DETROIT—Hundreds of autoworkers gathered at UAW Local 600, the historic River Rouge union hall, to protest the layoffs of 500 workers at the Cleveland Cliffs plant, once the largest and oldest independent iron ore mining company in the U.S.
The company is now backing out of its 2024 contract with the UAW, where they pledged to reinvest $300 million in the plant and maintain union jobs.
The demonstration here drew a passionate crowd of workers clad in red and blue UAW shirts emblazoned with “Keep the Promise” and picket signs that said “Defend the Rouge” and “Invest in Us.” After a spirited rally at the union hall, workers marched hundreds-strong to the Cleveland Cliffs plant gates to continue their demonstration right in front of management. They sang classic labor songs and chanted “We are the union” as they marched through the streets.
Labor-backed elected officials joined the demonstration, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, State Rep. Abdul El-Sayed—now running for U.S. Senate—Detroit Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Rep. Debbie Dingell, State Rep. Donavan McKinney, Detroit City Council candidate Denzell McCampbell, and UAW-supported mayoral candidate Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Union solidarity came from Teamsters Local 283, representing Marathon workers at the oil refinery plant nearby as well as AirGas workers who are also on strike across the country, including in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale.
Jeff Tricoff, a shop steward at Marathon and member of the Teamsters local, told People’s World that it was important for the Teamsters to show up in solidarity with the auto workers because “UAW Local 600 showed up and walked the picket lines with us when we were on strike against Marathon last fall.”
Century of steel, now silenced
Mark DePaoli, first vice president of UAW Local 600, traced the historic Rouge plant’s history. “What started as Ford Motor Company’s Steel Division in the 1920s, where raw materials entered one end and finished products came out the other, became a city in itself with over 100,000 workers at its peak.”
“In 1989, Ford left steelmaking and sold the mill to Rouge Steel. In my 14 years here, we’ve had three other owners,” he said. Now with the layoffs, parts of the plant sit idle. “It’s a really eerie, still silence we’ve never heard before. The blast furnace, the locomotives, the movement of molten iron—gone.”
“For 100 years, this place never stopped. Now, it has,” he said.
Rep. Debbie Dingell spoke and condemned Cliffs’ reversal of their prior agreement with the union. “In 2024, Cliffs committed contractually to invest $300 million in this facility. More than that, they promised to support good union jobs.”
She linked the layoffs to failed trade policies, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), passed in the 1990s under Bill Clinton, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USCMA) passed during Trump’s first term, and rampant corporate greed.
But she didn’t let the Democratic Party off the hook, either. “Back in 2016, I said Democrats would lose because they were shitty at trade politics. We didn’t fight for American jobs. Now, we see the worst trade policies of my lifetime” under Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariff war.
Dingell called on Trump to “stop his chaotic tariffs” and demanded Cliffs “keep their promise to Detroit.”
Detroit Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who represents Detroit’s 6th District, echoed the demand. “Cliffs needs to keep their promises,” she told People’s World. “The Auto Workers just want them to honor what they agreed to. I’ll use my position [on City Council] to hold these businesses accountable.”
Solomon Kinloch Jr., a former UAW member now running for Detroit mayor, fired up the crowd with a spirited speech outside of the Cleveland Cliffs plant gates.
“Union family… UAW… When will they learn? When they mess with one of us, they mess with all of us—and they’ll have a fight on their hands.”
He slammed corporate greed and the direction our country is headed, where billionaires can buy elections and undermine democracy and basic trade union freedoms.
“We’re tired of leaders who forget why they’re in power. They sit in those seats to feed their greed, not meet our needs,” Kinloch said.
“Elections have consequences”
Laura Dickerson, UAW Vice President, stressed solidarity. “We got the company’s attention—not just because we’re here, but because we have each other’s backs.” She highlighted the injustice of the layoffs. “They’re targeting workers with 20 years of seniority. That’s ridiculous.”
Dickerson invoked the Rouge’s bloody history. “People died here—blood, sweat, and tears built what we’re fighting for.” She referenced the 1932 Ford Hunger March, where Ford’s private police killed five protesters demanding union rights and relief.
She also tied the layoffs to the so-called trade policies of the Trump administration. “Elections have consequences,” she reminded everyone. The UAW backed Kamala Harris and campaigned hard against Donald Trump, a known scab and anti-union, anti-worker zealot. “Now, these tariffs we once thought would help are costing jobs. It’s not at all positive.”
UAW President Shawn Fain closed the rally and delivered a fiery message in earshot of the Cliffs management. “We’re here to tell Cleveland Cliffs: Keep the promise!”
He went on: “In 2024, they agreed to invest $300 million here. Now, they betray that pledge and lay off 500 of our union family.”
Fain reaffirmed the Rouge’s legacy and its place in Detroit working class communities. “This mill built steel for iconic vehicles. Workers here fought for decades to set the standard for our working class.”
He warned against corporate union-busting tactics as well as prior UAW leadership’s compromises and collaboration with the bosses.
“They would say, ‘Live to fight another day.’ But we know that road leads to dead ends,” he said. “Investments vanish, layoffs hit, plants idle, then close. This is their playbook: broken trade deals, broken promises, broken dreams—all on the backs of workers.”
As the rally ended, workers vowed to escalate pressure and continued to chant “UAW” and “Keep The Promise” outside of the sprawling and massive Cleveland Cliffs plant.
Fain’s call to action was met with resounding applause from the membership. “Contracts don’t enforce themselves. We must stand together, fight, and hold Cliffs accountable,” he said.
The UAW’s battle to save the Rouge steel plant is more than a fight to maintain 500 union jobs—it’s a stand against overt corporate betrayal and a just demand for working class dignity. The outcome of this fight will surely have implications for the on-going struggles around the country against the billionaire-backed assaults on workers’ rights and jobs.
Rasheed Ockleberry contributed to this story
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