Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
Last week, Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee “ramped up his anti-union rhetoric” in hopes of persuading workers at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Chattanooga to vote against representation by the United Auto Workers. According to Reuters, on February 12th, Corker said he had been “assured” that if workers at the Volkswagen plant in his hometown rejected representation by UAW, the company would “reward the plant with a new product to build.” Bernie Woodall of Reuters said that Corker dropped that “bombshell” on the “first of a three-day secret ballot election of blue-collar workers” at the Chattanooga plant. The most troubling part—as I see it—is that Corker’s claim actually ran “counter to public statements by Volkswagen…”
The following day, Corker said that he was “very certain that if the UAW is voted down,” the automaker would announce new investment in the plant “in the next couple weeks.” It seems Corker hadn’t heard—or chose to ignore—a statement made earlier by Frank Fischer, chief executive of VW Chattanooga, “that there was ‘no connection’ between the vote at its three-year-old Tennessee plant and a looming decision on whether VW will build a new crossover vehicle there or in Mexico.”
Volkswagen officials acknowledged “their desire for a works council, arguing that their model of labor-management relations serves them well in every other country in the world, except China.” Under U.S. law, however, the company would not be able to “set up a works council without first having its employees vote for a union.”
The UAW “was dealt a stinging defeat” when a majority of employees at the Chattanooga facility voted against joining the union “after a high-profile opposition campaign led by Republican politicians and outside political groups.” According to the Washington Post, the auto union’s loss “came in spite of an unprecedented level of support from the company being organized.” Fischer who had actually “encouraged the idea of starting a German-style ‘works council’ at the plant, like those in place at Volkswagen’s other factories'” apparently was “saddened by the outcome.”
Fisher speaking after the union vote (Washington Post):
“Our employees have not made a decision that they are against a works council. Throughout this process, we found great enthusiasm for the idea of an American-style works council both inside and outside our plant,” Fischer said, reading from a statement. “Our goal continues to be to determine the best method for establishing a works council in accordance with the requirements of U.S. labor law to meet VW America’s production needs and serve our employees’ interests.”
Gary Casteel, organizer for the UAW’s Southern Region, said, “Unfortunately, politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that would grow jobs in Tennessee.”
Casteel was making reference to anti-union remarks made by “Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers, who threatened to withhold tax incentives from Volkswagen if the workers unionized, and attention from D.C.-based activist Grover Norquist.” UAW officials said they noticed that workers began “to turn against the union as they started hearing ‘threats and intimidation’ against the company.”
It appears that the Chattanooga auto workers may have made a big mistake when they rejected UAW membership last week. According to Huffington Post, theirs is the only “Volkswagen plant worldwide without a formal mechanism for workers’ representation.”
Huffington Post:
The German “co-determination” model mandates works councils, which connect employees to management, at all large German companies. Following the union vote, the head of Volkswagen’s works council told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that the automaker would hesitate to expand in the U.S. South.
“I can imagine fairly well that another VW factory in the United States, provided that one more should still be set up there, does not necessarily have to be assigned to the South again,” said works council leader Bernd Osterloh.
“If co-determination isn’t guaranteed in the first place, we as workers will hardly be able to vote in favor” of building another plant in the right-to-work South, Osterloh added.
UAW chief says Bob Corker intimidated workers at Chattanooga Volkswagen plant
Now, thanks to Senator Bob Corker and others who spoke out against UAW representation for workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant it looks like the company probably won’t be rewarding the facility with any “new product” manufacturing there…or anywhere else in the “right-to-work South.”
SOURCES
Turns Out Anti-Union Volkswagen Workers May Have Screwed Themselves And The South (Huffington Post)
As Volkswagen workers vote, Tennessee senator ramps up anti-union talk (Reuters)
VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief (Reuters)
U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote (Reuters)
Auto union loses historic election at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee (Washington Post)
All eyes on Chattanooga: VW’s workers are deciding the future of unions in the South (Washington Post)
So much false & useless info from Elaine. Corker may or may not be a looney; after all he’s a politician & the only one I would trust is Ron Paul But to say that Unions always raise wages of all is clearly wrong. Allowing for inflation created ny Govs, Unions & others, Unions lower wages today, even if just a little bit. I did not say not to have them but forced unionism is an imposition. When they raise wages of their group, they lower the wages of others by inflation untli the others get a raise, by which time a strong union is doing it again. Read the book. What book? Well, the best simple book on Economics ot course, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, available from Laisez Faire press. Thanks for the Commie chorus; for a moment I thought Spinelli had had a moment of clarity for once in his life & was saying ‘Bravo!’ without his customary sarcasm!
Clarence Darrow died over 75 years ago. He would be shocked @ the corrupt, bloated, top heavy unions today. He was a wise man and I know he would have a different opinion in 2014.
Why does not VW make their cars in Germany which is a place that we can rely upon to have good workers? Tennessee?
