Tennessee Threatens VW over Union Vote

By Peter Schwartz on Wed, 02/12/2014 - 11:19pm |

I don't see much discussion of this, but as by-stander, this strikes me as a very big deal. Especially, of course, if they win. Bruce?

URL:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/12/uaw-seeks-to-gainfootholdinsouthwithvolkswagenvote.html

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Yes, it's big news in Michigan. I've been talking about it in other places, too.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140210/BUSINESS0104/302100100/volkswagen-...

So Virg Bernero, mayor of Lansing and failed democratic candidate for governor--and the hero of union workers all across Michigan--has invited Volkswagen to set up shop in Lansing:

http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/Mayor-Invites-Volkswagen-to-Expand-to...

It's getting very interesting.

by Ramona on Wed, 02/12/2014 - 11:48pm

Also I note the phenomenon of "reshoring"--companies coming back from China to the United States.

Why? Because Chinese workers are getting paid more than before. I imagine they are demanding more, and the regime wants to keep a lid on potential unrest as they experienced at that Apple plant. They also need to move away from a solely export- driven economy.

So even though "more" doesn't mean that they make anything like US workers, it's enough "more" that it eats away at the cost advantage when you factor in shipping and the distance between plant and the customer who is often in the US.

Also, all that "cheap" energy we now have in the US.

Anyway, no expert here, but this is what I read and make of it. The person on the radio did say, however, that they were having trouble finding workers here with the right skills. Again, I can't vouch for that, but it is what he said.

by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 10:16am

The person on the radio did say, however, that they were having trouble finding workers here with the right skills. Again, I can't vouch for that, but it is what he said.

I don't think they'd have trouble finding skilled workers if they were willing to pay them what they're worth.

I applaud VW for working with the UAW on what is really a combination of a German-style works council and union representation, but I have to wonder why they chose Tennessee in the first place. I'm guessing it had something to do with wages, no?

Charlie Pierce wrote about it yesterday. Waiting for Bruce to weigh in.

(Your post title is pretty vague. Maybe if you changed the title, the topic might be clearer and more people would comment.)

by Ramona on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 12:46pm

Good suggestion.

How do I change it?

I don't see an edit button?

by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 2:38pm

I changed the title for you. In the future, if you want a discussion about a news item it might be better to make it a reader post rather than a news item. They tend to get overlooked, and clicking on it takes a reader to the news item and not to a post. It's also harder to click on the comment button there.

by Ramona on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 8:04pm

Aren't you sweet!

Okay, I'll take your advice.

Thanks.

by Peter Schwartz on Fri, 02/14/2014 - 3:55pm

"I have to wonder why they chose Tennessee in the first place."

Same reason even Google and Apple are choosing the region for cloud data storage: cheaper energy costs like from TVA, a completely government-owned independent corporation.

by EmmaZahn on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 2:59pm

Just read Pierce and it brought to mind a few minutes I spent listening to the Savage show. I do this in a desultory way just to see what folks are listening to.

So this kid gets on the line full of spit and vinegar and resentment at the proposal to raise the minimum wage.

His argument?

If the minimum wage is set at $10.10, the government is preventing him from selling his labor for $2.00 an hour and this is an infringement on his freedom, etc.

I was parked and had to just sit back and marvel at this.

Of course, Savage heaped many encomia on this kid as you might imagine, and it's easy to make fun of.

But you have to marvel at the irony. Conservatives are supposed to be in favor of people getting rich, of people making more, of people climbing the ladder.

But they are doing it by praising a kid who WANTS to sell his labor for as little as possible. Somehow, they LIKE that he's eager to give away the sweat of his brow.

Because, what's the unstated fact here...

The kid isn't the one determining his $2.00 wage. He's not in charge of the negotiations. He's being given this "opportunity" by the prospective employer on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. In telling the story, he makes it sound like he's the principal agent and is being prevented by the big bad government from doing what he wants.

