The strike by tens of thousands of dockworkers on the East Coast that began Monday is a crucial turning point for the entire working class. All workers must stand shoulder to shoulder with dockworkers and launch a joint struggle that unites all sections of the working class.

The issues at stake in this strike are felt by workers everywhere. They are fighting for wage increases to keep pace with soaring inflation, better working conditions, and improved safety. Automation is a critical issue. As with the transition to EVs, advances in technologies—which should be used to benefit workers—are being used to eliminate jobs, slash wages, and intensify exploitation.

The union bureaucracies are on the back foot. The UAW, IAM, Teamsters and other union apparatuses are struggling to contain growing anger and a desire to fight among workers. 

At the Stellantis Warren Truck plant in Michigan, more than 2,000 workers are facing imminent layoffs, but UAW President Shawn Fain and the UAW have done nothing to stop them. Fain is actively blocking a real struggle, cynically talking about a potential strike at Stellantis to keep workers passive and prevent a real fightback. 

But the UAW’s phony “stand-up strikes” at the Big Three last year—which did virtually nothing to impact corporate profits—are what paved the way for the sellout contracts that the companies are now using to impose mass layoffs. Any “strikes” called by Fain and the UAW leadership against Stellantis would be just as toothless and just as much followed by a betrayal.

The reality is that the UAW apparatus is maneuvering to wear workers down and prevent us from taking independent action. But Fain and the UAW leadership have no legitimate authority to dictate what workers can and cannot do. They came into office following a fraudulent union election which most workers weren’t informed about. And now Fain and other top union officers are themselves under investigation by the UAW monitor for corruption.

The rank and file must seize the initiative! Autoworkers should move quickly to form rank-and-file committees at each plant, in order to discuss a strategy to unite with other striking workers and plan for collective action to defend jobs.

The dockworkers have shown that when workers stand up and fight, we have the power to disrupt the very foundations of the capitalist economy. 

The global supply chain relies on the labor of dockworkers around the world. Dockworkers in Canada at the Port of Montreal also began a 72-hour strike on Monday. 

Similarly, the auto industry relies on the interconnected labor of autoworkers internationally. Autoworkers are seeking to fight back against massive job cuts in the US, Italy, Germany, and many other countries. If we unite and strike together, we can bring the corporations to their knees.

This is a call to all workers to join this fight. A rebellion in the working class is already under way. Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest have already launched a revolt against the union bureaucracy, voting down an IAM-endorsed contract by 94 percent. 

Five thousand Textron Aviation workers are striking in Kansas after also voting down an IAM-sellout deal. And hundreds of Eaton Aerospace workers, members of the UAW, are striking in Michigan after rejecting two concessions contracts.

Autoworkers and other workers must now join forces with them. This is not just a struggle to defend what we have—we must turn the tables and go on the offensive.

This fight must be based on the unity of all workers, across industries and across borders. The layoffs at Warren Truck, the sellout contracts at Boeing, and the strike on the docks are all part of the same international struggle. The ruling class, shareholders and their lackeys in the union leadership want to divide us, isolate us, and prevent us from fighting together. But we cannot let that happen. 

Workers need to form rank-and-file committees in every plant and workplace, independent of the UAW apparatus and other union bureaucracies, to take control of the struggle and unite our forces. This is the only way to fight effectively.

The ruling class is terrified of the growing power of workers. They are pouring billions into wars abroad while attacking our jobs, wages and conditions at home. When Fain talks about the “Arsenal of Democracy,” he really means transforming our plants for war production and stripping us of the few rights we have left. 

It’s clear that we cannot rely on the union bureaucracy or any part of the political establishment, Democrats or Republicans, to defend our interests. We need to take matters into our own hands and build a powerful, independent working class movement to fight for our rights.

This is not just about one strike, one contract, or one industry. It is about mobilizing the full power of the working class to fight for a better future for all workers.

We must fight for rank-and-file power, for control over our workplaces and our struggles, and for a real counteroffensive against the corporations and the government.