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Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee have voted against union representation in a devastating defeat for the United Auto Workers union's effort to make inroads in the South. The 712-626 vote released late Friday was surprising for many labor experts and union supporters who expected a UAW win because Volkswagen tacitly endorsed the union and even allowed organizers into the Chattanooga factory to make sales pitches. "This is like an alternate universe where everything is turned upside down," Cliff Hammond, a labor lawyer at in Detroit, told The Wall Street Journal, noting that companies usually fight union drives. "This...

In a stunning defeat that could accelerate the decades-long decline of the United Auto Workers, employees voted against union representation at Volkswagen AG's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant, a factory seen as organized labor's best chance to expand in the U.S. South. An official overseeing the vote, retired judge Sam Payne, said that a majority had voted against UAW representation by 712 to 626. While voting was under way on Wednesday, Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker said VW would announce new investment in the plant if the UAW lost the secret ballot.

A key victory for the UAW is on the line. Friday is the last day of a union-organizing vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. At stake is whether the German automaker's sole plant in the U.S. will be represented by the United Auto Workers. But it's also much more than that: The battle being waged in Chattanooga is being billed as a seminal moment that will either pave the way for more labor unions in the South, or affirm the continuation of a "right to work" region that is UAW-free. Going into the three-day election, the vote was...

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (Reuters) - In a stinging defeat that could accelerate the decades-long decline of the United Auto Workers, Volkswagen AG workers voted against union representation at a Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, which had been seen as organized labor's best chance to expand in the U.S. South. The loss, 712 to 626, capped a sprint finish to a long race and was particularly surprising for UAW supporters, because Volkswagen had allowed the union access to the factory and officially stayed neutral on the vote, while other manufacturers have been hostile to organized labor.

Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee have voted against union representation, a devastating loss that derails the United Auto Workers union’s effort to organize Southern factories. The 712-626 vote released late Friday stunned many labor experts who expected a UAW win because Volkswagen tacitly endorsed the union and even allowed organizers into the Chattanooga factory to make sales pitches. The UAW for decades has tried without success to organize a foreign-owned plant in a region that’s wary of organized labor. The loss now makes it even harder for the union to recruit members at another Southern factory. “If they...

Big Labor has just suffered a blow in the South. Thanks in large part to efforts by Americans for Tax Reform to expose the left-wing United Auto Workers, employees at Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Volkswagen assembly plant have rejected the labor union’s representation in a vote of 712-626. The Detroit Free Press reports on the implications: The defeat, which came despite Volkswagen’s neutrality, tarnishes UAW President Bob King’s legacy and could make it next to impossible for the union to extend its reach beyond domestic automakers.

Union Suffers Big Loss at Tennessee VW Plant Volkswagen workers rejected the UAW by a vote of 712 to 626. Neal E. Boudette Updated Feb. 14, 2014 11:44 p.m. ET The United Auto Workers union suffered a crushing defeat Friday, falling short in an election in which it seemed to have a clear path to organizing workers at Volkswagen AG VOW3.XE +1.10% 's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The setback is a bitter defeat because the union had the cooperation of Volkswagen management and the aid of Germany's powerful IG Metall union, yet it failed to win a majority among the...

<p>Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee have rejected the United Auto Workers union.</p>

U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build. Corker's bombshell, which runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen, was dropped on the first of a three-day secret ballot election of blue-collar workers at the Chattanooga plant whether to allow the UAW to represent them. Corker has long been an opponent of the union which he says hurts economic and job growth in Tennessee, a charge...

Eighty-five of 100 U.S. senators voted to renew the president’s power to indefinitely detain Americans, denying them of their fundamental right to due process.On December 19, by a vote of 84-15 (Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, did not vote), the Senate sent the Fiscal Year 2014 version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to President Obama’s desk. Although an overwhelming majority of Republicans and Democrats signed off on the evisceration of the Bill of Rights, a small coalition of Independents, Republicans, and Democrats refused to accede to such a devastation deprivation of rights. A list of the lawmakers...

