Socialist Presidential Candidates Support Striking UAW Autoworkers
Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia, presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, express their full support to the courageous strike by UAW autoworkers standing up to the corporate greed of the “Big 3”
Socialist presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz and her running mate Karina Garcia expressed their full solidarity with the strike announced last night by the United Autoworkers at three key facilities. De la Cruz stated that, “By going on strike, the autoworkers are sending a clear signal that the working class all across the country is sick and tired of being kicked around by the millionaires and billionaires — and refuses to take it any longer.” She continued, “It is outrageous that the ‘Big 3’ are trying to portray the autoworkers as greedy and unreasonable. This turns reality upside down. The auto companies are the ones that are raking in record profits, totaling $21 billion in the first half of this year alone. And corporate executives certainly haven’t been stingy about their own pay.”
Karina Garcia addressed the issue of the transition to electric vehicles, stressing the importance of the union’s demands on this issue, “The world needs to move to EVs and take many other steps to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe, but the Big 3 want to use this as an excuse to fire huge numbers of workers. But instead of destroying jobs, people could simply work shorter hours with no loss of pay, and this new technology could improve working families’ lives rather than destroy them. The UAW is showing the way for millions of workers threatened by automation by demanding a four-day work week.”
De la Cruz and Garcia are running on the ticket of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Over the last two weeks, the PSL dispatched a media team to Kokomo, Indiana to highlight the injustices faced by autoworkers and their determination to fight back. These include reports about the extreme, grueling work schedules they are subjected to; how plant closings have uprooted countless lives; and how executive pay has skyrocketed while workers are left behind. These videos are available for use by other media outlets with attribution to the Party for Socialism and Liberation.