This morning, I was confronted by my union rep and was told that campaigning at the UAW constitutional convention could cause my company to fire me. I reported this to the federal monitor in this letter below.
If I am being threatened with termination for fighting for the rank and file at a union convention, I can't imagine what other workers are facing in terms of intimidation. I have watched the UAW bureaucracy treat multiple delegates here in an anti-democratic manner, and I was told by multiple long-time UAW members that this is the least democratic convention they have ever seen. Workers must take action against these betrayals.
***
Dear Monitor:
At around 9 AM this morning, in the hallway outside the floor of the convention, Mr. Lehman was threatened with being terminated from his job for campaigning for delegates to nominate him. Local 677 President Mike Shupp approached Mr. Lehman and told him that UAW International Representative for Heavy Trucks Doug Irvine communicated to Mr. Shupp that Mr. Lehman could be fired from his position at Mack Trucks. Mr. Shupp communicated this threat to Mr. Lehman by saying that if Holly Georgell, Director of Employee and Labor Relations at Mack Trucks, found out Mr. Lehman is campaigning for his nomination at the convention, he could be fired.
Election Rule 4-4's "Freedom to Advocate" provision states, "Any threats, intimidation, retaliation, penalty, discipline, or improper interference of any kind, or any similar conduct is strictly prohibited, and reports of such violations shall be investigated by the monitor." Election Rule 4-5,'s "Retaliation and Discrimination" provision states that the proscription of "threat of retaliation" against a Union member "specifically includes each member's freedom...to run for or seek to run for International office as a Candidate."
As a result of these threats, Mr. Lehman has temporarily stopped campaigning outside the convention hall out of fear of losing his job. Mr. Lehman has lost several hours of campaigning time as a result of the intimidation. The harm is irreparable if not remedied immediately--today.
We demand that the Monitor initiate its obligation under the rules to conduct an investigation into the intimidation of Mr. Lehman, including by investigating whether other delegates are being threatened if they nominate Mr. Lehman. The proper remedy for the ongoing violation is for Mr. Lehman to be given 5 minutes to address the full convention before the nomination of candidates.
On Friday, December 12, 2025, the World Socialist Web Site will launch Socialism AI, a chatbot that will use the power of amplified human cognition to advance the development of socialist consciousness in the international working class.
WSWS correspondent Michael Coggins explains how the tragic deaths of 2 #miners in an explosion in Cobar, regional NSW, is a result of capitalism which places profits over #workers' lives. To share your experiences in the mining industry, send us a message or leave a comment
Scale of Australian military exports to Israel exposed
The Declassified Australia report is an unanswerable exposure of the Labor government’s active involvement in Israel’s mass murder of Palestinians.
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I support NSW #doctors who went on strike, and all workers fighting for better wages + conditions. This fight requires workers to break from the trade union bureaucracies. Explaining this is a central part of the @SEP_Australia election campaign
#ausvotes#publichealth
Workers should reject this and rebel against the UWU bureaucracy. There must be the widest campaign for a "no" vote in the formal ballot and workers' rank-and-file committees to fight for real pay increases and workers control on the shop floor.
2/2
https://t.co/R4JtgnYLnL
The deal struck by the United Workers Union to end the Woolworths strike is a filthy sell-out. Its reported pay increases of 11 percent over 3 years are miserable, and the hated Framework for brutal conditions remains. 1/2
https://t.co/TozimOwwjE
@purplepingers Interesting updates. But why has the UWU leadership been promoting ACTU scabs Sally McManus and O'Neil, along with various ALP politicians, all of whom would have been involved in this police-state attack?
I have sent this letter to an outstanding historian of the Civil War era
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The disastrous consequences of Trump’s victory can be averted only by “a new birth” of genuinely socialist politics, based on the working class and animated by an international strategy that unites global humanity.
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https://t.co/9u6AIUETYg
Cheryl Crisp, @SEP_Australia National Secretary, said Labor's attack on #CFMEU construction workers is part of a turn to authoritarianism, amid war and capitalist crisis. She called for workers to fight for socialism to secure their social rights.
https://t.co/9u6AIUFrNO
Share this video by @SEP_Australia national secretary Cheryl Crisp.
Join the SEP to ensure there is a genuine socialist party on the ballot at the next election to fight war, the #GazaGenocide, austerity and dictatorship!
https://t.co/TjRXuRhX08
This Open Letter demanding that the Zelensky regime halt its frame-up of socialist leader Bogdan Syrotiuk and release him from prison is addressed to the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Support the fight for Bogdan's freedom. https://t.co/sL36Eq1u19
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“The Australian government’s silence against genocide is absolutely awful.”—Josh, a Melbourne nurse, was among hundreds of health workers who rallied on Monday against #Israel’s onslaught on #Gaza.
#QandA beginning with a question opposing a ceasefire in #Gaza. Now controversial to call for an end to the mass killing of civilians and children.
Absolutely shameful from @abcnews, which is competing for the mantle of Australia's most pro-genocide broadcaster.
#auspol
The result vindicates the SEP's fight for an active boycott. The decisive issue is building a movement of the working class against war, austerity and capitalism.
(7/7)