Autoworkers Under the Gun : A Shop-Floor View of the End of the American Dream

"Workers' rights are not defined by law or contract. Workers' rights are defined by struggle." Gregg Shotwell’s Live Bait & Ammo newsletter chronicled the outrages and absurdities of corporate managers, exposed union leaders who acted in “partnership” with employers, and sounded the alarm about the devastating effects of auto industry job losses and union concessions. LB&A fliers grew legs of their own, distributed by rank-and-file workers in auto plants across the United States and cited by industry analysts. This collection spans a decade of autoworker resistance—and it’s a call to action for a new generation of workers coming of age in recession-wracked America. The veteran autoworker and author of the pro-labor newsletter Live Bait & Ammo offers a blow-by-blow analysis of workers’ rights under attack. Greg Shotwell was a machine operator at General Motor’s Delphi division during its tragic spinoff from GM and eventual bankruptcy. He watched from a front-row seat as the United Auto Workers Union collaborated with antilabor policies that led to plant closings and cuts to wages and benefits. A dissident member of the UAW, Shotwell made a name for himself chronicling the outrages and absurdities of corporate managers and corrupt union leaders in his popular shop-floor newsletter, Live Bait & Ammo . Autoworkers Under the Gun collects Shotwell’s essential writings during that fateful period. These LB&A fliers quickly grew legs of their own, distributed by rank-and-file workers in auto plants across the United States and cited by industry analysts. Spanning a decade of autoworker resistance, this body of work stands as a call to action for a new generation of workers coming of age in recession-wracked America.

Workers' rights are not defined by law or contract. Workers' rights are defined by struggle.

Gregg Shotwell’s Live Bait & Ammo newsletter chronicled the outrages and absurdities of corporate managers, exposed union leaders who acted in "partnership” with employers, and sounded the alarm about the devastating effects of auto industry job losses and union concessions. LB&A fliers grew legs of their own, distributed by rank-and-file workers in auto plants across the United States and cited by industry analysts. This collection spans a decade of autoworker resistance—and it’s a call to action for a new generation of workers coming of age in recession-wracked America.

In an industry under constant attack, a veteran autoworker offers his take on the collapse of the American Dream.