VW UAW Vote

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

This week, workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are voting on whether or not to join the United Auto Workers. This would be the largest victory for the UAW in decades, and the plant in Chattanooga would be the first foreign auto maker to have one of its US plants unionized.


This week’s vote, which will run for three days beginning on Wednesday, is being closely watched because it could make the Volkswagen factory the first foreign-owned auto assembly plant to be unionized in the traditionally anti-union South. Some industry experts say the U.A.W.’s prospects of succeeding have been buoyed by Volkswagen’s decision not to oppose the unionization drive and even to hint support for the union.

Volkswagen is eager to have a German-style works council at the Chattanooga plant. The council would bring together managers and white- and blue-collar workers to help set factory policies and foster collaboration. Many labor experts say that to have a works council, employees first need to vote for a labor union to represent them. If the Chattanooga plant establishes a works council, it would be the first factory in the United States to do so.


“Our works councils are key to our success and productivity,” said Frank Fischer, Volkswagen Chattanooga’s chief executive and chairman. “It is a business model that helped to make Volkswagen the second-largest car company in the world. Our plant in Chattanooga has the opportunity to create a uniquely American works council, in which the company would be able to work cooperatively with our employees and ultimately their union representatives, if the employees decide they wish to be represented by a union.”


Labor experts say a U.A.W. victory could create momentum to unionize the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala., and the BMW plant in Spartanburg, S.C.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/business/automaker-gives-its-blessings-and-gop-its-warnings.html

VW has maintained a policy of "strict neutrality," and consequently the GOP has flooded the state with money. There are billboards and anti-union ad running in Tenessee, largely sponsored by right winger Grover Norquist and anti-union movements from across the counrty.

For example:


The head of a group putting up 13 anti-United Auto Workers billboards in Chattanooga said Thursday the move focuses on the union's "economic legacy" in its home town of Detroit, which has filed for bankruptcy, and the UAW's "left-wing nature" of supporting President Barack Obama and other Democrats.


But a UAW spokesman discounted the impact of the outdoor ads.
Matt Patterson, who heads the Center for Worker Freedom, said the aim is to reach as many people as possible with the digital ads that are to stay up through next week's election at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant.


"We want to let people in Chattanooga know what kind of organization they could be getting," he said.


http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/07/union-criticizes-outside-groups/

A US Senator from Tennessee has said that if the workers vote for the union, then VW will shift production of new models to Mexico. VW came out and vehemently denied the charges, calling them false and saying the vote will have no impact on their plans.

This could be a huge victory for the UAW, and the first big step back for unions since Ronald Reagan ended their ability to have a fair fight.

I will post more as it becomes known.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/14/us-autos-vw-tennessee-idUSBREA1C10Y20140214
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/13/vws-frank-fischer-says-no-link-between-chattanooga/
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-uaw-labor-vw-norquist-right-to-work-globalism-20140213,0,6636910.story#axzz2tM1qNhTn

It cannot be overstated how scared the right wing is of this vote. They know that this may be a major turning point, hence why they are threatening VW for their role (ie for staying neutral and not illegally crushing unionization efforts as companies are supposed to in the south).

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

When the ballots are counted Friday night at a Tennessee Volkswagen factory, the totals will mean more than just a decision on representation by the United Auto Workers union.


At stake is the future of the union and perhaps organized labor in the United States as the UAW makes a crucial move toward recruiting in the south, an area with a growing manufacturing base that traditionally has spurned its advances.


This time, the union appears to have more going for it because Volkswagen has tacitly endorsed its efforts. But that's also why a loss would signal little hope of organizing other foreign-owned plants.

....

A loss would be devastating. The union has staked its future on being able to organize southern plants and bring their wages closer to UAW-represented factories in the north.

Even the Associated Press, in a non-editorial news story, can't help pointing out what the vote may mean in the second paragraph.

So tonight we will know. Good to know. Stay Posted.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/corker-stands-claim-vw-expand-uaw-loses-22507126

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Ok, maybe not tonight.


