VW’s workers are deciding the future of unions in the South
All eyes on Chattanooga
By Lydia DePillis, WashPost, Updated: February 13 at 8:13 pm
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Employees at the Volkswagen auto plant here will vote Friday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, marking the end of a fevered battle between national conservative groups and labor leaders over the future of the right-to-work South.
If a majority of Volkswagen's 1,570 hourly workers vote yes, it would mark the first time in nearly three decades of trying that the UAW has successfully organized a plant for a foreign brand in the U.S. This time, the union has a powerful ally: Volkswagen itself, which is hoping the union will collaborate in a German-style "works council" and help manage plant operations.
Tennessee's GOP leaders -- along with well-funded conservative activists like Grover Norquist --aren't letting the UAW in without a fight. Gov. Bill Haslam (R) has publicly fretted about the danger of torching the state's low-cost reputation, and Sen. Bob Corker (R), who wooed VW to town as mayor of Chattanooga, has been barnstorming media outlets to warn against giving the UAW a toehold.
"This is all about money for them. They feel like, if they can get up under the hood with a company in the South, then they can make progress in other places." Corker said. "There's no question that the UAW organizing there will have an effect on our community's ability to continue to recruit businesses."
(More here.)
By Lydia DePillis, WashPost, Updated: February 13 at 8:13 pm
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Employees at the Volkswagen auto plant here will vote Friday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, marking the end of a fevered battle between national conservative groups and labor leaders over the future of the right-to-work South.
If a majority of Volkswagen's 1,570 hourly workers vote yes, it would mark the first time in nearly three decades of trying that the UAW has successfully organized a plant for a foreign brand in the U.S. This time, the union has a powerful ally: Volkswagen itself, which is hoping the union will collaborate in a German-style "works council" and help manage plant operations.
Tennessee's GOP leaders -- along with well-funded conservative activists like Grover Norquist --aren't letting the UAW in without a fight. Gov. Bill Haslam (R) has publicly fretted about the danger of torching the state's low-cost reputation, and Sen. Bob Corker (R), who wooed VW to town as mayor of Chattanooga, has been barnstorming media outlets to warn against giving the UAW a toehold.
"This is all about money for them. They feel like, if they can get up under the hood with a company in the South, then they can make progress in other places." Corker said. "There's no question that the UAW organizing there will have an effect on our community's ability to continue to recruit businesses."
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
President Obama, the day before the vote said everyone was in favor of the UAW representing Volkswagen except for local politicians who "are more concerned about German shareholders than American workers".... Talk about an alternative universe.
Post a Comment
<< Home