Outsiders, Not Auto Plant, Battle U.A.W. in Tennessee

[jimmy olsen]

I believe the difference between auto unions in Germany and America was discussed here not that long ago and thought this might interest those involved in that conversation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/business/outsiders-not-auto-plant-battle-uaw-in-tennessee.html?_r=0

Outsiders, Not Auto Plant, Battle U.A.W. in Tennessee

By STEVEN GREENHOUSEJAN. 28, 2014

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — At the Volkswagen plant nestled in Tennessee's rolling hills, a unionization drive has drawn national attention as business groups worry about organized labor's efforts to gain its first foothold at a foreign-owned automobile plant in the South. In a region known as anti-union, many view VW's response as unusual, if not topsy-turvy.

Unlike most companies that confront unionization efforts, Volkswagen — facing a drive by the United Automobile Workers — has not mounted a vigorous campaign to beat back the union; instead VW officials have hinted they might even prefer having a union. And while unions that seek to organize factories often complain that the playing field is tilted because they do not have access to workers in the plant, here the union opponents are the ones protesting what they say is an uneven field.

The anti-U.A.W. forces are making themselves heard, warning that if the U.A.W. succeeds here, that will lend momentum to unionize two other prestigious German-owned plants: the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama and the BMW plant in South Carolina.

Two of Tennessee's most prominent Republicans, Gov. Bill Haslam and Senator Bob Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, have repeatedly voiced concerns that a U.A.W. victory would hurt the plant's competitiveness and the state's business climate.

A business-backed group put up a billboard declaring, "Auto Unions Ate Detroit. Next Meal: Chattanooga," while a prominent anti-union group, the National Right to Work Committee, has brought legal challenges against the U.A.W.'s effort, asserting that VW officials improperly pressured workers to back a union.

In addition, Grover Norquist, the anti-tax crusader, has set up a group, the Center for Worker Freedom, that has fought the U.A.W. on several fronts, partly to prevent the election of labor's Democratic allies who might increase government spending.

"It's unusual how national groups have really gotten interested in this," said Daniel B. Cornfield, a labor expert at Vanderbilt University. "It seems that both the business community and labor are seeing what's happening at VW as a pivotal moment in the Southern automotive business and labor history."

The billion-dollar Volkswagen assembly plant opened in 2011, aided by $577 million in state subsidies, there to great fanfare. It was expected to buoy Chattanooga's image as a place to do business. There was no whiff of unionization.

But Chattanooga's business community grew alarmed last September when the U.A.W. asked VW for union recognition, saying a majority of the plant's 1,600 assembly workers had signed cards seeking union representation.

The business community reacted with further dismay when several Volkswagen officials from Germany visited the plant and hinted that it would be good to have a labor union because that would help establish a German-style works council. Such councils, comprising managers and representatives of white-collar and blue-collar workers, seek to foster collaboration within a factory as they forge policies on plant rules, work hours, vacations and other matters.

Michael Cantrell, 56, an assembly line worker, said it would be great to have a works council because it would give the workers more of a voice and help VW by fostering a smoother-running plant.

"It gives them a great competitive advantage if they do this," said Mr. Cantrell, who has an M.B.A. and ran a tax preparation company before joining Volkswagen. "They have this standardized across the world. We feel we're not as competitive if we don't have this collaboration. This would be a paradigm shift."

The U.A.W. and many legal experts say it would be illegal for an American company to set up a works council without first having a union, asserting that otherwise the works council might be an illegal, employer-dominated workers group.

Scott Wilson, a VW spokesman, said: "Volkswagen values the rights of its employees in all locations to representation of their interests.  In the United States, it is only possible to realize this in conjunction with a union.  This is a decision that ultimately lies in the hands of the employees. For this reason, we have begun a dialogue with the U.A.W." Last Thursday, National Labor Relations Board officials said VW had not improperly pressured workers to support the union.

In another twist, Mr. Cantrell and many workers want a union even though they say Volkswagen treats them well. In their view, a union would give them a greater voice and job security and help ensure that management communicated better and was more sensitive on scheduling. Mr. Cantrell said his pay, $19.50 an hour, is fine, but "it's not anything exorbitant."

Don Jackson, who was Volkswagen of America's president of manufacturing before retiring in 2012, has become an outspoken opponent of unionization and a works council. Last year, he laid into the U.A.W. at a public forum with 150 attendees.

"Volkswagen wants the works council so badly they don't care how they get it," Mr. Jackson said in an interview. "Quite frankly I don't see why we need a works council."

Mr. Jackson said he did not think the U.A.W. had majority backing. "If they truly had the support they would have already asked for a vote," he said.

Gary Casteel, the U.A.W.'s Southern director, voiced confidence that the union would win an election. "I don't know how Don Jackson does his math." he said. "Volkswagen knows we have a majority, and we know we have a majority."

Governor Haslam and Senator Corker have argued that VW should not recognize the U.A.W. based on card signings, but rather on a secret-ballot election. Senator Corker said he had been told that VW would insist on an election. "While I care about Volkswagen, what I care most about is our community and about our households being able to progress and have a great standard of living," he said. "I'm concerned about the impact of the U.A.W. on the future efforts to recruit business to our community."

He added, "The work rules and other things that typically come with the UA.W. would drive up costs. It would make the facility less competitive."