One Senate aide blamed Corker’s spotlight-grabbing role as Cruz’s foil on weak Republican leadership. “Because our leadership has not led for a number of months because of electoral politics, Senator McCain and Senator Graham and Senator Corker have sort of emerged as sort of de facto leaders in a leadership vacuum,” he says. “I like Senator Cornyn, I like Senator McConnell, I respect them, I know their colleagues respect them, but in fairness there just has not been a whole lot of direction, there’s really been no strategy.” “It might not work,” he adds of Cruz and Lee’s efforts (we...

Gannett link only: http://www.wbir.com/news/article/285413/2/Lamar-Alexander-Bob-Corker-blasted-by-tea-party-leaders-as-gutless-cowards

No Republican should vote for legislation that perpetuates amnesty for more than 11 million people illegally in our country, leaves our southern border open for even more illegal immigration and stifles economic growth. That is why we were two of the 68 senators who voted for the immigration bill that takes the most dramatic steps in history to secure our border, end perpetual amnesty and encourage job creation.

The Obama administration appears to be on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran after three and a half decades of low-level warfare. Now comes the hard part: convincing Congress. Skeptical lawmakers are gearing up to thwart efforts to lift the pressure on Iran. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned this week that he may introduce legislation making it harder for President Obama to loosen existing sanctions, while several others have vowed to slap on new ones. “The United States should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a possible 2016...

If there is a country Saudi Arabia and Iran despise more than Israel, it’s each other. When it comes to Syria, Iran’s most prominent ally, the prospect of removing Bashar al-Assad has a pavlovian effect on the Saudis. ... Putin beat Barack Obama and John Kerry like a couple of drums. While Obama saw an opportunity to spin a resounding defeat into an opportunity to back down under the guise of a diplomatic stalemate as the preferred option, there were consequences. One of those consequences involves Saudi Arabia’s anger with the U.S. for not dealing with Assad. Consequences aren’t necessarily...

This public bashing needs to stop. Yesterday, I saw on television Ayotte still going at it talking about how this shutdown doesn't need to happen again. Maybe so, but enough of McCain, Graham, Ayotte, Corker, Peter King, etc, airing things out in public. Cruz, last night talked in part abvout McCain dive-bombing House Republicans, how this disunified Republicans, and how non-unity in the House/Senate torpedoed any chance of delaying or altering parts of ObamaCare - and Hannity brought up other individuals. But enough is enough. If they have a problem with someone or something take it to them in private...

enate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are taking the lead on talks to raise the debt limit and reopen the government, according to senators. Reid and McConnell are working off a six-point proposal sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would fund the government for six months and raise the debt ceiling until Jan. 31, 2014. Senators view discussions between the two leaders as a promising sign of potential bipartisan compromise. “Reid and McConnell are talking now and those discussions continue so I see that as progress,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas)....

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is drawing a lot of ire and fire from the Beltway GOP. The eloquent and passionate Texas freshman has raised the hair on necks of the Republicans who sought a deal to avoid the unpleasantness of brinksmanship with the most incompetent president of modern times. It is absolutely the case that the GOP will, in the end, have to vote for a Continuing Resolution that funds Obamacare. It will require winning the Senate for the GOP in 2014 and the presidency in 2016 to repeal Obamacare. Cruz's strategy right now is to mobilize the public in...

Senator John McCain raked in a staggering $176,300.00 to win the gold in the defense contract lobby dollars Olympics, the most of any other senator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee according to a print outlet in Great Britain. (1) Is this mind blowing amount reverberating in his brain as he tells Congress and the American people, “It would be catastrophic if Congress doesn’t go along” with Barack’s Syria “policy?” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who is up for re election next year won the silver with a $127,350 purse, and VA Democrat Tim Kaine pulled in $101,025 to wear the...

Fox confirms Vice President Joe Biden will have dinner Sunday night with a group of GOP Senators who could be swayed on Syria. The topic of conversation is expected to be what the President needs to say in his Tuesday address.