As President Barack Obama visits Europe following the G-20 summit in London, Obama is no longer addressing auto workers in terms of “Change” but rather with the cold vocabulary of Wall Street: Viability, Profitability and Liability. The administration’s recent restructuring plan is backed up with factory closings, mass layoffs, wage and benefit cuts and possibly the closing of entire companies.
The workers of Vivex, an auto parts maker in Anzoategui, Venezuela, have been occupying their factory since November 21, 2008, and demanding its nationalisation under workers’ control. Here is an interview with Yeant Sabino, general secretary of the union SinTraVivex, explaining the latest news of the occupation and the recent threats they have received.