(from the song of the early twentieth century, linked to the
struggles of rural workers for "eight hours" of work) ---- This timewhat? that we must take as an example comes from the Americanmetropolises and the most technologically developed: the all-out strikeof workers at the US factories of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.---- The platform of demands, launched by the UAW (United Auto WorkersInternational Union) with its 150 thousand members, as well as themethods of the struggle, are particularly significant not only becausethe counterparts are the three most powerful multinationals in theglobal automotive industry, the so-called "Big Three": Ford, GeneralMotors and Stellantis, as the objectives are made explicit in advanceand affect the conditions in which not only the American working classfinds itself but the entire worker and trade union movement of the West.Salary increases of 40%, reduction of weekly working hours to 32 hourspaid 40, four-day working week, restoration of the mechanism forautomatic indexation of wages with respect to inflation, which in theUSA is referred to as "Cola", an acronym which stands for"cost-of-living adjustments": essentially our escalator, an institutionlost in the years of the triumph of employers' liberalism and unionsurrender agreements. General Motors workers got it in 1948, and in the1970s the UAW managed to extend it to all its members. When the autoindustry was on the verge of collapse in 2008, did the union give up?mechanism for the sector to recover, with the promise that it would berestored when the automotive industries recovered.Finally, the overcoming of the "double regime" between older people andnew hires, a legacy of Sergio Marchionne's employer policy which, whileimposing the Fiat workers in Italy to renounce the national contractunder penalty of relocating the factories, carried out the sameblackmail towards of the employees of Chrysler (now Stellantis), justacquired by the Agnelli family, and which has torn even more thesolidarity fabric of the workforce, resulting in profound diversity? ofsalary and regulatory treatments for the new generations, hired withprecarious contracts and wages halved compared to older workers? elderlypeople.One of the demands of the US union UAW is? in fact the end of the systemof different levels ("End tiers. No 2nd class workers" - final levels:no 2nd class workers), and the end of the discretionary use of timecontracts, for which temp workers (temporary workers) , in reality theywork full time but never become full-timers.The similarity with the condition of our class in Italy appears morewhich is evident through the massive use of precarious work, involuntarypart-time work and reduced wages for new hires.Has the strike lasted longer in the USA? of a month (it officiallystarted on September 15th), and there are no signs of recomposition.While we are writing these notes, a week ago the three big companies inDetroit began to put a greater number of workers on "temporary leave":for Ford alone, 2,480 workers were suspended from work, but the numbercould soon rise to at least 4,600 at nine plants, including five inmetro Detroit.For GM it is around 2,300 and for Stellantis 1,340.What if he doesn't come? once a compromise has been reached the numberswill grow further, but there is no? no air of respite at all. The lastplant to be involved is not? any industrial site: in a surprisingdecision, the union called a strike at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant inLouisville. Is this the most? big and, above all, more? profitable Ford:8,700 people work there, employed in the production of models such asthe Super Duty pick-ups, the Expedition SUVs and Lincoln Navigator,which generate as much as 25 billion dollars in annual revenues. Theplant is? supplied by 13 other Ford facilities and numerous suppliersand its closure affects not only the 100 thousand direct and indirectworkers: many believe that it is a clear warning launched to GM andStellantis, given that their contract renewal offers are more? lowerthan that of Ford itself.Currently, 16,600 employees of the Dearborn company, Ford, are onturmoil, compared to 9,400 at GM and 8,000 at Stellantis.How can we deduce from this new trade union and political situation inthe USA that the struggle of workers must be clear, limited in itsobjectives and long-lasting in order to have a chance of success,constantly seeking elements of unity? and build resistance funds thatallow the continuation of trade union mobilisations, bringing largesectors of the world of work and especially the new generations back toparticipation and trade union and political militancy.Construction site no. 21 November 2023 ilcantiere@autistici.orghttp://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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