The United Auto Workers’ decades-long push to organize a foreign carmaker in the South - considered critical to the future of the American labor movement - comes to a head today when votes are tallied for the right to represent workers at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn.
If successful, the UAW will bargain for wages and benefits on behalf of 1,500 hourly workers and, in the process, firmly stamp the union label on the right-to-work, anti-union South. Political and business leaders across the region fear the labor movement will spread to auto suppliers, flooring manufacturers, carpet mills and other industries.
A victory at Volkswagen, though, won’t necessarily translate into an uninterrupted march by labor across the South. In an unusual twist, Volkswagen management is at least tacitly supporting the unionization efforts. No other Southern-based company, including UAW-targeted German automakers Mercedes-Benz in Alabama and BMW in South Carolina, countenances such a friendly employee-management relationship.
Three days of voting by workers at the Chattanooga plant is scheduled to end tonight. Results, however, may not be announced Friday. Anti-union groups vow to challenge a UAW victory with the National Labor Relations Board. Legal challenges could follow.


http://www.dallasnews.com/business/business-headlines/20140214-uaw-push-to-unionize-a-southern-auto-plant-reaches-climax-today-with-vote.ece

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

A sad day it turns out, as the votes against the union prevailed.

It will be interesting to analyze the effort however. Did the result come from the rights ability to tie the union effort with Obama and the Democrats? With Detroit?

Either way a very disheartening result.

[Creative Destruction]

it looks like workers were scared into thinking that having a union would make it hard on the workers to get along with the company:


Local anti-union organizers had protested the UAW from the start, reflecting deep concerns among many workers that a union would strain cordial relations with the company, which pays well by local and U.S. auto industry standards.

Mike Burton, one of the anti-union leaders, cheered the results. "Not on our watch," he exulted, adding, as did VW management, that plans to find a way for a workers council to help set rules for the factory would continue.

Many labor experts have said that a workers council, which is used in Germany, would not be possible at a U.S. VW factory without a union.

"We felt like we were already being treated very well by Volkswagen in terms of pay and benefits and bonuses," said Sean Moss, who voted against the UAW. "We also looked at the track record of the UAW. Why buy a ticket on the Titanic?" he added.

Many workers believed that the union had hurt operations at plants run by General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, now a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, he said

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/15/us-autos-vw-election-idUSBREA1D1DP20140215

it sounds like they fell prey to the anti-union propaganda.

also, there were threats from the senator, to take away tax incentives from the factory if the workers unionized:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/10/state-incentives-volkswagen-may-hinge-uaw-vote-leg/

this was a concerted effort by the government to threaten workers and it worked. really sad fucking day. i hate this goddamn country.

[Prometeo liberado]

You choose your leaders and place your trust
as their lies wash down and their promises rust
you'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and bombs

society wants what society gets
and I want nothing that society's got
.....I'm goin underground. ..

P.Weller
Apt for this moment I feel.

[Creative Destruction]

You choose your leaders and place your trust
as their lies wash down and their promises rust
you'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and bombs

society wants what society gets
and I want nothing that society's got
.....I'm goin underground. ..

P.Weller
Apt for this moment I feel.

it's good to keep in mind that out in appalachia, voter participation is lower than most places in the country. this is because workers in that area have always worked outside the government. it was once a hotbed of union activity and agitation, and they got burned by government-backed, anti-union violence. the largest labor uprising in the country's history took place in appalachia. they have a lot of reason to abstain from voting because, rightly i think, they never come out on the winning side.

these are not the people that workers out that way want. it's just who they're stuck with because they've been beat into submission by the capitalists; mine owners, factory owners, etc. it's also a place that has almost never been touched by pro-labor factions, especially in the last 40 years or so, because labor organization has been so focused on organizing the major cities on the east and west coasts.

this is just an expression of an extremely oppressed people who have been deprived of almost everything and have had time pass them up. i would caution people who do not know the history of struggle in that part of the country to cut them some slack. as sad as it is, it's, in part, due to a profound failure on the part of the left and big labor to lend any substantial support. this is basically true of a lot of places in the south, as well.

