Republicans Thwart Union in Tennesse

[bshole]

BMW management wanted a UNION and Republican politicians objected. Republicans threatened, lied and intimidated auto workers into voting no. Republicans would rather have NO jobs than UNION jobs, friggin Republicans....

BIZARRO.....

State Sen. Bo Watson (R) threatened to withdraw the state subsidies that helped bring VW to Tennessee in the first place (along with every other foreign automaker in the South and West). "Should the workers choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers," he told the Detroit Free Press, "then I believe additional incentives for expansion will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate." Gov. Bill Haslam (R) made similar, if subtler, statements.

Then, at a news conference on Wednesday — while voting was going on — Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) played the Mexico card, noting that either the Tennessee plant or one in Puebla, Mexico, will be tapped to make a new line of SUVs. "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," Corker said.

VW, which has tried hard to stay neutral on the unionization issue, publicly contradicted Corker. "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," said Frank Fischer, chief executive of VW Chattanooga.

Corker shot back that "after all these years and my involvement with Volkswagen, I would not have made the statement I made yesterday without being confident it was true and factual." Then he threw a personal jab: "Believe me, the decisions regarding the Volkswagen expansion are not being made by anyone in management at the Chattanooga plant."

http://theweek.com/article/index/256496/the-tennessee-gops-union-thwarting-push-has-backfired

 

[Matt1970]

 

[ivwshane]

They are all for the free market except when they aren't.

VW has a very good and unique (by US standards) way of working with unions which is why they never came out and said anything negative about them. I wonder what was in it for the congressman to be so vocal about it.



I have no idea why Matt would post a pic of twinkies other than to show that his posts are equal to twinkies in content quality.

 

[MagickMan]

The "3rd party" interference was from the UAW, they pissed off the locals by sticking their noses in where they didn't belong and their campaign turned against them. A local union will likely succeed, as was stated by their worker rep on our news last night, they simply didn't want anything to do with the scumbags in the UAW.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

So Corker was lying? Evidence?

 

[thraashman]

So Corker was lying? Evidence?

Um ... the chief executive of the plant said he was lying.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Um ... the chief executive of the plant said he was lying.

Corker said his information comes from someone higher within the organization.

 

[MagickMan]

It's "he said, he said", but Corker is a little weasel, so I assume he's not being 100% honest.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

It's "he said, he said", but Corker is a little weasel, so I assume he's not being 100% honest.

I don't know. But I do know that corporate management within my company is very aware of unions and it factors into their thinking. Over the years we've closed several large locations due to adverse relationships.

 

[theeedude]

What if VW moves the SUV production to Mexico anyways? Seems like Corker's mouth is writing checks for VW to cash.

 

[dmcowen674]

They are all for the free market except when they aren't.

I have no idea why Matt would post a pic of twinkies other than to show that his posts are equal to twinkies in content quality.

Twinkies union was busted up by Republicans.

 

[ivwshane]

Corker said his information comes from someone higher within the organization.

So the plant isn't in communication with its parent company? Or is the plant lying? Or perhaps you think a large corporation like VW prefer to share their future plans with a politician instead of a branch of their own company.

Or perhaps you are just smart enough to believe what politicians, you agree with, tell you and don't require a single shred of evidence of what they are saying to be true.

 

[boomerang]

BMW management wanted a UNION and Republican politicians objected. Republicans threatened, lied and intimidated auto workers into voting no. Republicans would rather have NO jobs than UNION jobs, friggin Republicans....

It's a Volkswagon plant. Oh, and please explain how you came to the conclusion in your second sentence I quoted.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

So the plant isn't in communication with its parent company? Or is the plant lying? Or perhaps you think a large corporation like VW prefer to share their future plans with a politician instead of a branch of their own company.

Or perhaps you just smart enough to believe what politicians, you agree with, tell you and don't require a single shred of evidence of what they are saying to be true.

It's not uncommon for local management to be well outside the loop. I live in the corporate environment and see this all the time. Just saying. As I said before, Corker could be lying but I don't see any evidence that actually confirms this.

 

[ivwshane]

It's not uncommon for local management to be well outside the loop. I live in the corporate environment and see this all the time. Just saying. As I said before, Corker could be lying but I don't see any evidence that actually confirms this.

You see no evidence of him lying so you give him the benefit of the doubt but you are quick to dismiss the plants claims, again with no evidence to the contrary.

I understand the predicament you are in; who to trust? A republican congressman whose party is anti union or a large corporation who has a positive history of working with a union in its nature country. Hmm...that's a tough one!

 

[QuantumPion]

Twinkies union was busted up by Republicans.

Twinkies union busted up themselves by going on strike until their company went bankrupt. While it's true reality has a conservative bias, I never expected you to state it as such so literally.

