Fired & fed up at Illinois Chrysler plant
‘Enhanced’ temporary workers launch ‘enhanced’ fight
Published Dec 8, 2006 11:06 PM
Imagine being one of 10,000 people applying for 1,000 jobs.
Imagine passing a five-hour written test, an eight-hour manual
dexterity and physical ability test, a background check, a
medical exam and a grueling interview. Imagine abruptly quitting
your current job because the DaimlerChrysler Corporation has
informed you that you must report for work immediately—you
are one of “the chosen few.”
This was the scenario earlier this year for hundreds of workers
in Belvidere, Ill., buoyant at the good fortune of getting a job
in auto. Their exhilaration was tempered, to say the least, the
day of their orientation. There they were informed that they were
being hired as “Enhanced Temporary Employees”
(ETEs).
An ETE is paid two-thirds the wage of a permanent hourly
production worker. An ETE gets no raises, has no dental or vision
coverage, no pension credits and no sick pay. There is no health
insurance for eight months, and then it is not the same as that
of a permanent, UAW-represented employee.
When ETEs are laid off, they cannot receive supplemental
unemployment benefits or be placed in the jobs bank; they have no
recall rights; if they work fewer than 40 hours they do not
receive short work pay. They have no seniority rights and almost
no access to the grievance procedure—and they can be fired
for the slightest infraction.
Sexual harassment is rampant; women who complain have been fired.
Injuries are commonplace, but injured workers have not been able
to collect workers’ compensation, nor can they collect
unemployment because they are unable to work. Workers have
literally collapsed while working the lines.
The most logical conclusion would be, “They ought to form a
union.” Sadly, they are already in a union. They were
trapped in a web of deception spun by the DaimlerChrysler
Corporation (DCX) with the cooperation of the governor of
Illinois and the leadership of the United Auto Workers.
Much media fanfare accompanied the 2005 announcement by DCX that
they would be adding 1,000 jobs at the Belvidere assembly plant,
with the launch of the Dodge Caliber.
The launch had a hefty price tag—$416 million to retool
Belvidere Assembly for the new model. The cost to DCX was reduced
by nearly 25 percent with close to $100 million in state
“opportunity returns grants.” For 11 months the
well-kept secret, never disclosed to future workers nor
publicized in the media, was that the burden of further cost
reductions would be borne by “the chosen few.”
“Nothing in the contract applies to us,” Kathy
Hungness—one of the 800 or so who were actually hired as
ETEs—told Workers World. Hired in June and kept in the dark
about her temporary status until the last minute, she was
terminated in October.
She’s not alone. Some 250 workers have been terminated so
far, recently 50 in just one week. They can apply for
unemployment, but so far none have seen a check, and they cannot
apply for emergency public assistance until their status with
unemployment is clarified. They cannot go back to the jobs they
gave up, and jobs are hard to find. “We have families to
feed,” stated Hungness. “They’re throwing us
away.”
Hungness is not just fired, however. She’s fired up and has
organized rank-and-file ETEs into the group Enhanced Fight.
Now 150 have joined Hungness in a class-action lawsuit
against DCX and the UAW, and more are joining every day. The
first organizing meeting of Enhanced Fight was a huge success,
with many volunteering for fundraising, membership, phone tree
and community-action committees. They hope to have a public
protest sometime in the future.
Hungness had a message for this writer, who is a 19-year DCX
employee in Twinsburg, Ohio: “If we don’t stand up
for our rights that were broken here, this will come to you.
Enough of concessions, enough, enough!”
Messages of support for Enhanced Fight can be sent to Sister
Hungness at [email protected].
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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