Autoworkers Demand Independent Investigation into the Death of Stellantis Dundee Engine Worker Ronnie Adams Sr.

By Workers World Party. Updated: April 28, 2023 at 1:14 PM PDT. input: Autoworkers are responding enthusiastically to the call for an independent rank-and-file investigation into the death of Stellantis Dundee Engine worker Ronnie Adams Sr., who was crushed to death on the job while repairing machinery on April 7.

The family and co-workers of a Stellantis engine worker, who died on April 7 after being crushed by machinery at the company’s Dundee Engine Plant, are demanding an independent rank-and-file investigation into his death.

One month after the accident, the family of the deceased worker, Ronnie Adams Sr., and his colleagues remain in the dark on the circumstances of this tragedy.

The family has yet to even receive a death certificate from the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner. Neither has information been communicated by the UAW, plant management or state safety investigators.

The small plant, located in the town of Dundee, west of Monroe in southeast Michigan, is currently undergoing retooling for production of a new generation of gas-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles.

Adams, a 19-year plant veteran, was well-respected in the plant and known as an outspoken advocate for workplace safety.

However, co-workers say that management routinely ignored complaints about unsafe machinery in the plant.

Joint UAW-management safety committees are notorious for taking the side of management, typically seeking to shift the blame for deaths or injuries onto the backs of workers. Investigations carried out by the government safety agencies, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), are usually whitewashes. Even in the cases where fines are levied, they are normally only token amounts and are often reversed on appeal.

Such was the case with the death last summer of Anthony Gaston, who was crushed to death while working on the line at the Toledo Jeep Assembly Complex. OSHA levied a fine of just $16,000 for unsafe conditions contributing to the death of Gaston.

Further, OSHA is being dismantled by the massive cuts being carried out by the Trump administration and billionaire budget-cutter Elon Musk.

Therefore, if the truth is to be uncovered, it is up to rank-and-file workers to take the initiative.

Shamena Stewart Adams, Ronnie’s widow, spoke to the World Socialist Web Site about the lack of response from the UAW to her husband’s death.

If we don’t speak out against these corporations, there’s going to be other families losing their loved ones.

A veteran Detroit autoworker, who has followed the case on the WSWS, gave the following statement:

The death of Brother Ronald Adams is a tragedy that all union workers feel the deepest sympathy. Safety in the workplace has to be the highest priority, including through awareness, training, and transparency. The family of Brother Adams deserves the full cooperation of the company and the IUAW [International UAW, the union’s top leadership], but unfortunately this has not been the case.

Therefore, a complete investigation into the circumstances surrounding this heart-wrenching accident by a committee of workers has to be conducted. A complete report on the facts with full transparency divorced from corporate cover-up and union corporate collaboration must be rendered. The family of Brother Adams demands to know the truth, and workers from all over the globe stand in unison with their demands to know the truth.

Many Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) workers, who spoke to WSWS reporters during their shift change Thursday afternoon, were aware of and concerned over Adams’ death. Many expressed scorn for UAW officials, including UAW President Shawn Fain, for allowing management to kill and injure workers.

“You can pass out and they’ll roll you over to the side to keep the line running,” one second shift worker said as he rushed through the turnstile. Another explained that Stellantis has recently put in a new mechanical system in one part of the plant, “and even if the skilled trades locked out the area, management could bypass it, and the machinery could still operate even if someone was in there.”

Another worker looked at the picture of Adams and his family and said:

This is terrible. He had a wife and kids. None of this should be happening. All we want to do is be able to come home every day the same way we came in.

Another SHAP workers said:

An investigation needs to be done. If there was anything suspicious, it needs to be looked in to.

When told that the UAW was stonewalling the family, another worker said, “That’s what they always do. The UAW wants to protect their own behinds.”

A veteran SHAP worker with more than three decades in the plant related her experiences:

A few years ago, a few of us were brought in to clean out the cells [a caged area with automated machinery] because they were full of soot and grease and oil. It was during downtime on the weekend. The floors were trash, and they had to put on their dog and pony show for somebody from corporate [coming to the plant].

A guy comes and unlocks the cell door and says, “You’re good to go.” Then about an hour later, a skilled trades guy who