 

[Fern]

BMW management wanted a UNION and Republican politicians objected. Republicans threatened, lied and intimidated auto workers into voting no. Republicans would rather have NO jobs than UNION jobs, friggin Republicans....

BIZARRO.....



http://theweek.com/article/index/256496/the-tennessee-gops-union-thwarting-push-has-backfired

I don't know anything about BMW.

But from the news reports I've seen the VW management remained neutral and were complimented by the union.

From all indications it seemed the VW workers are happy and themselves voted down the union. I don't see why happy employees would vote to unionize, just for the privilege of giving it a chunk of your paycheck?

Fern

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

You see no evidence of him lying so you give him the benefit of the doubt but you are quick to dismiss the plants claims, again with no evidence to the contrary.

I understand the predicament you are in; who to trust? A republican congressman whose party is anti union or a large corporation who has a positive history of working with a union in its nature country. Hmm...that's a tough one!

I give both Corker the the local manager the benefit of the doubt. I'm just saying that from my personal experience it's quite common that local mangement is not privy to senior management's perspectives.

 

[theeedude]

I don't know anything about BMW.

But from the news reports I've seen the VW management remained neutral and were complimented by the union.

From all indications it seemed the VW workers are happy and themselves voted down the union. I don't see why happy employees would vote to unionize, just for the privilege of giving it a chunk of your paycheck?

Fern

Then why did the GOP feel the need to get involved and threaten to withdraw subsidies?

 

[berzerker60]

This story is a real shame. No one denies that unions can go too far, but only a fool believes that unions can't be a force for real good in workers' lives. The reflexive, ideological hate for unions throughout the South is one of the few times it really does seem to me like the bosses have just plain tricked the masses into working against their own interests. Obviously they have every right to decide not to unionize, but I really think they're going to be substantially worse off in the long term because of that decision.

 

[thraashman]

Corker said his information comes from someone higher within the organization.

So you're going to just accept his obviously ridiculous BS claim with zero proof? Ok then guess you'll accept my claim that you drug and then intentionally infect small children with HIV using drug needles.

 

[Fern]

Then why did the GOP feel the need to get involved and threaten to withdraw subsidies?

That seemed to be state politicians. Obviously they don't like unions and don't want them in TN. TN has a pretty darn good manufacturing base and I'd think they'd like it to get even better. It seems rather clear that they don't think that'll happen if the state unionizes.

The UAW is from out-of-state, it's from Detroit. And many people think of the unions as mafia. I doubt many in TN, politicians or otherwise, want to see the unions invade TN.

The unions donate to Dems, anyone surprised Repub politicians don't like them and don't want them around? Maybe the unions would be better off by staying out of politics, unless it related directly to workers, which I think would be rather rare.

Finally, the threat about incentives could have only been directed at the company, not the employees who were voting. The employees don't get any of those incentives.

Fern

 

[DucatiMonster696]

The "3rd party" interference was from the UAW, they pissed off the locals by sticking their noses in where they didn't belong and their campaign turned against them. A local union will likely succeed, as was stated by their worker rep on our news last night, they simply didn't want anything to do with the scumbags in the UAW.

Pretty much. From what I've read no one really wanted anything to do with the scumbag, corrupt union that has had a hand in helping to create the wonderland that is Detroit.

 

[Fern]

This story is a real shame. No one denies that unions can go too far, but only a fool believes that unions can't be a force for real good in workers' lives. The reflexive, ideological hate for unions throughout the South is one of the few times it really does seem to me like the bosses have just plain tricked the masses into working against their own interests. Obviously they have every right to decide not to unionize, but I really think they're going to be substantially worse off in the long term because of that decision.

Why would a Repub state like TN want to be invaded by a Democratic mafia machine? Who needs them?

While my state has historically voted strongly for Democratic state govt, I don't believe people here like unions at all. Somehow when there's a big fight with unions the plants located down here, and not in the North, are the ones that end up getting sacrificed and closed by the union.

It seems we're made an example of to scare northern management.

Fern

 

[werepossum]

I don't know anything about BMW.

But from the news reports I've seen the VW management remained neutral and were complimented by the union.

From all indications it seemed the VW workers are happy and themselves voted down the union. I don't see why happy employees would vote to unionize, just for the privilege of giving it a chunk of your paycheck?

Fern

Not only that but VW and the UAW signed a memorandum of understanding that if unionized, VW workers would earn the same wages as UAW employees up north. That was on the local news. From the employees' standpoint, that would be a pay cut, being less than they earn now, on top of the pay cut to pay their union dues.

A smart man with a good job paying a good wage with a good company does not go looking to pay someone to cut his pay and negotiate for him. In the south anyway. Up north, YMMV. If your life's goal is to be unfirable, I can see how you'd feel this would be a good deal, eliminating your need to actually perform in exchange for a pay cut.