Chrysler has just announced it will close all it’s US factories for a month after the last shift on Friday. Chrysler is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus. Cerberus owns Mervyn’s and much of Albertsons stores as well as National and Alamo car Rental.

The shut down will affect about 46,000 workers.

These decisions to shut down production are made not by the workers, those of us who make the product, but by the likes of Dan Quayle a Cerberus Executive.

We cannot continue in the old way. Chrysler workers should not take this sitting down and should instead continue what started in Chicago with workers at Republic Window and Doors. Chrysler workers should converge on their plants and occupy them not just to demand severance pay or unemployment, but to keep them working. This is what is demanded of us and what will win in the long run. We can’t wait for the Union leadership who are in agreement with Chrysler management.

Time to return to what won us what we have in the first place:

No reliance on the courts or big business politicians

Occupy the plants and keep them working

Call on workers throughout auto to occupy their workplaces

Appeal to workers in all industries and our communities to join auto workers in the struggle to break the grip of capital over our jobs and our lives.

Appeal to workers in auto internationally to take similar action, workers throughout the world are under attack