my journal.
The first topic at the above link "SEP presidential candidate speaks on financial crisis"
also has a video of him. But you know, i can't really find out what his bio is or if he has academic credentials. i have read a lot of his articles and watched his videos. I am not a member of the SEP. hope this helps....if you find out something more about him, let me know.

[dcsmart]

6. here is something

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/09/socialist-equality-party-write-in-jerry-whitebill-van-auken/

[corruptmewithpower]

7. 76% say GM and Chrysler should go bankrupt.

(CNN) – Three-quarters of all Americans think that the federal government should let General Motors or Chrysler go bankrupt

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/09/poll-let-carmakers-go-bankrupt-say-americans/