Defend Every Last Job at Delphi!

No to layoffs! For the nationalization of Delphi under workers’ control!  Public money should be used to defend and create jobs – not bail out and line the pockets of the multi-nationals! For a general strike in the city of Cadiz to stop these attacks!

Delphi Automotive Systems has announced that they would close the plant at Puerto Real in Cadiz, which manufactures suspensions and bearings. This has come as a hammer blow to the 1,600 workers directly employed there, and the 2,500 others that work at auxiliary plants. Literally overnight, more than 4,000 families have had their present and future threatened in the most callous manner – all in the pursuit of maximum profits. This is yet another example of how the bosses, in this period of “economic growth” seek only to improve their bottom line at the expense of the working class.

The challenge faced by the workers is so great, that only the most massive, broad, and united mobilization of the entire working class of Cadiz, the region of Andalusia, and the whole of Spain will allow us to stop the plans of this corporation and guarantee that not a single job is lost.

Delphi’s decision is not an exception to the normal conduct of the multinationals.  The automotive sector, which saw record profits in the 1990s, is now faced with a crisis of profitability. This happened previously with telecommunications, and now it’s happening with the auto industry: a moment arrives in which the market is no longer able to absorb all the products being offered and the rate of profit begins to fall. When this happens, the bosses make the workers clean up the mess – they restructure industry, extend the working day, reduce wages and benefits, layoff thousands, relocate workers, etc. All this to maintain the profits of the multi-millionaire owners and investors.

Faced with this situation, the workers have responded marvellously, establishing pickets at the plant gates to prevent the removal of the machinery and the tearing down of the factory. These are experienced trade unionists and they are determined to struggle until the end to save their jobs and the livelihoods of their families, and community.  This struggle is becoming a point of reference for the whole of Andalusia and Spain – we must get the information out there widely and make it a point of reference for the auto workers and the labor movement around the world.

You can send messages of solidarity to these Delphi workers by writing [email protected].  Please include your name, union and local, city and state.

You can also use this petition to gather signatures.  Please email signatures you collect to [email protected].

Stay tuned to www.socialistappeal.org for the more information as we get it.

See also:

• DaimlerChrysler “Family” puts 13,000 of its “Children” up for Adoption
• No Handouts to Bosses – Nationalize Chrysler! (Historical Reprint)
• How to Win Strikes (By Harry DeBoer) 2006 Introduction
• The Soldiers of Solidarity & Lessons from Venezuela
• While the Big 3 Savage Delphi, Auto Workers Demand: “No Concessions!”

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