The bosses at General Motors are driven by the inherent laws of the capitalist system - stiffer competition by Ford and Chrysler in the United States, and other rivals worldwide, in a world capitalist economy mired in depression conditions - to go for blood in this fight. Though they have slashed their workforce by nearly 300,000 over the last 20 years, the owners of the world's largest automaker are still far behind their main rivals in squeezing more profits out of each hour of workers' labor. That's why they are raising the stakes in the conflict, with the "cold shutdown" of plants and attempts to deny unemployment compensation to laid off workers, even though the battle has already cost nearly $1.2 billion. GM can't afford to back down, as it has in many of the previous strikes by UAW members in recent years.

In this endeavor, GM has the backing of the entire employing class. After two decades of an unremitting offensive by the bosses, working people are today fighting back in growing numbers. Workers are more confident in their need to stand up to defend their lives and livelihoods against the effects of the "productivity gains" the bosses have wrested from the working class so far, and against their demands for further sacrifice. The ability of the bosses to hold off defensive actions by the working class seems to have been exhausted. The transit workers strike in Philadelphia against SEPTA, the 40,000-strong construction workers' demonstration in New York that took the city's rulers by surprise, and the simmering contract battle at Anheuser-Busch breweries are a few of the recent manifestations. GM and other employers need to deal a major defeat to the working class to try to reverse this objective situation.

The auto giant says it needs workers to toil longer, harder, and for less pay in order to stay in business. Working people need to reject this framework, and instead start with what our class needs to keep life and limb together. Against the bosses' demands that pit one worker against another - employed against unemployed, workers in the United States against those in Mexico, and so on - the working-class needs a program that can unite working people internationally. This includes fighting for a shorter workweek - 30 hours work for 40 hours pay - to force the employers to hire more workers; defending and extending affirmative action for women, Blacks, and others who the bosses seek to justify paying less; and calling for the cancellation of the third world debt to the imperialist banks, which is strangling working people in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. These kind of demands aim to make the capitalist bosses pay the price for the economic crisis of their system, instead of taking it out of the hides of working people.

One of the advantages for the striking autoworkers, and other embattled working people, is that the walkout at GM overlaps with other several strike struggles - giving rank and file workers the chance to learn from their experiences and reinforce each other's struggle.

The Militant urges our readers to look for every opportunity to discuss the stakes in the GM strike with fellow workers and farmers, building solidarity with this fight. The Militant and the books published by Pathfinder Press are indispensable tools for workers in struggle. It's an important time to increase sales of the socialist press at plant gates and picket lines, in auto and other industries, and over the next week work to bring more of these fighters to the Active Workers Conference in Pittsburgh July 11-12.  
 
 
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