Auto Parts Workers Strike for Recognition, Strategy Is to Shut Down Assembly Plant -

[Defiant1]

We need to create some anti-union militias for instances like this.

A call would go out to people who would be willing to go to the plant to work until management can replace the ones who don't show up to work.

 

[Rshermr]

We need to create some anti-union militias for instances like this.

A call would go out to people who would be willing to go to the plant to work until management can replace the ones who don't show up to work.

When your knuckles are dragging, me boy, don't you frequently step on your fingers???

 

[oldfart]

Any smart negotiator will make his play at the time when he has the most power (or perceived power). They don't want to shut down the fucking plant; they want to be recognized and negotiate a CBA. It's the American Way, for God's sake. All the company has to do is to agree to a union election and the union will have to either put up or shut up, and the strike will be over.

For a number of reasons, I'm not a fan of recognition by card check, and there is nothing nefarious about giving the employer time to mount a campaign in the run up toward a recognition election. Remember, they cannot lie, threaten, or make any overtly anti-union statements in their campaign.

I've worked in factories like this, and these poor bastards NEED a union; the company DESERVES one, for the way it's acting.

I agree with you in principle, but there has been a steady erosion of worker protections at the NLRB so that elections rules now benefit employers intent on union-busting. The organizer made this point. Workers are better off calling a snap strike and shutting it down. All it takes is a majority of workers and a picket line. If the Teamsters local has blessed it, no truck will get in or out of the plant period. The plant can open and trucks get through as soon as the employer files recognition of the union as a bargaining agent.

Jeep knows all about this and also knows they can replace the parts supplier on 24 hour notice for non-performance. We're talking about 70 workers here. Jeep isn't going to go to the mattresses for an unreliable supplier. That's why the union organizer was waiting for a call from Jeep to resolve the strike, not a call from the employer.

 

[oldfart]

We need to create some anti-union militias for instances like this.

You do realize that you are now on a list of suspected domestic terrorists with the FBI? You put two of the key words used in the filter together. Keep posting along these lines, by all means.

 

[BillyV]

She said workers approached the UAW when they learned that other supplier plants were paid more than the $12.55 experienced workers make.

sometimes managers tell workers two minutes before quitting time that they have to stay over—and then dismisses them at 12 minutes after the hour, before extra pay would kick in.

Hmmmmm....perhaps there's a relationship between the low pay and the fact that the workers feel abused when asked to work 12 minutes past 5:00 PM (or the end of their shift). In my experience with employees, those who are ready to leave 10 minutes before the end of the workday and create a stiff breeze at 5:00 PM don't get the same consideration as those who don't watch the clock and do what is necessary to get the job done. However, it seems the former are much more likely to complain about low pay, not enough breaks and generally just bitch about working conditions rather than trying to get ahead.

With that said, I support the workers' right to bargain for more money, and the employers' right to pay at whatever rate it is willing to pay. If the two coincide, jobs are created; if not, the employer should be able seek other candidates, and the worker can seek other opportunities. An employer who pays too little in comparison with its competitors will not last in the long run and will only be able to attract the least productive employees.

 

[Rshermr]

She said workers approached the UAW when they learned that other supplier plants were paid more than the $12.55 experienced workers make.

sometimes managers tell workers two minutes before quitting time that they have to stay over—and then dismisses them at 12 minutes after the hour, before extra pay would kick in.

Hmmmmm....perhaps there's a relationship between the low pay and the fact that the workers feel abused when asked to work 12 minutes past 5:00 PM (or the end of their shift). In my experience with employees, those who are ready to leave 10 minutes before the end of the workday and create a stiff breeze at 5:00 PM don't get the same consideration as those who don't watch the clock and do what is necessary to get the job done. However, it seems the former are much more likely to complain about low pay, not enough breaks and generally just bitch about working conditions rather than trying to get ahead.

With that said, I support the workers' right to bargain for more money, and the employers' right to pay at whatever rate it is willing to pay. If the two coincide, jobs are created; if not, the employer should be able seek other candidates, and the worker can seek other opportunities. An employer who pays too little in comparison with its competitors will not last in the long run and will only be able to attract the least productive employees.

Then you must also support the right for the union to shut the company down if they refuse to increase pay, right???

 

[SteadyMercury]

Volkswagen to add 2,000 jobs in Tennessee for new SUV

Volkswagen to add 2,000 jobs in Tennessee for new SUV
July 14, 2013

Volkswagen says it will build a mid-size, seven-passenger crossover SUV at its Chattanooga, Tenn., factory in 2016, adding 2,000 jobs and helping VW plug a hole in its U.S. lineup. VW says it will invest $900 million — $600 million of that directly in Tennessee — to expand operations at Chattanooga, where it builds the Passat mid-size sedan.

2,000 jobs that wouldn't be coming to TN if the UAW hadn't failed.

 

[Shanty]

Volkswagen to add 2,000 jobs in Tennessee for new SUV

Volkswagen to add 2,000 jobs in Tennessee for new SUV
July 14, 2013

Volkswagen says it will build a mid-size, seven-passenger crossover SUV at its Chattanooga, Tenn., factory in 2016, adding 2,000 jobs and helping VW plug a hole in its U.S. lineup. VW says it will invest $900 million — $600 million of that directly in Tennessee — to expand operations at Chattanooga, where it builds the Passat mid-size sedan.

2,000 jobs that wouldn't be coming to TN if the UAW hadn't failed.

While I know that right wing nuts are anti-business, it's interesting to note that VW is happy to see the new UAW local being formed For those workers at the plant.