By Local 2195 Webmaster John Davis

Upon reading his obituary in a newspaper, American author and humorist Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain stated, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” A zealous reporter jumped the gun and took a rumor and spread the mistake in an attempt to sell newspapers.

The UAW knows exactly how Mr. Twain felt, because rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. Over the past several weeks the pundits in the press have been predicting the end of the UAW through the concentrated battles being waged by multinational corporations on working Americans. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The UAW is not dead or dying, as much as those Wall Street Robber Barons would like to see it. See these talking heads at certain media outlets do not understand what organized labor is all about.

Yes, unions provide collective bargaining for their members to insure they receive the just rewards of their labor. Over the past few years our contracts have come under attack by a court system that is designed by and for big business. For the past six years many federal judges have been appointed whose sole objective was to take care of the corporations at the expense of the workers. This slanted system has allowed companies to use bankruptcy as a tool to dismantle contracts and provide billions in bonuses to the corporate leaderships while balancing the books on the backs of their workers. Great UAW President Walter Reuther used to remind the membership repeatedly that it doesn’t matter what you win at the bargaining table if the powers that be can legislate it away in the halls of Congress. This is currently being proven with the situation at the many corporations in bankruptcy using the courts to exit their bargaining agreements.

However, it should be noted that corporations who have no bargaining unit simply make changes as they wish with no one going to bat for the employees. While the media loves to cover bankruptcy proceedings at union represented companies, no one ever tells the story of the workers who have no representation having their wages and benefits stripped away.

Delphi CEO Steve Miller has become the poster child for corporate theft. He has left a long list of companies in ruin as he took the money and ran. Bethlehem Steel, Morris Knudsen and Waste Management are all examples of his slash and burn management style that has worked to destroy the lives of thousands of workers.

Following the raid on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese Admiral Nagumo who led the mission was being congratulated on his success. Reportedly his response was “all we have done is to wake the sleeping giant.” At Delphi and other UAW workplaces across the country, Steve Miller has woke the “sleeping giant” of our membership. Through good times it is easy to get complacent but the membership of the UAW is mobilized today. Adversity brings strength and our membership has come together in way that many thought would never be possible. They are energized and ready to fight. Solidarity has been renewed through the assault on this union, organized labor and working Americans in general. It has become apparent that at the end of the day, unions are the only advocates a working class American has left. Organized labor has been there leading the charge for workplace safety, child labor laws, OSHA, vested pensions, holidays and defined benefit plans. Any person who has ever enjoyed these benefits did so because of labor whether they ever belonged to a union or not.

Unions have also led the way in social reform as well. Dr. King organized the March on Washington in 1963 from an office at Solidarity House (the UAW’s International Headquarters) given to him by President Walter Reuther. President Reuther marched with Dr. King at Selma, Birmingham, Detroit and Washington. UAW President Owen Bieber stood firm in his support of Nelson Mandela and championed the anti-apartheid push in this country.

The heart of this great union is its membership and that heart is beating strong. Just ask Freightliner and Thomas Built Bus workers in North and South Carolina who have won union representation fighting the anti-worker National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund. Ask workers at Mathews Ford and Royal Oak Ford Dealerships in Detroit. These workers have been successful in winning organizing victories in the face of hostile actions by outside groups whose only goal is to prevent the strength or numbers that organized labor has.

Adversity does bring solidarity and the UAW is seeing a revitalization of our membership. We are mobilized behind the leadership and are ready to defend our rights as workers, as citizens and as human beings. The membership of the UAW will not bend to the corporate raiders and we will not bend to the politicians whose pockets have been lined by the corporate lobbyist.

So the corporate thugs can cancel the flower arrangements they have ordered for our funeral and the conservative media can shelf those obituaries for now. Rumors of our death are greatly exaggerated and the resolve in our membership is proof of this. The UAW membership has the heart of a lion and the time has come to roar. As long as worker’s rights are at stake we will be there; as long as the multinationals try to steal from America’s workers we will be there; as long as there are working class men and women going to work each day we will be there. At the end of the day, unions remain the only consistent advocate a working class person has.