Posts tagged Chattanooga
Commentary: Chattanooga VW Workers Need to Be Wary of the UAW’s Push to Unionize Plant
April 10, 2024 // Autoworkers need to be skeptical of UAW promises and motives, knowing that the UAW is at its lowest membership level since the great recession. This deeply personal decision should only be made after knowing all the facts, not just what they hear from a union hungry for Tennessee dues. The UAW can make grand promises to employees, but once they are organized can refuse accountability on any unfulfilled promises. Remember: workers cannot remove a union just by claiming they were promised something that the union did not deliver on.
Alabama Mercedes Benz plant workers file for union election, UAW says
April 9, 2024 // Union officials have claimed in filings to federal regulators that some automakers are retaliating against workers or encumbering their attempts to organize. The labor group on Wednesday filed charges against Mercedes for violating Germany’s new law on global supply chain practices, which prohibits German companies from disregarding workers’ rights to form trade unions. The company responded to some of the union's charges, saying they are inaccurate. It also said the company recognizes its employees' rights to organize.
Seeking to defy history, the UAW is coming closer to unionizing in the South
April 7, 2024 // Southern politicians have offered their own biting criticism of this latest UAW push, framing their opposition as a move to protect jobs. "Alabama has become a national leader in automotive manufacturing, and all this was achieved without a unionized workforce," wrote Alabama Governor Kay Ivey in an op-ed for the Alabama Department of Commerce. "Make no mistake about it: These are out-of-state special interest groups, and their special interests do not include Alabama or the men and women earning a career in Alabama's automotive industry."
UAW membership fell 3.3% in 2023 to 370,000 workers
April 1, 2024 // The UAW is "clear-eyed that our union and many of our industries have been going in the wrong direction for years," a union spokesperson said, adding that is "why we’ve made a historic commitment to organizing the rest of the auto industry, tens of thousands of higher education workers, and everyone in our core industries from heavy truck to agricultural implements to aerospace."
This Union Is Plotting To Take Over The Auto Industry. Can It Be Done?
March 26, 2024 // “It’s no coincidence that UAW is finally gaining ground in Tennessee: Biden has absolutely tilted the playing field at the NLRB in favor of unionization,” David Osborne, fellow at the Institute for the American Worker, told the DCNF. “Unfortunately, many of these changes — like the NLRB’s ruling in Cemex that a union election isn’t even necessary — favor union officials at the expense of rank-and-file workers. In announcing its plans to expand unionization efforts, UAW is obviously embracing this new legal landscape.”
UAW moves to hold unionization vote at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee
March 18, 2024 // The UAW said a supermajority of eligible Volkswagen workers signed union cards to call for the election at the Chattanooga plant. The facility is Volkswagen's only assembly plant in the U.S. and employs about 4,100 workers who make the Atlas and ID.4. The union added that it "is the only Volkswagen plant globally with no form of employee representation."
The UAW Has Set Its Sights on the Anti-Union South
March 8, 2024 // Young people are a crucial group for the campaign. In Alabama, very few young workers have ever been in a union, and their lack of familiarity with organized labor can prove a major stumbling block. While young people across the United States are particularly pro-union, their generational remove from the movement in the Deep South was a central factor in why workers voted against unionizing with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, just twenty-five miles up the road from MBUSI.
UAW says 30% of workers at Toyota Missouri factory seek to join union
March 7, 2024 // The company "has no way to verify or determine the accuracy of the statements made by the UAW," a spokesperson said Wednesday. "We do not believe a third party at our manufacturing facilities would enhance the results, stability or team member experience that we have achieved together. We are confident that with all of the facts, our team members would not choose union representation." Expand article logo Continue reading It was not clear when the UAW might seek a vote but it has said previously it wants to see support from 70% of a plant's workforce before pushing for a vote of employees on whether to join the union.
UAW president Shawn Fain on labor’s comeback: “This is what happens when workers get power”
February 26, 2024 // Volkswagen worker Shaun Lawler says skepticism of the UAW runs deep in the community. When asked how his family views unions, he replied, "They don't see it as a good opportunity; they see layoffs." What do they call unions? "They call them communist," Lawler said.