Ford's UAW Workers: Not Stupid, Not Sheep

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

If you want to get the full flavor of dissent at the sharp end of the Ford contract approval [sic] process, visit The World Socialist Website. While we'd like to see some better reporting– details of the union's "campaign of lies and intimidation" and substantiation for the website's claim that Ford's VEBA health care superfund would "make the UAW the company’s largest shareholder, with a stake four times larger than the Ford family"– the workers' quotes make for powerful reading. Randy Hall: “They say layoffs can take place due to lack of product demand, but isn’t that the reason they are laying off in the first place?" Ken: "As for the VEBA, the union is going to end up stealing the money from the retirees. They never take the cuts they make the members take. The membership has been going down for years but the union officials’ salaries haven’t gone down." David: "How are you going to promote solidarity when you have one group working for half the wages?" And one unnamed worker (take that as you will): "They used to divide us between black and white. Now it’s US workers and workers overseas. To me the divide is between the rich and the poor. Race is used to camouflage the real issue. I can’t just lay down and let them rape me. This local is supposed to be the heart of the union and they have totally sold us out.”

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Steve_K Steve_K on Nov 12, 2007
    I thought socialism was home to a bunch of misdirected intellectuals. See also: Educated Idiots; those who cannot put a nut on a bolt yet wish to rule humanity; firm believers in corn ethanol.
  • Luther Luther on Nov 12, 2007

    "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." -Kurt Vonnegut Socialism does not require a low IQ... Just a burning desire to get something for nothing. It requires emotional immaturity.

  • Carlisimo Carlisimo on Nov 12, 2007

    With comments like these, I don't think TTAC is improved by political car-related posts.

  • Pfingst Pfingst on Nov 12, 2007
    carlisimo: With comments like these, I don’t think TTAC is improved by political car-related posts. Oh, I don't know. It's nice to see that there are still some people that are paying attention.
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