VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief

Reuters ^ | Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:38am EST | Andreas Cremer

[Olog-hai]

Volkswagen’s top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized.

Workers at VW’s factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last Friday voted against representation by the United Auto Workers union (UAW), rejecting efforts by VW representatives to set up a German-style works council at the plant.

German workers enjoy considerable influence over company decisions under the legally enshrined “co-determination” principle which is anathema to many politicians in the U.S. who see organized labor as a threat to profits and job growth. …

[andyk]

They’ll force unions on these workers one way or another.

Decisions are only final when conservatives lose. When liberals lose, they are allowed to keep voting for the same thing over and over. Until they win. Then it's final.

[Secret Agent Man]

their stylings are rather old and unimpressive compared to other brands.

[Political Junkie Too]

Why can't our Republican leaders learn how not to take No for an answer?

-PJ

[Riley]

Volkswagen’s top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized.

It looks like it's the union saying that, rather than the company.

I can't imagine the company itself insisting on the corrosive influence of the UAW before it will deign to open a plant in a Right-to Work state.

[Secret Agent Man]

more to it than that.

fedgov got involved in dealing with small car diesels b/c too many would siphon off too much diesel that truckers use. you don’ t put ethanol in diesel. lots of interests have quashed any move to commonplace large numbers of commuter diesel vehicles.

otherwise it’d be fantastic.

[melsec]

Have to agree - the model for Union organizations in Germany is not one of force. The company gets as much out of it as the workers in that co-operation and high standards of workmanship and training are written into enterprise agreements. Pathways to better jobs are available for those willing to up skill and it is all done with typical German efficiency. Nothing like the antagonistic relationships between Unions and Business that a lot of western countries have. I’m not sure the UAW Union really want to go there as it will make them look bad indeed!

[Riley]

I just wanted the thing as a daily driver.

You might be able to mod the shoestring-engineered cab to be survivable in a command-detonated environment though, without compromising that ever-so-sweet virtually-nonexistent ground pressure unduly.

Oh- that, and some chain link panels on frames for the RPG.

[TigersEye]

If they make good money, which they probably will, they will change their minds about curtailing future investments.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The company says that the vehicle will cost $6800, achieve an 84 miles per gallon fuel economy, and they anticipate a five star NHTSA safety rating. The eight gallon tank will theoretically allow a driver to go 672 miles on a tank of gas. Top speed of the Elio is said to be over 100 miles per hour.

[oldenuff2no]

My line of thought runs a bit different here. This is a very important vote not because of how VW thinks about more auto plants here but because of how the rest of the foreign auto companies view it.

This maintains the right to work non union atmosphere of the south. I believe that other auto makers will build plants in that area because of this decision.

I do not see how anything that VW now claims about this decision has any further relevance. They are not going to close a plant that is already built, in production, and making them money.

This is one more lesson to the liberals that clearly demonstrates that we are not Europe and not going to be either.

This whole line of crap in the media is nothing more than the leftist socialist lies and spin of the UAW after it lost a vote that was gift wrapped and handed to them on a silver platter.

What this vote says is that the auto workers themselves have chosen to not let the UAW do to them what it did to the auto industry and to the workers in Detroit, Flint, and other cities. In those places the UAW took their own members money and then caused them to loose their jobs. The union hierarchy got filthy mega-rich and the out of work union members got food stamps and poverty.

This is why the UAW is dieing.

[Gen.Blather]

“Only weirdos drive VWs anyway. “

Uhm, yeah. I love my Jetta TDI Sportwagen. It gets a good, honest 40 mpg combined. But if they go union I won’t buy another. I guess I’ll end up getting and old, used 300D as my next car.

[tanknetter]

This is pretty decent evidence of collusion between the VW German union and the UAW.

[MrEdd]

I have been watching the development of that.

It seems to be a cross between an nineteen eighties B. D. Lightstar and a BMW Isetta.

[Paladin2]

Ford have been working on direct gas injection ilo Diesel since the 70's if not the late 60's.

http://papers.sae.org/780699/

Now it sounds like they finally put something in production (Eco-boost).

Ford have had small car Diesels in Europe for many years (decades?). Here in the US?; Not so much.

Now that Diesel has gone to really low Sulphur, the fuel prices have reversed so that gas is cheaper than Diesel/BTU.

[cherry]

please Germany, Japan, Korea, etc....don’t bother coming here....we have an ungrateful evil greedy and criminal system and you’ll be under their thumb to your demise...

[Paladin2]

My TDI Station Wagons came from Germany. Now we have the US Jetta, but with no Station Wagon. No sale here.

[Blackyce]

As the Worker's Council Reps are a part of management(unlike Senator Corker), I'm pretty sure that those statements were a violation of the Taft Hartley Act:

There are six types of unfair trade practices listed in Section 8:
1. Section 8 (a)(1) - to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in Section 7:
2. Section 8(a)(2) - to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of a union, or contribute financial or other support to it;
3. Section 8(a)(3) — by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment, to encourage or discourage membership in any union;
4. Section 8(a)(4) - to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he has filed charges or given testimony under the Act;
5. Section 8(a)(5) - to refuse to bargain collectively with a union selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit;
6. Section 8(e) - to enter into a “hot-cargo” agreement with a union.

People should call the VW management out on it, like the left tried to do with Senator Corker.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Tough neighbourhood! Near Kandahar is it?

[Riley]

Tough neighbourhood! Near Kandahar is it?

Close. Washington DC area.

[Secret Agent Man]

yup, but the problem here is that there’s only a certain amount of diesel fuel capacity and fedgov wants most of that for truckers.

ecoboost isnt a diesel invention, it’s an option on most of their fleet - gas fuel.