blindpig
09-12-2013, 02:28 PM
UAW: Majority of workers at VW plant in Tenn. have signed union cards
A majority of workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Tennessee have signed union cards supporting the UAW's representation in creating a German-style works council at the factory, union officials say.
The development means the factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., is closer to becoming the first U.S. vehicle assembly plant run by a foreign company in decades to have its workers officially represented by a union.
"Yes, we have a majority," UAW President Bob King told German business daily Handelsblatt in a preview of an article to be published on Friday.
More than 50 percent of the employees at the plant, which according to VW figures numbered 2,415, have signed union cards and registered as future union members, the paper said.
Volkswagen declined to comment but the company's head of human resources defended the union's attempts to organize workers at the plant.
"I find it very depressing how deeply divided the country is on the issue of labor unions," Horst Neumann told Reuters late on Wednesday following a panel discussion with German auto industry executives and senior labor leaders from Germany's IG Metall union.
"Had they been here to listen to the roundtable discussion they would have seen that we work together -- it's a model for success," said Neumann, a member of IG Metall who joined the board of Europe's largest carmaker in December 2005.
Gary Casteel, the Tennessee-based regional director for the UAW, told the Associated Press that the cards include a statement about wanting to join VW's global works council and supporting cooperative and collaborative relations with the company.
The cards are as legally binding as an election by the workers at the plant in Chattanooga, he said.
VW said last month the plant employed nearly 2,700 workers. It's unclear how many workers would be covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Under U.S. labor law, companies can choose to recognize a union when a majority of workers sign cards or request that a secret ballot election be held among workers.
A successful organizing drive at the Volkswagen plant, which began producing the Passat sedan in 2011, would signal a sea change in labor relations among foreign automakers who have resisted collective bargaining pacts at factories across the South.
Republican politicians in the region have expressed fears that a UAW foothold would hurt future corporate recruiting and economic development efforts.
VW officials have signaled they plan to build additional models at the plant, a move that is expected to add to payrolls.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. operates a plant in Normal, Ill., that is represented by the UAW. The factory opened as a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler that was later dissolved.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20130911/OEM/130919952/uaw-majority-of-workers-at-vw-plant-in-tenn-have-signed-union-cards#
This is good news, though I wonder how good as the devil is in the details.
"I find it very depressing how deeply divided the country is on the issue of labor unions," Horst Neumann told Reuters late on Wednesday following a panel discussion with German auto industry executives and senior labor leaders from Germany's IG Metall union.
Herr Neuman is disengenuous at best, anti-unionism, and the low wages that go with it is the reason that VW and other foreign capitalists come here.
A majority of workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Tennessee have signed union cards supporting the UAW's representation in creating a German-style works council at the factory, union officials say.
The development means the factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., is closer to becoming the first U.S. vehicle assembly plant run by a foreign company in decades to have its workers officially represented by a union.
"Yes, we have a majority," UAW President Bob King told German business daily Handelsblatt in a preview of an article to be published on Friday.
More than 50 percent of the employees at the plant, which according to VW figures numbered 2,415, have signed union cards and registered as future union members, the paper said.
Volkswagen declined to comment but the company's head of human resources defended the union's attempts to organize workers at the plant.
"I find it very depressing how deeply divided the country is on the issue of labor unions," Horst Neumann told Reuters late on Wednesday following a panel discussion with German auto industry executives and senior labor leaders from Germany's IG Metall union.
"Had they been here to listen to the roundtable discussion they would have seen that we work together -- it's a model for success," said Neumann, a member of IG Metall who joined the board of Europe's largest carmaker in December 2005.
Gary Casteel, the Tennessee-based regional director for the UAW, told the Associated Press that the cards include a statement about wanting to join VW's global works council and supporting cooperative and collaborative relations with the company.
The cards are as legally binding as an election by the workers at the plant in Chattanooga, he said.
VW said last month the plant employed nearly 2,700 workers. It's unclear how many workers would be covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Under U.S. labor law, companies can choose to recognize a union when a majority of workers sign cards or request that a secret ballot election be held among workers.
A successful organizing drive at the Volkswagen plant, which began producing the Passat sedan in 2011, would signal a sea change in labor relations among foreign automakers who have resisted collective bargaining pacts at factories across the South.
Republican politicians in the region have expressed fears that a UAW foothold would hurt future corporate recruiting and economic development efforts.
VW officials have signaled they plan to build additional models at the plant, a move that is expected to add to payrolls.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. operates a plant in Normal, Ill., that is represented by the UAW. The factory opened as a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler that was later dissolved.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20130911/OEM/130919952/uaw-majority-of-workers-at-vw-plant-in-tenn-have-signed-union-cards#
This is good news, though I wonder how good as the devil is in the details.
"I find it very depressing how deeply divided the country is on the issue of labor unions," Horst Neumann told Reuters late on Wednesday following a panel discussion with German auto industry executives and senior labor leaders from Germany's IG Metall union.
Herr Neuman is disengenuous at best, anti-unionism, and the low wages that go with it is the reason that VW and other foreign capitalists come here.