VW workers in Tennessee vote to join UAW in historic win for Detroit union

[Dave Hess]

walterjay,

I was thinking the other….what if Japan sells (US Steel) to China in a few years ?

It will be a major embarrassment for America.

I would NOT be surprised if China paid Japan big $$$$ just to give us the middle finger.

 

[alarmguy]

How big was the bump in pay at BMW ?

I do believe Tesla will have a union within 3 years.

Just taking affect next month 9% increase and bonus of 12 or 13% of the annual salary just took place.

 

[pbm]

I happen to know a very successful CEO who was raised as one of three boys in a 2 BR frame house … these boys had very, very, tough parents - and were raised to work hard, hit the books, and beat the competition …
All three are very successful … Are they bad guys ?

Yes they are according to those who 'divide and conquer' Americans to gain power.

 

[ZZman]

A win for the unions. A loss for the consumers. But I guess the unions figure if fast food workers deserve $20 an hour in California they need to make some inflated wages and benefits commensurate with what they do for a living too.

If you lived in CA or New York etc you might think you need 20.00 an hour to try to survive.
And who decides what is inflated wages and benefits?

 

[GMFan]

I am sorry, I am not pro or against unions, but this is hyperbole. None of this nonsense has been the case since basic employment laws came into existence back in the 30's.

Oh it exists. They just implemented a workaround. Instead of legal workers on farms for instance now they just simply use undocumented workers. What are they paid? What are there working conditions like? Can’t have any sympathy because that’s what the TV tells us to think. Can’t enforce a law when the worker doesn’t even exist on paper. Societies and countries change. Some things never do - like endless greed for profit by any means necessary. The politics behind everything are to keep us placated by fighting one another. Corporations own the media companies that train us what to think. People wonder why nothing is ever done on either side. It’s because it’s what is profitable! I like to keep my options as open as possible when it comes to being able to feed myself. I’m under no false illusion that society and laws can’t change with the right lobbyists lining pockets.

 

[Revving2Redline]

All of my local food joint workers wanted better pay too. Now they have no job....

good, serves them right. They will bid themselves to a place where there is so much mark-up, no one can afford and the resale value will be horrible. I am sure the Germans are watching this closely ie Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Honda and Toyota created jobs for North America while our cars here threw garbage at the American consumer for far too long leading them to buy Japanese cars. I feel terrible For the Volkswagen and probably Audi as I have a feeling This is going To have awful consequences to come. It might get to the point they pull out of the US market . Just like the I've cream business that had to shut down in California over wages. One in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

 

[Revving2Redline]

We hear a lot of people saying the companies are making too much money and there's too much greed. Well from their standpoint, they are the ones who have everything to gain but also everything to lose. Regular working people don't create anything. A corporation comes in and you come waving your hand saying that you want to work for them. Well later on it's not good enough so my answer would be to look for something else.

 

[wpod]

Hencho on Mexico in the future.

 

[Dave Hess]

I thought that the non-union plants were supposedly great pay and better than average benefits to keep the unions out?

I thought so too.

Maybe after the UAW strikes and new contract with the Big 3 they changed their minds and now want a union.

All employees in any industry wanting more money and better benefits. I don’t blame them.

 

[Zee09]

If you lived in CA or New York etc you might think you need 20.00 an hour to try to survive.
And who decides what is inflated wages and benefits?

Very true but you can't blame others for your poor choice of states to live in. Moving is its own voting block.. use it.

 

[alarmguy]

I thought that the non-union plants were supposedly great pay and better than average benefits to keep the unions out?

Your thoughts are correct, not sure of the question.
So far one automobile plant has decided to unionize. I suspect many more will, but it’s not because of low pay or low benefits, it’s because of new and even more great pay after historic win by the UAW just months ago.

Everything is a cycle, unions at one time were plenty-full until American companies could no longer compete and jobs went overseas. Vibrant manufacturing communities and entire cities became broken down crime ridden desolate areas with massive unemployment. Many still are.

Union membership now once again at historic all-time low, jobs have come back to our shores and once again, the American worker is hungry for a greater piece of pie. Good for them.

Everything in life is like a pendulum, swinging back-and-forth it eventually balances out.
From prosperity to disparity and from disparity to prosperity.

The balance of power between corporations and workers is always in flux, but we all know once the workers start getting too much it is no longer profitable to stay in business or stay in the USA. The cycle then repeats itself.

One thing for sure without unions or the threat of, those workers would be thrown back to the dark ages as it is the fiduciary responsibility of corporations to stock shareholders and squeeze every bit of profitability and production from its workers as it can for profit.

It’s the best system in the world and works.
Both for the companies and the individual. For the individual is free to do and work and choose any occupation he or she so desires.

 

[fdcg27]

Like every organization or institution conceived by man unions have aspects of both good and bad.
In the absence of organized labor employers enjoy market power and can set wages and working conditions without any worker input. Unions empower workers to collectively have input into wages, labor practices, hiring and working conditions.
The notion that unions ruin companies is absurd. Managements ruin companies through a lack of planning, a lack of leadership and a lack of vision.
Finally, many of us on the management side benefit from an organized workforce as well, in that in an organization with a substantial proportion of the employees in a bargaining unit what these employees negotiate sets a floor that applies to us exempts as well.
In the case of VW, I'd say that the decision of the workers to become organized is probably a positive thing. The sky won't be falling and VW won't be packing up and leaving as a result. As others have noted above, VW, as well as Daimler and BMW are all accustomed to working with an organized workforce.

