Work Reform

Last Thursday, May 16, a veteran worker at the sprawling Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan, collapsed and died on the shop floor after his shift at the body shop somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. The deceased worker was identified as Darius Williams. Co-workers on the afternoon shift told the World Socialist Web Site that Williams was one of the highest seniority workers in the plant with 33 years at Ford.

His team leader reported that Williams had said good night before walking toward the exit with no sign of pain or discomfort. Workers nearby saw Darius crumpling to the floor unresponsive just before reaching the exit door.

An emergency response team attempted to revive Williams with a defibrillator but their efforts failed. As of this writing, there has been no report of a medical diagnosis to explain the sudden death of Darius Williams.

Over the last few years there have been scores of deaths at the Rouge complex. The company is systematically intensifying the rate of exploitation, laying off entire shifts and doubling and tripling the number of jobs an individual operator must perform. Many report that older workers are especially targeted for the grueling treatment in a deliberate effort to force them into early retirement, disability or death.

Workers at a recent factory meeting called by management reported that a co-worker defied intimidation to denounce this deliberate policy. He said:

They just double up jobs for the people who have high seniority—make them do two jobs and wait for them to drop dead. The speed-up is pervasive and many workers do not speak out, because the union has done nothing to defend their co-workers who have.