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Brothers and sisters, | ||||||||
I salute the courageous factory occupations spreading across northern Mexico, where workers are taking collective action to stop mass layoffs and defend their livelihoods against US-based corporations. | ||||||||
The occupations were triggered by the shutdown of six First Brands maquiladora plants and the firing of more than 4,000 workers. Workers received notice announcing an ”orderly, accelerated shutdown“ of major North American operations, including the wind-down of BPI, Cardone and AutoLite. The occupations were initiated independently of the official union apparatus. Workers are occupying the plants to block the removal of machinery and prevent the permanent destruction of their livelihoods—just as the Flint sit-down strikers did 90 years ago. | ||||||||
These occupations demolish the lie constantly promoted by the UAW bureaucracy: that Mexican workers are passive, that they will accept anything to undercut American workers and ”steal our jobs.“ | ||||||||
The Mexican and American working class are exploited by the same giant corporations. GM, Stellantis and Ford shift production wherever labor is cheapest. Major suppliers—including Lear, Dana, American Axle and Magna—span Mexico and the United States, using wage differences to drive down standards everywhere. When workers in one country are forced to accept cuts, those concessions are used to threaten everyone else. | ||||||||
Meanwhile, UAW President Shawn Fain is backing Trump’s tariffs and trade war measures, repeating the lie that destroying jobs in Mexico will benefit US workers. This is a fraud. In 2025 alone, more than 1.2 million jobs were eliminated in the United States. Most recently, GM eliminated 1,100 jobs at Factory Zero in Detroit without meaningful opposition from the union apparatus. | ||||||||
Workers in the United States, Mexico and Canada must build direct unity from below. That means forming rank-and-file committees in every plant, linking them across borders, and preparing coordinated action so no workforce stands alone. | ||||||||
William Lehman for UAW President | ||||||||
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Sunday, February 22, 2026
Support the Mexican auto parts workers’ fight against mass layoffs!