 

[Dave Hess]

I work for a company that has unions on the manufacturing side of the business….. but no unions on the service side.

I’m a non union service employee and the company gave us the same benefits just so we didn’t start a union.
I have a pension, voluntary pension, 401K and 10 weeks total PTO.

It can be done….

I forgot to mention….

On the service side of the business we managed our own Kronos timecard, not the manager.
If I needed to work overtime all I had to do was email manager that I’m working 5-10 hours of OT this week.

All the manager did was reply:
Thanks, take care of business.

There was no hoops to jump through or beg for OT approval. I really liked the process.
I don’t know how the OT process is done with the union employees.

 

[dlundblad]

I forgot to mention….

On the service side of the business we managed our own Kronos timecard, not the manager.
If I needed to work overtime all I had to do was email manager that I’m working 5-10 hours of OT this week.

All the manager did was reply:
Thanks, take care of business.

There was no hoops to jump through or beg for OT approval. I really liked the process.
I don’t know how the OT process is done with the union employees.

Just curious what a voluntary pension is.

Sounds like a 401k, but you said you have that as well.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Really isn't some breaching the TN Union castle wall. GM Spring Hill TN has been Union for decades. Nissan just down the road is not. Both GM and Ford had UAW plants in GA for decades until they were closed, but the Kia plant is not. There are a few Union paper mills in South Carolina, but BMW, Boeing and Volvo are not.

The VW plant in Mexico is Union. They make $15 to $45 a day.

I don't see this as anything more than some laborers in a single plant in TN decided to organize. Its there right, good for them. If it works out no one will care. If it doesn't, VW will build cars somewhere else, or just automate more.

 

[64bawagon]

Ever notice how the Government as the middle man seems to always get a bigger chunk ? Seems like all the growth is in the bureaucracy. Right now the state of Michigan employs more people in MI than Ford motor co. They are the 8th largest employer in the state.

 

[alarmguy]

I forgot to mention….

On the service side of the business we managed our own Kronos timecard, not the manager.
If I needed to work overtime all I had to do was email manager that I’m working 5-10 hours of OT this week.

All the manager did was reply:
Thanks, take care of business.

There was no hoops to jump through or beg for OT approval. I really liked the process.
I don’t know how the OT process is done with the union employees.

Not sure if this is relevant, but my son picks and chooses overtime up at BMW
He has a pretty cool schedule. I never figured out how it works but every month they get five days in a row off in addition to the other days.
Anyway, my son is a hard worker and when those five days come up, he just picks and chooses to come in typically two of those 5 days and sometimes other days off if he feels like it he works overtime.
I don’t think BMW ever once discouraged him from putting in overtime.

I never thought that if it was union, there may be some rules, good point

 

[dbias]

I forgot to mention….

On the service side of the business we managed our own Kronos timecard, not the manager.
If I needed to work overtime all I had to do was email manager that I’m working 5-10 hours of OT this week.

All the manager did was reply:
Thanks, take care of business.

There was no hoops to jump through or beg for OT approval. I really liked the process.
I don’t know how the OT process is done with the union employees.

I worked union jobs my whole life. I retired at 52.
The contract is an agreement btwn the employer and the employee. Where I worked overtime was offered on a seniority basis and unfilled OT was filled by reverse seniority and that plenty simple. The employer and employees agreed to it and that’s how it was done.
When I retired I had almost two years of sick pay in my bank towards my payout. Other people have none. A union job is what you make of it with just a little more protection against managers who would look to screw someone over.
I was union vice president for many years and saw bad on both sides of the table. I worked for a year to get a brother his job back after the mayor fired him for having a political sign in his yard. He was totally nonpartisan and his wife had put the sign there. I told the mayor that she would lose the appeal and she said she knew that but wanted for him to go through the hassle of getting his job back. He did construction work while he was off work and we won the appeal and he got full pay and punitive damages and his job back and his seniority restored and promoted to lieutenant as he was passed over on the promotion list. It was the mayor who cost the taxpayers way way way more money than if she didn’t have a grudge against him.
I’m glad to see unionism on the rebound especially with record corporate profits and stock buybacks. The lack of competition due to takeovers is why corporate profits are higher than ever. The mega corporations need broken up.

 

[Electromotive]

VW workers in Tennessee vote to join UAW in historic win for Detroit union​

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/vw-workers-in-tennessee-vote-to-join-uaw-in-historic-win-for-union.html

“ Union organizing passed with 73% of the vote, or 2,628 workers, in support for the UAW, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election. A total of roughly 3,620, or about 84%, of the 4,326 eligible VW workers voted in the election, the NLRB said. Seven ballots were challenged and three others were voided. “


I’m not surprised they voted for a union. Workers want better pay, benefits, retirement and bumping rights with their seniority.

I was a union railroad employee for a number of years, and it seemed to me at the time that the average railroad employee was probably at least a little better off with the union as opposed to working without being union.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

I agree that CEO compensation has gotten way out of hand.
The UAW workers want raises to keep up with inflation, A big part of that inflation is the huge rise in energy costs. A big part of the rise in energy costs can be attributed to the policies of the political people the UAW support....etc...

Really? Exactly how? and the UAW people are not a voting monolith actually. But the FACT is the US produces more hydrocarbon energy right now than any nation on earth ever has...

Union 'middle class' earners spend more of their wages in a consumerist economy than a guy like Musk ever will...