Posted on 04/23/2024 6:47:47 AM PDT by Twotone
Volkswagen workers at an automotive plant in Tennessee voted to unionize Friday, becoming the first southern car manufacturer to do so since the 1940s, the Washington Post reported.
Roughly 75% of the 3,613 workers employed at the plant voted in favor of joining the United Auto Workers(UAW) union over the course of the election, according to a Volkswagen press release. The vote to unionize was opposed by a coalition of six Republican governors in the region, citing concerns that a stronger union presence could lead to fewer companies investing in new factories and, by extension, fewer jobs, the Washington Post reported.
“We the Governors of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas are highly concerned about the unionization campaign driven by misinformation and scare tactics that the UAW has brought into our states,” a joint statement signed by the governors says.
“Unionization would certainly put our states’ jobs in jeopardy—in fact, in this year already, all of the UAW automakers have announced layoffs,” the statement continues. “We’ve seen it play out this way every single time a foreign automaker plant has been unionized; not one of those plants remains in operation”
The UAW is launching a campaign across the southern United States to increase unionization at car factories, targeting states like Texas and Alabama.
Automakers have been increasing their presence in the south, which has historically had weaker union laws, since the 1970s, according to CNN.
President Joe Biden had a more positive response to the unionization in Tennessee than the six southern Republican governors.
“Union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers,” the president said in a statement following the unionization vote.
“Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose,” he continued. Biden argued that union growth is tied to the growth of jobs and small businesses.
Unions pump tens of millions of dollars into Democratic causes every year, according to OpenSecrets.
Though unions have enjoyed some recent wins, according to the Washington Post, the unionization rate fell to an all-time low in 2023 despite the support of the Biden administration.
Volkswagen and the UAW did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
GM already tried that.
They spent hard $$$$$$$ building & opening a plant not far south of Texas border.
Turned out they even gave housing & fed workers during the 5 day work week-—to KEEP THEM COMING BACK TO WORK EVERY MORNING AFTER 2-3 weeks. When they had a couple of weeks of paychecks-—they did NOT come back. ALSO HAD TO DEAL WITH SURROUNDING CARTEL.
HARD TO TRAIN THEM, ALSO-—NO SPEEEKKEE THE LANGUAGE-—OR WRITE OR READ SUCH.
GM abandoned the plant entirely. DO NOT know what is there NOW-—MAYBE a cartel drug operation.
BIDEN CAMPAIGNED RELENTLESSLY in 2020 on EVERY SINGLE JOB IN THE USA SHOULD BE A UNION JOB——EVEN SELF EMPLOYED PEOPLE LIKE ME.
RIGHT TO WORK STATES ARE BEING UNDERMINED.
I don't have anything against unions in general considering that the manufacturers aren't the good guys either, but one look at any highway will show you what Americans think of UAW built cars.
THE EMPLOYEE not only has to pay UNION DUES-—
THIS WHOLE structure FORCES THE EMPLOYER TO DO ALL THE BOOKKEEPING !!!!
I was forced to join 5 different unions in my younger working years.
The biggest takeaway I still have:
Those who SLACK off—— are carried by the ones who REALLY work.
The pay is the same.
NP, VW , can move to Mexico or Vietnam, etc. and the auto workers will wonder what happened.
They spent hard $$$$$$$ building & opening a plant not far south of Texas border."
GM closing Mexican plant amid UAW strike(video link).
According to the video; Mexico couldn't get parts because of the strike in the U.S.
Germans just adopted more grifting immigrants. Should have taken better care of employees than they did.
We tried that for the first hundred years. It led to violence, sabotage, and the “trust busters” of Teddy Roosevelt.
There aren’t many of those places. Germany’s auto industry is heavily unionized, Japan’s is slightly less so. Even South Korea has a growing and robust union movement rising throughout its industrial base.
Re: Auto Workers Vote To Unionize In Historic Vote At Southern Plant
From ridesthemiles | 04/23/2024 9:09:46 AM PDT replied
MORE-—I actually had to belong to a union to work in the office of a grocery chain in Los Angeles in 1966.
Teamsters Union.
We did the calculations on all the items/invoices that are delivered directly to the STORE-—like bread.
72 stores in the chain. 14 of us in the office. I was assigned the 7 LARGEST VOLUME stores to process, because I could work fast & be accurate.
The in house Union steward approached me in the ladies room-—
She said “I was working too fast & too hard & IF I Slowed down, ANOTHER person could be hired & have a job”.
NOT KIDDING.
I ignored her.
Next week, same routine. I TOLD HER I WAS ALWAYS TAUGHT TO DO MY VERY BEST & I WASN’T GOING TO CHANGE.
3 days later-—Veterans Day, I was called into boss’ office at 4 PM & FIRED.
SHE HAD THREATENED a STRIKE if they didn’t fire me.
I KEPT THOSE 3 men there until almost 7 PM, but they wouldn’t budge.
NEVER have forgotten that. I had a car that was only 18 months old & had payments-—& had just bought a house in May 1966.
Have been self-employed doing accounting since 1980. Now 84. Last client retired 2 years ago-—I did HIS BOOKS FOR OVER 53 years.
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