Feb 15, 2014
"The loss could further dent the prestige of the UAW, membership of which had plummeted 75% since 1979 and now stood at less than 400,000," The Guardianreports. "It was also likely to reinforce the widely held notion that the UAW could not make significant inroads in a region that historically had been steadfastly against organized labor and where all foreign-owned assembly plants employed non-union workers."
The fight, which saw a two year UAW campaign in the state while Volkswagen stayed officially neutral on the vote, experienced a sudden surge of outside anti-union influence as the vote drew near.
"Should the workers at Volkswagen choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe any additional incentives from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate," said Tennessee Republican State Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson at a press conference on Monday, while Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick insinuated that state subsidies to Volkswagen could also be blocked if the vote passed.
Additionally, as Mike Elk at In These Timesreported, the Center for Worker Freedom, a Grover Norquist-backed anti-union group "booked radio spots to air anti-union ads and rented 13 billboards around the city to display anti-UAW messages."
And on Wednesday Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the former mayor of Chattanooga, issued a statement suggesting that if the union vote passed, VW would likely expand production in a plant in Mexico, rather than in Tennessee. He state: "I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga."
The notion was denied by Frank Fischer, the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, in a statement on Thursday: "There is no connection between our Chattanooga employees' decision about whether to be represented by a union and the decision about where to build a new product for the U.S. market."
None-the-less UAW lost 712 to 626, with roughly 89% of workers voting.
"An announcement of whether a new seven-passenger crossover vehicle will be produced in Chattanooga or in Mexico could come as early as next week," according to Reuters.
"We are outraged at the outside interference in this election. It's never happened in this country before that a U.S. senator, a governor, a leader of the house, a leader of the legislature here threatened the company with those incentives, threatened workers with the loss of product," said Bob King, the UAW president.
______________________
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
"The loss could further dent the prestige of the UAW, membership of which had plummeted 75% since 1979 and now stood at less than 400,000," The Guardianreports. "It was also likely to reinforce the widely held notion that the UAW could not make significant inroads in a region that historically had been steadfastly against organized labor and where all foreign-owned assembly plants employed non-union workers."
The fight, which saw a two year UAW campaign in the state while Volkswagen stayed officially neutral on the vote, experienced a sudden surge of outside anti-union influence as the vote drew near.
"Should the workers at Volkswagen choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe any additional incentives from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate," said Tennessee Republican State Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson at a press conference on Monday, while Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick insinuated that state subsidies to Volkswagen could also be blocked if the vote passed.
Additionally, as Mike Elk at In These Timesreported, the Center for Worker Freedom, a Grover Norquist-backed anti-union group "booked radio spots to air anti-union ads and rented 13 billboards around the city to display anti-UAW messages."
And on Wednesday Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the former mayor of Chattanooga, issued a statement suggesting that if the union vote passed, VW would likely expand production in a plant in Mexico, rather than in Tennessee. He state: "I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga."
The notion was denied by Frank Fischer, the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, in a statement on Thursday: "There is no connection between our Chattanooga employees' decision about whether to be represented by a union and the decision about where to build a new product for the U.S. market."
None-the-less UAW lost 712 to 626, with roughly 89% of workers voting.
"An announcement of whether a new seven-passenger crossover vehicle will be produced in Chattanooga or in Mexico could come as early as next week," according to Reuters.
"We are outraged at the outside interference in this election. It's never happened in this country before that a U.S. senator, a governor, a leader of the house, a leader of the legislature here threatened the company with those incentives, threatened workers with the loss of product," said Bob King, the UAW president.
______________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
"The loss could further dent the prestige of the UAW, membership of which had plummeted 75% since 1979 and now stood at less than 400,000," The Guardianreports. "It was also likely to reinforce the widely held notion that the UAW could not make significant inroads in a region that historically had been steadfastly against organized labor and where all foreign-owned assembly plants employed non-union workers."
The fight, which saw a two year UAW campaign in the state while Volkswagen stayed officially neutral on the vote, experienced a sudden surge of outside anti-union influence as the vote drew near.
"Should the workers at Volkswagen choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe any additional incentives from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate," said Tennessee Republican State Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson at a press conference on Monday, while Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick insinuated that state subsidies to Volkswagen could also be blocked if the vote passed.
Additionally, as Mike Elk at In These Timesreported, the Center for Worker Freedom, a Grover Norquist-backed anti-union group "booked radio spots to air anti-union ads and rented 13 billboards around the city to display anti-UAW messages."
And on Wednesday Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the former mayor of Chattanooga, issued a statement suggesting that if the union vote passed, VW would likely expand production in a plant in Mexico, rather than in Tennessee. He state: "I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga."
The notion was denied by Frank Fischer, the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, in a statement on Thursday: "There is no connection between our Chattanooga employees' decision about whether to be represented by a union and the decision about where to build a new product for the U.S. market."
None-the-less UAW lost 712 to 626, with roughly 89% of workers voting.
"An announcement of whether a new seven-passenger crossover vehicle will be produced in Chattanooga or in Mexico could come as early as next week," according to Reuters.
"We are outraged at the outside interference in this election. It's never happened in this country before that a U.S. senator, a governor, a leader of the house, a leader of the legislature here threatened the company with those incentives, threatened workers with the loss of product," said Bob King, the UAW president.
______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.