UAW silent after Fiat Chrysler worker injured at Kokomo casting plant
By
Shannon Jones
8 September 2018
Autoworkers at Fiat Chrysler’s operations in Kokomo, Indiana face a wall of silence on the part of the United Auto Workers and management following the injury of a worker at the Kokomo Casting Plant Wednesday.
According to the Kokomo Fire Department, a rescue team went to the plant after receiving reports that a worker was trapped. When they arrived they saw “There was a piece of the machine that had come down and caught the lower part of his body.” Workers used machinery to lift the equipment off the man, who was still conscious, until he could be extricated.
The worker, whose name has not been released, was taken to a local hospital. No details were provided on his condition or prognosis for recovery. The UAW did not release a statement on the incident. A call by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter to UAW Local 1166 at the casting plant was not returned.
In July, workers at four FCA Kokomo transmission plants, members of UAW Local 685, voted overwhelmingly for strike authorization over hundreds of unresolved grievances. Workers are angry over the deterioration of safety conditions and the treatment of temporary part time workers (TPTs), who are being forced to work overtime.
A Kokomo transmission worker who wished to remain anonymous told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter that the injured worker was airlifted to a hospital in Indianapolis due to the serious nature of his injuries. Indications are that the worker was in skilled trades and had been called in to maintain machinery when the incident happened.
“Everyone should be outraged,” the worker said. “This is supposed to be a World Class Manufacturing facility, state of the art. The…