Indianapolis GM workers pressured to vote on wage cut

[IndianaGreen]

Indianapolis GM workers pressured to vote on wage cut

By Andre Damon
3 September 2010

In an effort to circumvent the overwhelming vote by Indianapolis GM stamping plant workers against his demand for a 50 percent wage cut, JD Norman, the prospective buyer of the plant, is stepping up pressure on workers to sign a petition calling for a revote.

Norman called a meeting of auto workers Sunday to discuss the details of his proposal, which would cut the pay of production workers from $29 an hour to $15.50. About 50 workers, together with their families, came to the meeting, out of 660 workers currently employed at the plant.

Norman’s presentation followed a union meeting last month where workers drove UAW international representatives from their local union meeting, after the UAW violated an earlier vote, passed 384-22, barring any negotiations with the corporate raider. The UAW has presented Norman as the savior of workers who would keep open the plant, which GM has scheduled to close next year as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

Workers have been under pressure from Norman, GM, and UAW officials to sign a petition to vote on the contract. UAW officials made clear that any future vote would be by secret ballot, repeating the lie that a “silent majority” of auto workers supports the wage-cutting plan but is intimidated by a “vocal minority.”

Workers said that several people were walking around the plant with the petition forms, including a former committeeman and the local’s sourcing representative, Glenn Sheeks, the “resident scab,” as one worker referred to him.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/inds-s03.shtml