Will Lehman marks the one-year anniversary of the public hearing held in Detroit by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) to present the initial findings of its independent investigation into the death of 63-year-old Stellantis worker Ronald Adams Sr. at the Dundee Engine plant in Michigan on April 7, 2025.
One year ago, we gathered in Detroit because Ronald Adams’ family and coworkers refused to accept silence as an answer. Everything we said at that hearing has been confirmed. If workers had not carried out our own investigation, everything about Ronald’s death would already be buried.
We warned that unless workers took health and safety into our own hands, the deaths would continue. Gregory Knopf was crushed to death at Ford Sharonville when a press activated during maintenance—virtually the same way Ronald was killed. To those in charge, these deaths are a cost of doing business, and the fines are cheaper than the fixes.
The wildfire smoke showed millions of workers exactly where they stand. While the public was warned to stay indoors, we were ordered to keep the line running. Boyer certified that the air in smoke-filled plants was ‘within acceptable limits.’ That letter tells you what the UAW’s joint safety machinery exists for. It does not protect workers from the company; it protects the company from workers, producing paperwork that declares poisoned air contractually acceptable so production never stops.
No one is coming to save us—not MIOSHA, not the courts, not Solidarity House. Workers have enormous power, because we produce everything of value in society, but only if we organize independently. The danger of our inaction remains greater than the danger of us acting in our own interests. Form rank-and-file safety committees with the authority to stop the line, and contact the IWA-RFC to join the fight we launched one year ago. That is how we ensure Ronald Adams Sr. did not die in vain.
