Auto workers support hunger striker Jorge Parra, demand justice from GM

Jorge Parra outside the Detroit auto show, Jan. 14.
WW photo: David Sole

Detroit — As the world press gathered on Jan. 14 to view the North American International Auto Show at Detroit’s Cobo Center, Jorge Parra sat outside on his 55th day of a hunger strike. Parra is one of a group of General Motors workers from Colombia who were fired by the auto giant after they were injured on the job.

Surrounded by scores of supporters, Parra explained to the media that “all we want is to present our evidence at the corporate level. All we want is justice.” Demonstrators protested the “moral bankruptcy” of GM, which recently was saved from financial bankruptcy by a U.S. government bailout. Speakers at the press conference included Melvin Thompson, past president of United Auto Workers Local 140.