February 15, 2014

Anti-Union Vote Will Kill New Tennessee Production Line

Volkswagen workers reject United Auto Workers

Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., have rejected the United Auto Workers, shooting down the union’s hopes of securing a foothold at a foreign-owned auto plant in the South.

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The UAW had advantages in organizing the Volkswagen plant it probably won’t find elsewhere. For starters, Volkswagen — under pressure from the powerful German steelworkers’ union, IG Metall, which holds seats on the company’s board — decided not to resist unionization. The union’s presence would have also allowed the company to set up a German-style “works council,” in which representatives of both workers and middle management offer advice to executives on how to best run the plant.

The workers who voted against the union are stupid. Some rightwing politicians told them that Volkswagen would not build an additional production line there should the workers vote for the union and thereby for a workers council. The boss at the plant denied that. The plant in Chattanooga is now the only major Volkswagen plant without a works council. Such work councils are one of the success factors for Volkswagen.

New production line facilities for Volkswagen are decided by the global board in Germany where the global unions have half minus one of the votes. Where do the people in Tennessee think will those board members put a new production line? At that lone "rebellious" plant where the workers voted against the established management structure that works in the 100+ other Volkswagen factories and for their 550,000 other workers?

Idiots.

Posted by b on February 15, 2014 at 13:48 UTC | Permalink

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