Indianapolis GM Stamping Plant

The World Socialist Web Site encourages workers in Indianapolis and auto workers throughout the country to write to the WSWS with their reactions, comments and experiences. These comments will be posted on the WSWS as part of an ongoing discussion on the necessary strategy to oppose the corporate-driven attack on the working class.

Workers at General Motors’ Indianapolis stamping plant continue to resist demands by the United Auto Workers and GM that they accept a 50 percent wage cut in order to secure a new buyer for the 80-year-old plant. GM previously scheduled the closure of the 2.1 million square foot facility by 2011 as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

On August 15 Indianapolis workers threw UAW International officials out of their local union meeting and forced the cancellation of a vote on a new contract, which the UAW negotiated behind their backs with potential buyer Justin Dennis Norman. The deal would have scrapped the current UAW-GM contract, which contains a successor clause guaranteeing workers their current wages, job protections and transfer rights in the event GM sells the plant.

Right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh devoted his Tuesday commentary to the struggle of workers at the Indianapolis General Motors stamping plant against demands for a 50 percent wage cut. He expressed understanding for the actions of GM and the United Auto Workers union (UAW) in seeking to push through the wage cuts, and scorn for the workers who are resisting.

Limbaugh quoted extensively from the report posted on the World Socialist Web Site Tuesday morning, under the headline “Indianapolis autoworkers drive United Auto Workers executives out of meeting”. He described, using the WSWS account, how the workers shouted down three UAW international union representatives when they tried to present the wage cut and other proposed contract changes to facilitate sale of the plant.

Limbaugh gloated over the treatment dealt the UAW officials. “The shoe’s on the other foot,” he said. “Now the UAW’s executives are the owners and they’re trying to tell their own brethren to take 50 cents on the dollar. The national UAW are the bosses. Now that they effectively own Obama Motors, they’re the ones riding the backs of the proletariat—and it shows up on the World Socialist Web Site!”

The Indianapolis General Motors stamping plant, where workers are being told to accept a 50 percent wage cut, is a run down and hazardous workplace, where sweltering heat, overwork, and the constant threat of injury are all part of the job.

“It’s a hellhole,” said Carla, a worker at the plant. In the summer, temperatures at the plant reach up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers often pass out from heat exhaustion, and certain parts of the plant have no air circulation whatsoever.

Yet despite the abysmal conditions, the United Auto Workers and GM are determined to force workers to accept 50 percent wage cuts. GM is seeking to sell the plant to JD Norman, which would mean cutting base wages to $15.50 per hour, from nearly $30. The sale will only worsen conditions, as JD Norman is determined to overhaul operations to extract maximum profits.

Workers showed their opposition to the GM/UAW proposal at an August 15 meeting, where they shouted down UAW International officials and drove them out of the hall, forcing the UAW to cancel a vote on the concessions they hoped to hold the next day.

In recent days, the United Auto Workers union, former Wall Street speculator Justin Norman and General Motors have pressed ahead with their efforts to force workers at the Indianapolis GM stamping plant to accept a 50 percent cut in wages. These forces are calling for a revote on the grounds that only a “vocal minority” of workers spoke out at last Sunday’s union meeting against the concessions demands.

This position was expressed most clearly by Norman who has insisted on the pay cut as the precondition for buying the plant from GM. At a press conference Wednesday he said, “Based on the outpouring of phone calls that I have received from plant employees, I believe there is a sincere desire to listen to our offer.”

This was echoed by UAW Region 3 Director Maurice Davison who previously told the Indianapolis Star, “Out of the 600 that work there, about 200 were carrying that message (to deny a vote). I wonder about the 400 that didn’t come out to that meeting.”

Workers at the August 15 meeting shouted down UAW International officials and drove them out of the Local 23 union hall, forcing the UAW to cancel a vote on the concessions they hoped to hold the next day.

Workers at the General Motors Indianapolis Stamping Plant continued their standoff with GM and the United Auto Workers union, amid mounting pressure to accept demands to sharply reduce wages or face the loss of their jobs.

On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Star carried a lead editorial denouncing workers for "stubbornness" for standing up for their wages, and saying "in their anger they’re ready to burn down the future not just for themselves but also for hundreds of other employees…” The editorial concluded, "the days are gone when workers at the plant could command $29 an hour in pay plus benefits."

At a union meeting on Sunday, hundreds of workers shouted down demands by the UAW leadership that they accept a fifty percent wage cut to sell the plant to JD Norman Industries. The union officials were forced to leave the building after workers prevented them from speaking.

Under the terms of the current UAW-GM contract, the 650 workers at the stamping plant are guaranteed the same wages and conditions under a new owner. Workers have repeatedly resisted demands from the UAW and GM that they reopen the contract.