Autoworkers face massive assault on their livelihoods

The U.S. economy only added 12,000 jobs in the month of October, a big drop from the 200,000 average monthly job gains previously in 2024 and just one-tenth of the predicted 120,000 added jobs for September.

But whether October’s overall figures are a trend or a blip, workers in the auto industry are facing a massive crisis of job insecurity. Stellantis, formed by the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s PSA Peugeot, has put thousands of workers on indefinite or permanent layoff around the Midwest. Metro Detroit is particularly hard hit.

Stellantis is trying to renege on the commitment it made in the current contract with the United Auto Workers union to reopen a closed plant in Belvedere, Illinois. The company blamed market conditions, but the UAW pointed out that sales at other auto companies aren’t slumping the way they are at Stellantis, so there is some mismanagement on the part of CEO Carlos Tavares. 

There is a real possibility that Stellantis plans to make drastic and permanent cuts to the number of U.S. autoworkers.

The slogan “Shitcan Carlos” (fire CEO Tavares) became popular at UAW rallies calling on Stellantis to “Keep the Promise” — halt the layoffs and keep Belvedere open. However, workers are feeling some hesitancy around striking mid-contract over the layoff issue. Plans to hold strike authorization votes at Stellantis UAW locals have been put on hold for the time being.

Layoffs beyond Stellantis UAW workers

While the UAW’s charge of mismanagement at Stellantis is valid, there are other autoworkers around the world facing layoffs and plant closings. 

Volkswagen reportedly plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers and close three plants in Germany — and on top of that is asking those still working to take a 10% pay cut. All of this is supposedly needed due to “decades of structural problems.” While the company cries broke, VW has come up with 900 million euros (almost $1 billion) to implement its “cost-cutting” program. (Reuters, Nov. 3) 

Thousands of workers protested VW’s plans outside its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Oct. 28.

During the past year, General Motors workers in São José dos Campos, Brazil, have held several rallies and strikes to protest layoffs at their plant. GM has threatened to close its plants in Colombia and Ecuador.

Workers in Italy held a mass, one-day strike to protest layoffs by Stellantis.

What can UAW members do?

The U.S. economy is not officially in recession. Even with the low number of jobs created in October, the unemployment rate remains at 4.1%. And there’s no recession in the auto industry such as the one that began in 2008.

Yet many autoworkers are facing mass layoffs, because the capitalist class always seeks to extract the greatest amount of production with the lowest labor costs in order to maximize profits. This often means cutting jobs. If these job cuts are happening now, what can autoworkers expect when there’s an economic downturn?

Winning anything from the auto company bosses is hard, especially in this stage of capitalist decline. Saving jobs is even harder than winning a pay increase. But history, including the UAW’s own history, shows that nothing is ever won without a struggle. Autoworkers in Brazil have gotten GM to back off from layoff threats after they struck the company.

The 2023 strike at Stellantis, GM and Ford won commitments to retain jobs. Now Stellantis is, according to the UAW, violating the contract by slashing jobs — a “strikeable grievance” under the agreement. But the company called thousands of workers — in violation of U.S. labor law —urging them to vote “no” in strike authorization votes at the various plants. 

There have been many UAW strikes over the decades when contracts expire, but few in the middle of a contract. Workers are fearful. At a Stellantis plant in Kokomo, Indiana, the strike authorization only received 61% of the vote — a majority but not the two-thirds needed to approve a strike under the UAW Constitution. Shortly thereafter, the UAW’s strike vote plans for other plants were put on hold.

The UAW is in a difficult position. If the union opts not to strike, that will embolden Stellantis. But if it strikes without rank-and-file support, that will also embolden the company.

Fight for job-saving contract language!

There are mechanisms to protect jobs even when auto sales are slumping. The UAW contracts with the Detroit Three used to have language that allowed laid-off workers to continue working in a “jobs bank,” where they did “non-traditional” work such as volunteering with nonprofits.

During the 2023 strike the UAW called for a shorter work week: 32 hours work for 40 hours pay. This demand, which was not won, was raised in the context of better “work-life balance.” But a shorter work week with no cut in pay would create thousands of job openings. This is urgently needed now, as the transition to electric vehicles could lead to fewer UAW jobs. 

There is even a precedent for a shorter work week in past UAW contracts. Although they were given up during the 1979 Chrysler bailout and never won back, the contracts in the 1970s gave workers “personal paid holidays” every year. These extra paid days off were intended as a step towards reducing the hours every worker put in, creating a net gain in jobs.

If Stellantis can’t sell its overpriced vehicles, there are alternatives to punishing the workers with mass layoffs!

Besides striking, workers have other means of curtailing production, such as refusing to work overtime. A “work-to-rule” slowdown strategy, where every company rule and procedure is followed to the letter, without taking shortcuts, is another option.

The union will have to use this pause in the struggle to educate the members on the plant floor that their power is at the point of production. 

Martha Grevatt is a retired UAW member who worked at Stellantis plants in Ohio and Michigan for 31 years. She served on the executive boards of UAW Locals 122 and 869.