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Open Letter To Delphi Workers
I BELIEVE IN the General Strike. I'd rather die fighting for what is right
while standing on my own two feet, than die on my knees begging the auto
bosses.
We need to ask ourselves. Do we need an international union to negotiate
concessions for us? Can't we do that ourselves, without a union? Or do we
need a union that will fight for us and our co-workers? I say vote NO to any
concessions at Delphi. We have given enough and we have nothing left to
lose. "We've done more for Delphi than we should have done," Gettelfinger
said. He should know.
We have an agreement with Delphi already, an agreement they did not and do
not honor. In exchange for the two-tier supplement Delphi management agreed
to lead the way in pay cuts. They did not. In exchange for the two-tier
supplement Delphi management agreed to make significant investment in US
operations. They did not. In exchange for the two-tier supplement Delphi
management agreed to not close any plants in the US. They did not.
The two-tier supplement did exactly what we warned it would do. It opened
the door, betrayed a generation, and now all UAW members will be two-tiered.
Everything that was promised by management for this anti-union supplement
was a lie. They stole our legacy and our childrens future while the UAW sung
partnership all the way to bank.
What we need is the end of two-tier agreements. We need top pay for all UAW
members. We must go forward, not backwards. Brother Paul Baxter said it
best, "How can you expect us to be partners with liars, cheaters, and
thieves?"
I fear for my sisters and my brothers across the auto industry who will be
next in the corporate assualt.
Then they came for the Meat Packers, but since I was not one of them, it did
not matter to me, and I did not defend them.
Then they came for the Textile Workers, but since I was not one of them, it
did not matter to me, and I did not defend them.
Then they came for the Steelworkers, but since I was not one of them, it did
not matter to me, and I did not defend them.
Then they came for the workers at Bridgestone, Staley, and Caterpillar, but
since I was not one of them, it did not matter to me, and I did not defend
them.
They came for the airline workers, the newspaper workers, the tanners,
weavers, truckers, railroad and industrial laborers of every sort, but since
I was not one of them, it did not matter to me, and I did not defend them.
Then they came for me, and there was no one to defend me.
NO CONCESSIONS AT DELPHI!
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