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Volkswagen Chattanooga

The United Autoworkers Union is struggling - and it is the first to admit it. With its membership dwindling after three decades of workforce cuts by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, the union has pinned its future on organizing one of the transplants. Efforts to convince workers at Japanese-owned plants, like the Nissan factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, have fallen on deaf ears in the past, but there's now hope that the UAW might succeed at one of the newer German-owned plants.

According to Reuters, the union is targeting the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. The UAW's strategy reportedly involves seeking assistance from IG Metall, the powerful German labor union that helped the UAW organize a VW plant in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. Reuters says the German union has a vested interest in helping the UAW, in that it does not want non-unionized workers at the German-owned plants in the United States to be able to undercut it on labor costs. If IG Metall can pressure the German carmakers not to oppose the UAW, the American union would have an easier time getting workers to vote for it, or at least that's the thinking.

Yet even with IG Metall's help, the UAW faces a historic challenge in organizing in the South, where the word "union" is regarded about the same as it was during the Civil War. And time is running out, according to the report, which says the UAW has been dipping into its strike fund since 2006.

UAW targeting VW and Mercedes for U.S. organizing drive originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chattanoogafactoryig metalllabormercedesmercedes-benznissanorganizingplantsmyrnatuscaloosauawunionunited auto workersunited auto workers unionvolkswagenvwFri, 30 Dec 2011 08:44:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/20137251/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2011/12/30/uaw-targeting-vw-and-mercedes-for-u-s-organizing-drive/20137251/article-detail.xml 20137251 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/12/volkswagen-chattanooga-opt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/12/volkswagen-chattanooga-opt.jpg <![CDATA[UAW hosting town hall meeting for Toyota workers]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/29/uaw-hosting-town-hall-meeting-for-toyota-workers/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/29/uaw-hosting-town-hall-meeting-for-toyota-workers/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/29/uaw-hosting-town-hall-meeting-for-toyota-workers/#commentsFiled under: ,

The Detroit News is reporting that the United Auto Workers union is hosting a town hall meeting for workers at Toyota's manufacturing plant in Kentucky this Saturday. Not an organization known to mince words, the UAW has labeled the meeting's topic as "The Human cost of Toyota's Success". A press release issued about the meeting states that workers will talk about on-the-job injuries, the use of temps, and concerns about conditions at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky. In attendance will be UAW Vice President Terry Thurman.

As far as we know, the UAW has not managed to establish a credible presence at any automotive assembly plant in the U.S. owned by a foreign automaker. The union would certainly have us believe that the town hall meeting will be attended by a number of disgruntled Toyota employees ready to take action against their employer in a more organized way. Indeed, Thurman states "Our union is firmly and fully committed to helping these workers gain justice."

Problem is, we've never heard of these gross injustices being perpetrated against workers employed by foreign automakers. Perhaps that's because these workers have never had an organized voice before, but it could also be because their jobs are no worse or better than those under the umbrella of the UAW at domestic automakers. Truly, we really don't know which is the case and are very interested in what the workers at Toyota's assembly plant in Kentucky have to say.

[Source: The Detroit News]

UAW hosting town hall meeting for Toyota workers originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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