VW workers vote down union

snippet:

" Some 1,500 workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee have voted not to join the United Auto Workers union. The tally of the three-day vote follows days of political prodding from both sides of the issue.

The 712-626 vote was a devastating blow to the UAW, which had tacit support from VW. The union had hoped to make inroads in auto plants in the South, where organizers have been striving for decades to represent factory workers. "

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...workers-reject-move-to-join-union?ft=1&f=1003


Interesting, I would imagine the UAW and other big unions will keep trying at other places in the south.

 

They keep getting shot down just like at the VW plant. Many southern states are right to work states. If the UAW wants to have a chance they will need to start at the government level to change laws.

 

I understand VW is considering building a SUV plant and is considering Tenn or Mexico. That could have helped sway the vote, plus the UAW has made a bad name for it's self in destroying Detroit and almost the American automotive industry.

 

I was wondering how the vote would go. I know I wouldn't want to part with any of my wages that would go to support a political party I don't see eye-to-eye with. But that's just me...

However, I couldn't help but notice this little excerpt in the above referenced article:

I wonder how many of those Democrats running for re-election in 8 1/2 months got nervous and sweaty not wanting to be seen or their names reported being behind closed doors in union-related meeting with President Forked-Tongue? LOL!!!

 

Turns out that Senator Bob Corker told workers that if the union was voted down, VW would add another line of production at the plant.
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"(Reuters) - 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 that UAW officials say is untrue.

"I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga," said Corker, without saying with whom he had the conversations".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/13/us-volkswagen-corker-idUSBREA1C04H20140213

If proven true, it would be a major violation of labor law and if I were the UAW, I'd file an objection to the conduct of the election and demand that the union be certified as the collective bargaining agent of the VW plant workers. Corker should have kept his big mouth shut.

 

So, the workers themselves don't want to unionize.

Nice.

 

I think the UAW has all but killed it's self with the way they treated the Big Three in Detroit. Right now I think jobs are more important than unions. That can come later.

 

Not necessarily and all they would get is a re-vote. VW denied it almost as soon as Corker's statement hit the wires based on other reports I have seen.

 

Unions in general killed the coal industry, the steel industry and the auto industry.

 

Not necessarily; i've seen "order to bargain" decisions to come down from the NLRB in some situations.. Either way it'll have to be proven.

 

They can always vote the union in. We can't always get factories. Right now which is more important?

 

The company denied it before the vote. Unless they could prove this was some sort of collusion, a revote will be the most they would get and it would still be hard to unring the bell. Apparently there were others in the community also saying that suppliers considering building in the city were waiting for the vote to decide whether or not to build there as they did not want unionization to spread to them.

 

They could force another vote, but I don't think it'll make a difference. It ain't happening for the UAW, at least in Chattanooga.

 

Just remember this: if you don't have a contract you have to settle for whatever the employer decides to give you from minute to minute.

 

each employee has its own individual contract with the company. they agree on pay and benefits for return of that persons labor if the employee doesn't like the terms he doesn't have to work there

 

What BS.

The coal industry is having trouble because people have gotten tired of getting sick from breathing and drinking coal poison emissions, and natural gas prices have dropped like a rock.

The steel industry went to hell long ago when US Steel decided to buy Montgomery Wards and get into running department stores while Japan built new technology steel mills that could underprice the USA by half.

The USA auto business has gone to hell because our auto executives paid themselves unlimited wages and bonuses, and they never wanted to build decent high mileage and long lived smaller cars.because big trucks brought more profit, theoretically.

It is always amazing how USA's executives NEVER seem to be responsible for the failures of their companies. If that is true, why do we pay ONE CEO at Ford MORE than the ENTIRE executive board of the world's number one automaker, Toyota?

 

Are you saying that one guy negotiated for $11 with no benefits and hour while another guy doing the same job negotiated $32 an hour plus 4 weeks paid vacation and a stock option plan with fully paid health care benefits?

 

Brilliant move VW workers! You just signed away any and all power you ever could have had.You will all now be part of the permanent peasant class. Now VW has no incentive or reason to raise wages, benefits or work conditions ever! When White Tennessean laborers get fed up with the long hard hours and low pay, no Problem! Just hire a Mexican!

Why send the Jobs to Mexico when You can bring Mexico to Tennessee!

All hail the CEO! Long live the Kin...ah...I mean the CEO!

 

VW treats its workers well enough that they don't need a union. They learned their lesson about attempting slave labor 70 years ago....

 

The UAW are one of the few private unions that can go (*)(*)(*)(*) themselves. I hope that every plant in the country votes them out and that the UAW goes bankrupt.

 

I have no knowledge of the UAW. Nor, have I ever even met a Union member. They might be Corrupt, or maybe not. So much disinformation out there that its hard for me to believe anything without experiencing any of it first hand. But I have been in countries where there is zero Union representation and the country has always been a capitalist society. Paradoxically, they are the country's with lowest standard of living in the world. Conversely, Countries, including the United States, that have had a history of Unionizing or at least forming some sort of Labor committee have created better standards of living for its people.

Regardless,banding together is the only power the common people have. The aggressiveness against Unionizing by the Politicians should be more disturbing than you may realize. This is throwing us back to the days of the Feudalistic societies of Old Europe where the Lords and Governors held all the land and decided how the peasants should live.

 

I am not bashing all unions which is why I prefaced by saying "few". The UAW alongside the teacher's unions and EVERY public employee union need to die quick and painful deaths. I don't have an issue with most unions but when they become to powerful it ends up screwing everyone over. Look how they have destroyed California. When everything is working there is a balance between the companies and the unions where each side gives a little and gets a little. When one side become to powerful then things get jacked up.

People do forget that we have 8 hour work days and overtime precisely because of unions in the past and the union supporters need to realize that you can't have the same people that vote for union contracts also receiving votes and campaign donations from those very same unions, its just asking for massive corruption and theft of tax payer money as we say here in WI before Act 10 stopped alot of that theft.

 

and who's fault is that? was that employee forced at gun point to take that job at 11 per hour

 

Unions started out with noble goals. Over many years the money and power went to the leader's heads. They have been slowly killing the goose who lays the golden egg. It's now sad that the leaders and members don't see the trend line of their organization and take the action that is necessary to be a viable organization. A few more generations and the unions will go the way of the dinosaur.

 

With right to work states the unions can't bully their way in these days. That is the bottom line.