A Call To The Working-Class Struggle

By Todd M. Jordan

Fellow workers, the advancements of the working-class have never been gained without protest and struggle.

As you may have seen in the Detroit Free Press on Monday December 12, 2005 we plan to march on the Detroit Auto Show in 2006. This letter is an open call to all working-class people to join us as we take our protest to Detroit against the assault on working men and women by the auto industry. Thousands of us have met in St. Louis, Kokomo, Saginaw, Lockport, Dayton, Grand Rapids and we are still meeting. Hundreds of us met in Flint on Sunday December 11, 2005 and we have made a choice. We are ready to unite across boarders with or without the sanction of our union leaders. We the rank-n-file of the United Auto Workers are ready to take back our unions and to take back our country from the hands of corporate America. The sons and daughters of the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike 70 years ago call on you now in the name of the working-class to stand with us.

We have seen the future and the future is defeat. We must unite now against corporate America. Together we must join hands for a better world. On January 8, 2006 we will take our protest to the heart of the American economy, the automotive industry.

This call is to anyone ever betrayed by the corporations, by the political parties and by the labor unions.

This is a call in the name of the unbridled working-class of the world.

This is a call to the thousands of people who view our website, Future of the Union, everyday.

This is a call to salary workers and to hourly workers around the world who are ready for change.

This is a call to every rank-n-file UAW member, to anyone who holds true to the Wobblie spirit, to every environmentalist, to the truth-filled anti-racism groups, to the millions of peaceful antiwar activists, to the mighty feminists of the world, to the love-driven gay and lesbian organizations.

This is a call from the purest heart of people who believe in real democracy. We offer our solidarity to you in the fight against corporate America.

Stand with us now in the name of our children. March with us on the sidewalks of Detroit. Get in your vehicles, pack in your buses and stand with us! Join us as we take to the sidewalks around the Detroit Auto Show on January 8, 2006.

There are many issues that we should and must unite together on but our leaders have failed to do. We must unite for the environment, for jobs, for peace, against racism, against oppression, against the decay of our civil liberties, and most of all for serious social change in this country. We your brothers and sisters in the struggle need your support as hundreds of us go forth next year to protest the orgy of capital at the Detroit Auto Show.

Hundreds of United Auto Workers and American Federation of State, County and Municipal rank-n-file are already scheduled to take to the sidewalks around the Detroit Auto Show on this day. We are encouraging everyone to bring their own signs, props, music, flags, candle vigils, and most of all peaceful spirit. All we ask is that you show up on January 8th and surround the sidewalks all around the Auto Show building.

The United Auto Workers is the last post-war stronghold of living wages in the world. This very fact is under attack by the Delphi bankruptcy and concessions at the Big Three. We have been betrayed by labor union bureaucrats and career trade unionists who have blocked any real change in this country. In the darkest hour we the rank-n-file and all working-class must light the candle in the heart of Detroit.

Every single auto industry executive who makes the decisions of millions of working-class around the world will be in Detroit. The world press will be there covering the event. The world will be watching the auto show as the symbol of American capitalism. We call on the international working-class to stand with us for a better world. Stand with us against the assault on the United Auto Workers by Delphi, General Motors, Ford, and the entire auto industry.

If you or your group is interested in attending the sidewalk solidarity protest of the Detroit Auto Show please contact Todd M. Jordan by e-mail at toddmjordan77@hotmail.com. You can also watch for updates, flyers, directions, and more as it is added to www.futureoftheunion.com

See you in Detroit! Workers of the world unite!

—Future of the Union, December 13, 2005