[Prometeo liberado]

it's good to keep in mind that out in appalachia, voter participation is lower than most places in the country. this is because workers in that area have always worked outside the government. it was once a hotbed of union activity and agitation, and they got burned by government-backed, anti-union violence. the largest labor uprising in the country's history took place in appalachia. they have a lot of reason to abstain from voting because, rightly i think, they never come out on the winning side.

these are not the people that workers out that way want. it's just who they're stuck with because they've been beat into submission by the capitalists; mine owners, factory owners, etc. it's also a place that has almost never been touched by pro-labor factions, especially in the last 40 years or so, because labor organization has been so focused on organizing the major cities on the east and west coasts.

this is just an expression of an extremely oppressed people who have been deprived of almost everything and have had time pass them up. i would caution people who do not know the history of struggle in that part of the country to cut them some slack. as sad as it is, it's, in part, due to a profound failure on the part of the left and big labor to lend any substantial support. this is basically true of a lot of places in the south, as well.

You don't gotta explain it to me. I get it. I used to spend summer in Delano, CA with the UFW. As undocumented workers you're talking about a whole different level of exploitation and subjugation, and throw in a shit load of violence to boot. Yet at the end of the day if you choose not to make a play for the keys of the kingdom, well then, you're empty handed.

[argeiphontes]

this was a concerted effort by the government to threaten workers and it worked. really sad fucking day. i hate this goddamn country.

This was absurd. The fucking company wanted to deal with the union but the governor was more capitalist than the capitalists.

[Creative Destruction]

You don't gotta explain it to me. I get it. I used to spend summer in Delano, CA with the UFW. As undocumented workers you're talking about a whole different level of exploitation and subjugation, and throw in a shit load of violence to boot. Yet at the end of the day if you choose not to make a play for the keys of the kingdom, well then, you're empty handed.

intimidation is a very strong thing. when i lived in Texas, i attended one of the bigger immigration May Day rallies a few years back. it was expected that 10s of thousands of people were going to show up, but then, on that day, ICE did some raids and rounded up a lot of immigrants. it was an extremely sad day and it made people stay home. that year, there was some strong rumblings about a big union drive to get protection for immigrants, but that shit was quashed quickly.

we can have our platitudes and tell people what they should've done, but at the end of the day, these are people's real livelihoods. not everyone is a revolutionary and not everyone can be. it's easy to say "well, if they don't do anything, they won't get anything." that's kind of a "duh" statement but isn't actually useful, especially when considering the histories behind these kinds of struggles. sometimes, it's just being between a rock and a hard place.

instead of victim blaming (and yes, that is what this is), those of us on this side need to do some serious reflection and we need to find ways to reach out and counter shit like this. people need to know that they'll get support in the face of government and corporate intimidation. it was a fucking snow job and the VW workers didn't stand a chance against it. that's what it was at the end of the day.

[Creative Destruction]

as an aside, Volkswagon/Daimler have collaborationist "works councils," which a basically intermediaries between the workers and management. kind of like an internal union. these have gotten some attention in the media, because that's apparently how business is done for a lot of German companies (i may be wrong on that, any Germans reading this thread can confirm/deny).

i think it would be a good time to revive discussions about workers councils that are independent, not collaborationist. especially so in this country, since the unions have been failing to gain any good membership numbers at all. (it's disgraceful. Scandinavian countries have high 90s union membership and i think American union membership is in the teens.) there needs to be an alternative if this is going to be the trajectory of trade unions.

[Prometeo liberado]

intimidation is a very strong thing. when i lived in Texas, i attended one of the bigger immigration May Day rallies a few years back. it was expected that 10s of thousands of people were going to show up, but then, on that day, ICE did some raids and rounded up a lot of immigrants. it was an extremely sad day and it made people stay home. that year, there was some strong rumblings about a big union drive to get protection for immigrants, but that shit was quashed quickly.

we can have our platitudes and tell people what they should've done, but at the end of the day, these are people's real livelihoods. not everyone is a revolutionary and not everyone can be. it's easy to say "well, if they don't do anything, they won't get anything." that's kind of a "duh" statement but isn't actually useful, especially when considering the histories behind these kinds of struggles. sometimes, it's just being between a rock and a hard place.

instead of victim blaming (and yes, that is what this is), those of us on this side need to do some serious reflection and we need to find ways to reach out and counter shit like this. people need to know that they'll get support in the face of government and corporate intimidation. it was a fucking snow job and the VW workers didn't stand a chance against it. that's what it was at the end of the day.
I see your point and it's kind of a "you're damned if you do, damned if you don't" type thing. All I'm saying is that eventually someone has to be the first to jump in the cold water. Until then all the shit that they do and will do remains the same. Our collective bliss is obtained through sacrifice and not simply waiting for lefty.