Mike Burton, 56, a quality assurance worker who has set up an elaborate anti-union website, no2uaw.com, said he thought the union would lose an election. He said that in two weeks he persuaded 30 percent of the plant's workers to sign an anti-U.A.W. petition. "When you see what the U.A.W. did in Detroit, you have to worry about what it will do here," he said.

Matt Patterson, who heads the new Center for Worker Freedom, an arm of Mr. Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, has promoted an anti-union agenda here, writing opinion articles and forming an anti-union coalition. "When the cost of government goes up, Americans for Tax Reform isn't happy about it," he said. "Unions are a big driver of government. Unions are very political, the U.A.W. is one of the most political. If they help elect politicians who pass huge government programs, that requires taxes."

Like many pro-union workers, Mr. Cantrell objects to Mr. Patterson's presence. "He's making money by coming into our community from Washington and telling me and my co-workers what's best for us," he said. "What does he know about the auto industry?"

Eric DeLacy, 33, works in the plant's paint shop and backs the U.A.W. "The union will do everything to make this succeed," he said. "They want this plant to succeed. The union wants this to be the first domino falling that will create a chain reaction."

Mr. Corker predicted the U.A.W. would be "on its best behavior for three to five years," before reverting to its traditional militancy. "They will do that to get their nose under the tent of other auto manufacturers in the South," he said.

[Zanza]

Volkswagen has an interesting system where plants compete with each other for building new models. If Chattanooga becomes uncompetitive with unionization, they'll just move production to their main NAFTA site in Puebla. The Chattanooga plant currently makes like 1-1.5% of Volkswagen's global output.

[DGuller]

American unions have a long list of things they can be blamed for, but killing Detroit is a rather dubious charge.  Most of the industries historically under the thumb of the union were also protected oligopolies that began to struggle when those protections went away.  Onerous union contracts were just one of many cancerous legacies left behind from the protectionist times.

[DontSayBanana]

American unions have a long list of things they can be blamed for, but killing Detroit is a rather dubious charge.  Most of the industries historically under the thumb of the union were also protected oligopolies that began to struggle when those protections went away.  Onerous union contracts were just one of many cancerous legacies left behind from the protectionist times.

Symptom, not a cause.  The blatant and excessive corruption and money-siphoning probably did more to damage the infrastructure of Detroit than the unions themselves.

[Admiral Yi]

American unions have a long list of things they can be blamed for, but killing Detroit is a rather dubious charge.  Most of the industries historically under the thumb of the union were also protected oligopolies that began to struggle when those protections went away.  Onerous union contracts were just one of many cancerous legacies left behind from the protectionist times.

The other cancerous legacies were designed obselescence, poor design, and shoddy workmanship.  When the Japanese invasion began those problems were for the most part fixed.  The unions, however, refused to believe anything had changed.

[Jacob]

The other cancerous legacies were designed obselescence, poor design, and shoddy workmanship.  When the Japanese invasion began those problems were for the most part fixed.  The unions, however, refused to believe anything had changed.

Shoddy workmanship I can see, but how are designed obsolescence and poor design a legacy of the unions?

[Admiral Yi]

Shoddy workmanship I can see, but how are designed obsolescence and poor design a legacy of the unions?

They are not.  If you look again at Guller's post I was responding to, you'll see this:

"Onerous union contracts were just one of many cancerous legacies left behind from the protectionist times."

And while we're at it, the Big Three's oligopoly wasn't a result of protectionism, it was a result of strategic bombing.

[Razgovory]

Then why were companies like Ford so wildly successful before WWII?

[Barrister]

I'm pretty rabidly anti-union, but if VW wants to welcome in a union with open arms, who are all these other people to try and stop them?

And here's a kind of sentence I never thought I'd see:

Last Thursday, National Labor Relations Board officials said VW had not improperly pressured workers to support the union.

A Labour Board complaint... alleging the employer tried to pressure workers to join the union. *shakes head*

[Admiral Yi]

Then why were companies like Ford so wildly successful before WWII?

Brand new market.  If you make things that people want and no has yet, you will generally be successful. 

[Valmy]

I'm pretty rabidly anti-union, but if VW wants to welcome in a union with open arms, who are all these other people to try and stop them?

People who do not like organizations that donate to Democrats.  That is what this is about.

[Zanza]

It's interesting that Ford and GM both expanded overseas decades before their competitors would eventually show up in their home market in the US. Despite that they were ill-prepared...

[Zanza]

I always wonder if the kind of huge incentives given to automakers actually pay off for the states/cities that give them. The Chattanooga plant has about 2000 employees, so Volkswagen got subsidies of about $287.000 per employee. Assembly line workers making less than $40.000 will not exactly provide a huge lift to the local economy either. And whether the suppliers will create so many jobs around the plant that it eventually pays off is a risky bet. Especially if they ask for their own subsidies.

[The Brain]

I always wonder if the kind of huge incentives given to automakers actually pay off for the states/cities that give them. The Chattanooga plant has about 2000 employees, so Volkswagen got subsidies of about $287.000 per employee. Assembly line workers making less than $40.000 will not exactly provide a huge lift to the local economy either. And whether the suppliers will create so many jobs around the plant that it eventually pays off is a risky bet. Especially if they ask for their own subsidies.

300 bucks is nothing.

[Razgovory]

Then why were companies like Ford so wildly successful before WWII?

Brand new market.  If you make things that people want and no has yet, you will generally be successful.

Yet there are places were people want cars but don't have them, like Africa and much of Asia.