International Newsletter GM-Stellantis No. 25 - October 2024

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No struggle must stand alone!

We are experiencing a new quality of attacks on car workers and their families in many countries and in various companies. Volkswagen, for a long time the model company for class collaboration starting from Germany, is announcing the closure of plants in Germany for the first time ever. They have already terminated an agreement that ruled out direct layoffs. The workforce at the Audi plant in Brussels, Belgium, is currently fighting against the closure. The same applies to the Ford plant in Saarlouis / Germany. Several automotive supplier groups, in particular M.A. France, ZF, Continental and Bosch, also want to cut tens of thousands of jobs. The background to this is the competition between international corporations, a veritable battle of mutual destruction in the fight for sales markets, raw materials and positions of power. This development has been exacerbated by the structural crisis in the switch to electric drives, which coincides with the deepening of the global economic and financial crisis. China was able to increase its car exports by leaps and bounds in 2023 at the expense of its competitors from Europe and the USA, doubling its market share. In Europe, Stellantis' sales fell by 3.3% this year, while those of SAIC (China) rose by 16.4%. All this makes the car companies particularly aggressive.

Obviously, a new wave of attacks on the working class has begun. And this is precisely why the bosses of the corporations need the increased right-wing development in politics, the promotion of fascist forces in many countries. These forces are spreading false images of the enemy among the workers. They blame migrants for all the world's problems and thus divide the working class, while not criticizing the capitalists at all.

The top management of Stellantis around Carlos Tavares has already cut 30,000 jobs worldwide by 2023. Now they are also talking about plant closures. The publicly stated figure of seven plants that could be closed is certainly not the full extent. A whole series of plants in the USA, Italy, Germany and France are in question. Is job destruction a law of nature that we have to accept without resistance? Is it a peaceful “transformation” that we can “help shape”? Or do we not rather have to fight together internationally for a reduction in working hours with full wage compensation, for the 6-hour day?

In the structural crisis, there is a hue and cry with punitive tariffs and dumping prices, but this does not solve any problems. Capitalism cannot even manage such a small changeover as the switch from combustion engines to electric motors without a crisis. The whole chaotic and ineffective transportation system of capitalism otherwise remains untouched. They are shifting more and more supplier parts to the highways for a few more euros or dollars in profit. To make transportation effective and environmentally friendly, capitalism must be replaced. We need a system where the worker decides and where the economy and life are in harmony with nature.

Stellantis is particularly affected by the structural crisis and at the same time by the global economic and financial crisis. They are weak in the Chinese market and have neglected the development of electric and hydrogen drives for profit reasons. Stellantis' market share in Europe fell from 17.1 percent to 16.2 percent in the first eight months of this year. Now we workers are to foot the bill again:

* In Italy, they want to cut 2,500 jobs at Fiat, most of them in Turin, where production has already been halted for a month. A total of 8,000 jobs have already been cut at Fiat since the merger with PSA.

* In the USA, at least 2,450 jobs are on the hit list, especially at the truck plant in Warren, Michigan.

* In France, 3,600 jobs were already eliminated last year, this year the supplier M.A. France was closed and many temporary workers were laid off, 600 in Mulhouse alone.

* In Germany, Opel has cut orders from suppliers such as Lear and Reichardt in Eisenach.

* Shifts in various plants in Italy, Poland and Germany are being cut and temporary workers laid off.

* Promised investments in e-mobility are simply being canceled or postponed indefinitely, such as the battery plants in Kaiserslautern (Germany), Termoli (Italy) or Belvidere (USA). Quite rightly, the automobile workers' union UAW in the USA has now announced strikes against Stellantis. Let's prepare the group-wide, international joint struggle at Stellantis!

Back in April, General Motors announced the closure of the Colmotores plant in Bogota, Colombia, as well as the plant in Ecuador. GM applied for the immediate dismissal of the 800 employees in Bogota, while the OBB plant in Ecuador was to close at the end of August. In both cases, it is a question of maximum profit, which can be better achieved in other ways. GM is not the slightest bit interested in the workers, as the 13-year struggle of the injured and dismissed workers at Colmotores, who have joined forces in the ASOTRECOL union, shows. After almost 13 years of efforts, especially pursued by our colleague Frank Hammer and some of his comrades-in-arms, the leadership of the UAW in the USA has decided to stand up for the workers in Bogota to GM President Mary Barra, which is a great success.

Dear colleagues, we are facing important decisions:

1. let's take the path of united struggle for jobs, including the permanent employment of temporary workers! If there is less work, we will work only six hours a day or 30 hours a week with full pay compensation! Let's not allow ourselves to be driven into a new round of redundancy agreements, flexibilization and blackmail! The Bochum workforce has chosen the path of struggle, which is why everyone knows Opel Bochum today. On October 5, the 20th anniversary of the 2004 strike and the struggle that has kept the plant going for 10 years was celebrated in Bochum. Around 1000 former workers, colleagues from other plants, the families and friends of the automobile workers came together and took the lessons of the offensive struggle with them.

2) Some colleagues follow the promises and legends of reactionary or fascist parties: “The migrants are supposedly to blame for everything!” We need to discuss this with our colleagues. You never hear a bad word from the fascists against the capitalists. Because they are capitalist servants who would abolish workers' rights and suppress trade unions if they came to power. Not only in elections, but every day at work, the decision has to be made: do we allow ourselves to be divided into different nationalities, permanent employees and temporary workers, into locations and countries, or do we fight together better and better?

Let's take the initiative everywhere in this situation to make the international automotive workers' coordination even better known and even more effective! Let's convince colleagues to actively participate, for delegations to the 3rd International Automotive Workers' Conference in Pune / India from November 20 to 24, 2025! Inform us about your discussions, struggles and plans! Send reports to the IAC homepage at icog@iawc.info!