Original article, Indianapolis auto workers determined to resist wage cuts, by Andre Damon and Jerry White via World Socialist Web Site:
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.
This is the future for all workers in the US. Not that this should come as any surprise. It's been the main feature of the US economy since the 1970s. Companies have made billions off of the backs of workers having their wages cut and/or being made redundant.
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."
The Star is owned by Gannett, the same conglomerate which owns USA Today and many other newspapers. It's also been a right-wing rag for most (if not all) of it's publishing history (Dan Quayle is part of the family which used to own the paper). If it's anti-worker and pro-boss then you'll read it in the Star.
Justin D. Norman, a 34-year-old former Morgan Stanley broker who is seeking to purchase the plant, has launched campaign to discredit the "no" vote by workers, claiming only a minority of workers showed up at the union meeting. At a press conference Wednesday, Norman said, "I firmly believe you can't let a very loud minority take this facility down. We have to give them a chance to vote up or down." UAW Region 3 Director Maurice Davison echoed this lie, telling the Star that more than two-thirds of the membership had not been heard from.
I'll let you read the rest of the article. Keep in mind that Local 23 voted against re-opening it's contract by 384-22, and that the UAW International then went ahead and renegotiated the contract. Also remember that the UAW owns 17% of GM, meaning that there's a major conflict of interest in it's negotiating with GM. Local 23 understands how the game is played and that the deck is stacked against them. After all, their workforce has decreased from 5,600 to 650 from it's heyday, much the same as most of the auto industry. Local 23 deserves our support and solidarity. The article sums up with this quote from a worker named Tim:
"We’re fighting for us and for everyone," said Tim. "What happens here is going to happen to the next plant and the next plant. After Sunday’s meeting I got a message on my Facebook page from a worker who said, ‘keep up the fight.’ We know if they take from us now, they are just going to come back for more tomorrow."