[Per Levy]

i think it would be a good time to revive discussions about workers councils that are independent, not collaborationist. especially so in this country, since the unions have been failing to gain any good membership numbers at all. (it's disgraceful. Scandinavian countries have high 90s union membership and i think American union membership is in the teens.) there needs to be an alternative if this is going to be the trajectory of trade unions.

those "company councils" cant be anything else but collaborationist, since they they arnt allowed to do anything that could harm the company(german law) and therefore are just the way of workers to communicate with the bosses and these councils usualy just take care about problems that shouldnt be there in the first place and some times they can be helpfull to individual workers who got mistreated by bosses. that is my experience at least.

[Red Shaker]

Unions are defeated not because of what the bosses do, but because of their own internal weaknesses. The UAW has never been very self-critical, but they need to be now. Collaborating with the bosses is not a winning strategy for workers. Even if you win the election, your organization will not be in a position to sharpen the class struggle on the job. Walter Reuther's Treaty of Detroit which included the expulsion of the left from the union and the bowing down to the interests of the auto bosses began the policies which have led to the sorry state the UAW is in today.

[Creative Destruction]

those "company councils" cant be anything else but collaborationist, since they they arnt allowed to do anything that could harm the company(german law) and therefore are just the way of workers to communicate with the bosses and these councils usualy just take care about problems that shouldnt be there in the first place and some times they can be helpfull to individual workers who got mistreated by bosses. that is my experience at least.

understood, but that's what i'm talking about. not having collaborationist company councils. the abstract idea of councils has been touched on in the media because of this issue and i haven't ever seen this before. it'd be a good opportunity, for those inclined, to start talking about soviet-style worker councils that are composed only of the workers and independent from the owners and managers.

[Ele'ill]

understood, but that's what i'm talking about. not having collaborationist company councils. the abstract idea of councils has been touched on in the media because of this issue and i haven't ever seen this before. it'd be a good opportunity, for those inclined, to start talking about soviet-style worker councils that are composed only of the workers and independent from the owners and managers.

What good would a council or union do if the workers are collaborators with management and the company and under the illusion that the company and management is going to work in their interests?

[argeiphontes]

What good would a council or union do if the workers are collaborators with management and the company and under the illusion that the company and management is going to work in their interests?

It's a system of Co-Determination (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-determination) in which they have rights to vote on the boards. This is in addition to the union. It increases worker power and is a step in the right direction.

[Creative Destruction]

What good would a council or union do if the workers are collaborators with management and the company and under the illusion that the company and management is going to work in their interests?

jesus christ. i'm not talking about councils that collaborate with management of the company. i don't know how else i'm supposed to make that clear.

[Ele'ill]

But I thought that is what we were talking about, I thought that's what the state of things were. If it isn't, sorry. If it is, we can fantasize about all kinds of shit but its largely a waste of time. People being in a precarious position doesn't equate to them being aware or desiring what some of us would see as a positive direction.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

What good would a council or union do if the workers are collaborators with management and the company and under the illusion that the company and management is going to work in their interests?

I agree, this could lead to the union being a patsy for management and, by using anti-wildcat strike laws, could lock workers into horrible collective bargaining agreements they'd be forced to abide by. However, workers councils, in the VW sense, seem to be somewhat detached from the work done by the union (collective bargaining, investigating unlawful work practices, etc) and instead are for determining work place conditions like work schedules. While this isn't real economic power it does allow workers to manage their own workplace. Which is something.

Secondly, in the "Right To Work" parts of the country, a victory by even the softest union would be worth noting,

[Creative Destruction]

But I thought that is what we were talking about, I thought that's what the state of things were. If it isn't, sorry. If it is, we can fantasize about all kinds of shit but its largely a waste of time. People being in a precarious position doesn't equate to them being aware or desiring what some of us would see as a positive direction.

that's why i kept saying that it's something that needs to be injected into the conversation. at this moment, it's likely that it's not even idea that has crossed people's minds. since the overall concepts of councils is out there now, there's no harm in trying to divert it into another area, like actual workers councils.