But were he offered $5 instead of $2 does anyone think he'd "choose" the latter over the former? No; no one does.

by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 3:06pm

I read some things about this a few months ago. What I recall is that the dispute is not whether or not to unionize the workers, but how.

VW's workers' councils in Germany want overseas operations to have workers' councils as well but US labor law workers cannot join a works council, even one working with VW's union in Germany, without being represented by a domestic labor union [guild] like UAW.

Was not surprised to read some employees' concerns at your link that they may actually lose some advantages they get from the influence of German unions like the four-day work week because some silly law says they have to join a domestic union.

by EmmaZahn on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 2:30pm

Yes, there are always unanticipated drawbacks.

by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 2:37pm

The dispute between VW and the lawmakers in Tennessee is more about having a union vs not having a union. They must have thought it was safe to invite VW to their state, assuming, I'm sure, that the company wouldn't be pushing for a union.

I didn't see the comments you mentioned, but it doesn't surprise me that workers there might be suspicious of the UAW's involvement. They've been brainwashed into believing there is nothing more evil than collective bargaining. But to think they might get something closer to the German benefits if only they didn't have to involve an American union is pure foolishness. What makes them think the Tennessee legislature would allow a better plan for workers than American unions have to offer?

But any works council in Tennessee will be “lite”—it will not have the legal rights of works councils in Germany, where management is required to bargain with councils on some issues (not including wages, which, there and in the U.S., are the union’s purview). Any works council structure VW management comes up with will be purely voluntary. - See more at: http://labornotes.org/2014/02/volkswagen-workers-vote-union-works-counci...

by Ramona on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 8:28pm

"They've been brainwashed into believing there is nothing more evil than collective bargaining."

Yeah, just a bunch of dumb rubes, don't know what's good fer us.

From the article Peter linked to:

But not every employee is in favor of unionizing.

"I feel in my heart they are ramming this down my throat," said Mike Jarvis, who works in the plant’s body shop. Jarvis told Al Jazeera he thinks the UAW is making too many promises, and is fearful that a decision to unionize could lead to pay decreases and additional work hours.

"They’re telling them they’re going to give them $28 an hour,” he said. “Me personally, I’ve been there three years now and I’m making more money than that. So I’m going to take a cut in pay, all these other people are going to take a cut in pay. But they’re being told they are going to make more money."

Mike Burton, another worker at the plant, is also opposed.

"We’re down to 40 hours a week instead of six days a week, and we have a three day weekend every week. Let’s not mess that up," he said.

Maybe the Chattanooga employees are free riding on IGM's European standards but so what. If they become the envy of autoworkers not just regionally but nationally, all of them might end up better off long term from a competition of unions [guilds]. Why do they get to have monopolies anyway?

This is a rare, possibly unprecedented, situation for workers. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. There is only one thing I can say with certainty. It sure brought out all the same old tropes from both sides.

by EmmaZahn on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 9:10pm

Looks to me that there's a whole lot of surmising there. "It could happen", "I'm fearful", "Let's not mess it up."

So I'm guessing they'll vote "no". Wonder where they got those ideas.

by Ramona on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 9:31pm

There will be workers in Tennessee who will find reasons to vote no, but there are many who will find reasons to vote yes.

The other side of it is security.

Jonathan Walden, a two-year employee in the paint shop who’s part of the union drive, echoes the hope that a union and a works council will boost job security. Asked what he hopes to win with a union, he says, “If you look at the order of what’s most important, wages will be way down there. It’s not what I’m concerned with at all.”

His base wage is $16, plus a $1 premium for night shift. Wages start at $14.50 and rise to $19.50 over three years, just slightly higher than second-tier workers in Big Three UAW plants. (First-tier workers there earn $28.)

“The absolute first is job security,” Walden said. “In the Great Recession we’ve had I was laid off four times. And I had it better than a lot of people did.

“Getting a union in will allow us to get a works council in, and getting a works council in will put us in the spot to get that SUV. A lot of us feel we are being left out of some discussions, some decisions.