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive”
How unions help all workers
By Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters
Economic Policy Institute
August 26, 2003
http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp143/
Excerpt:
Unions have a substantial impact on the compensation and work lives of both unionized and non-unionized workers. This report presents current data on unions’ effect on wages, fringe benefits, total compensation, pay inequality, and workplace protections.
Some of the conclusions are:
Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.
Unions reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.
Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.
The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages.
The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.
Unionized workers receive more generous health benefits than nonunionized workers. They also pay 18% lower health care deductibles and a smaller share of the costs for family coverage. In retirement, unionized workers are 24% more likely to be covered by health insurance paid for by their employer.
Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28% more toward pensions.
Unionized workers receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays).
Unions play a pivotal role both in securing legislated labor protections and rights such as safety and health, overtime, and family/medical leave and in enforcing those rights on the job. Because unionized workers are more informed, they are more likely to benefit from social insurance programs such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Unions are thus an intermediary institution that provides a necessary complement to legislated benefits and protections.
traveling limey,
Corker already lied about not getting involved and VW is on the record beforehand of being interested in the company establishing its workers council through the use of a union. The unions weren’t being rammed down anyone’s throats. The only ramming was done by Corker and the anti-union forces.
traveling limey, Bravo!!
It could also be that the company president is playing politics & being ‘politically correct’. Corker, though a politician & so suspect too, might be telling the truth after all, because a union is useful & needed in times of corporate & employee exploitation but may well be in the way of a decision to use USA or Mexico for expansion or a new product. Automatically supporting unionization is no longer the best choice in today’s world. Neither unions nor government should be rammed down our throats.
hskiprob,
“Charles August Lindbergh Sr. was a United States Congressman from Minnesota’s 6th congressional district from 1907 to 1917. He opposed American entry into World War I as well as the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. Lindbergh is best known as the as the son of the famous aviator.”
*****
I think Charles August Lindbergh Sr. was the father–not the son–of the famous aviator.
“With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.”
~ Clarence Darrow
I think Darrow was correct, but I think we must exclude the BAR from that group.
MikeA, I think the passage of NAFTA should be on your list. Just looking @ the UAW, the membership has dropped ~60% since NAFTA was passed in 1994. I also think rank and file employees see their bosses being the same as management bosses but I know you won’t agree on that. UAW membership is currently down to 1930 levels. Your list puts no blame on the union hierarchy. I think you’ll have to agree they are also culpable.
Here you go, Brad S.
“Countries that either banned unions outright or set up fake unions that serve the state”
http://quickhits.tumblr.com/post/24819440871/countries-that-either-banned-unions-outright-or-set-up
“The Hitler gun control lie”
“Gun rights activists who cite the dictator as a reason against gun control have their history dangerously wrong”
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/11/stop_talking_about_hitler/
Naw… the first things dictators do is ban guns and the press. Unions are way down the list.
“The Ancient Lowly” by C. Osborne Ward. It’s a 2 volume work that was published in the early 1900s. In it he shows that societies that allow their work force to unionize are substantially better – less income inequality, a growing middle class, etc. – than societies that keep their work force from unionize. The first book starts in the era when Greek “empire” flourished. Great read, except for some terms that are no longer used.
In my view, the decline of the union movement is attributable to several factors, none of which is related to union leadership:
1. The de-industrialization of American enterprise.
2. The demonization of the idea of union representation.
3. The spread of right to work legislation.
4. The southernization of conservative ideology.
Lindbergh? Wow. Good link in response Elaine.
anonymously posted: great quote.
Charles August Lindbergh Sr. was a United States Congressman from Minnesota’s 6th congressional district from 1907 to 1917. He opposed American entry into World War I as well as the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. Lindbergh is best known as the as the son of the famous aviator.
These politicians have no business, literally, in meddling in the affairs of an individual company and its workers. What happens between VW AG and its employees is their concern.
Federal labour relations laws are intended to protect from abuses by either side. The goal of this should be a level playing field. In disputes, mediation is offered for specific companies and their employees. Again, it is a process available for all and not excluded from a few.
Then the threat about withholding tax benefits that were already available to the complany if it allowed a unionized workforce, how on earth does it matter to the state government if a business is a union shop or not? It doesn’t make any difference and they know it.
It’s a pretty glaring example of sleaze in government when both management and labour unions quickly unite to tell politicians to leave them alone.
“The right to form a union absent intimidation is one of the most fundamental democratic rights. It is hardly coincidental that among the first things dictators do is ban unions.” -from the previous link
http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2014/02/20/what-happened-in-chattanooga/
Hold the Presses, alert ALL MEDIA!! A duopoly politician did not keep his word. “Oh, the humanity.” For chrissake, just let us know when a politician does keep his word.
As I have said many times, unions are dying and they have their leaders to blame. This vote was NOT about the hardworking people in the plant. It was about taking their dues for nothing, and the smart folks saw that. What is the reason for a new vote besides the fat cats lost? There were no labor laws broken. The company did not even provide any opposition. Geez, nobody likes loser whiners. The times they are a changin’. Adapt or perish.