March 4 - Bernie Sanders and Danny Glover - March on Mississippi - Nissan Protest

[Donkees]

Excerpt:

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and actor Danny Glover are coming to Mississippi to help bring attention to what organizers call poor working conditions at Canton's Nissan manufacturing plant, according to the Mississippi NAACP.

The "March on Mississippi" is scheduled for March 4 at the Canton Sportsplex, as advertised by the Mississippi Alliance For Fairness at Nissan.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and Sierra Club President Aaron Mair will also attend.

The march focuses on attempts by Nissan workers to unionize and the intimidation they say they've faced in response.

"As we meet with workers, we see a heightened level of frustration and concern about the atmosphere and treatment at the plant," said Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP, which is helping organize the event. "Far too often we are receiving repeated complaints."

An emailed response from the company Tuesday said, "Nissan's history reflects that we truly value our employees and respect their right to decide who should represent them. Nissan Canton employees enjoy good, stable, safe jobs with some of the highest wages and strongest benefits in Mississippi. The allegations being made by the union against Nissan are completely unfounded."

In December, the Detroit-based United Auto Workers filed complaints in the Netherlands, Japan and France against Nissan, French automaker Renault, which partners with Nissan, and the joint corporation. It was the latest in a string of complaints Nissan has received over the past several years as Canton workers have tried to unionize.

The Dec. 20 press release announcing the complaints stated that a report based on interviews with workers, testimonies and documents from Nissan showed several violations on the part of the company.

"They include aggressive policies and practices of union avoidance, harassment and intimidation, which instill fear at work with the aim of preventing workers from securing union representation. For years, management at Nissan and Renault have repeatedly ignored calls from workers and policy-makers to use their powers to address these global human rights violations," the release states.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2017/02/07/bernie-sanders-coming-miss-march-against-nissan/97602820/

[bravenak]

1. Keep up the good work, Danny! Bernie, you too!

This is what I want to see...

[NurseJackie]

8. That's not very nice.

[hollowdweller]

3. I don't know how we bring them back-

But unions would solve so many of the problems we have.

The gov't would not have to redistribute wealth or guarantee health care because the workers could get it themselves from the companies.

I'm not sure how we get there because changes in our laws have undermined their power and the GOP have almost turned the public against them.

At least in my area there's just a total change of mindset from the 60's and 70's. Globalization and free trade gave the business owners a weapon to destroy unions by outsourcing.

[Donkees]

4. Facebook Events Link

https://www.facebook.com/events/597707593752332/

Saturday, March 4 at 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM CST

Canton Multipurpose Complex
501 Soldier Colony Rd, Canton, Mississippi 39046

Details
End Voter Suppression at Nissan and all employers across Mississippi. Let the worker decide without fear and intimidation.
About Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan

Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan
Community Organization
The organization was founded after Congressman Bennie Thompson called on Mississippi leaders to form a committee to stand up for Nissan workers.

[Donkees]

5. Black Workers Accuse Nissan of Civil Rights Abuses in Mississippi

February 5th, 2017

Community leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, labor unions, student groups and racial justice organizations came out firing last week again Nissan for its civil rights abuses against African-American workers, leading protests in Nashville and Atlanta ahead of further actions planned across the South.

Specifically, the coalition, called Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN), is launching region-wide efforts to educate consumers about Nissan’s treatment of workers at its manufacturing plant in Canton, Mississippi. Of the roughly 5,000 workers at the carmaker’s Canton plant, an estimated 80 percent are African-American.

Now, calls are growing to let the workers form a union, something that hasn’t been allowed.



“The right to organize and form a union is a basic right here in America. It’s how workers represent their interests and make sure that their workplace rights are respected,” said Georgia State Senator and Atlanta mayoral candidate Vincent Fort. “We must support these workers and insist that Nissan, and every other company, respect that right.”

In addition to last week’s protests in Nashville and Atlanta, peaceful protests happened Saturday at Nissan dealerships in Birmingham, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; New Orleans; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Many Nissan vehicles on the road in these cities were assembled at the carmaker’s plant in Canton.

The protests are being led by local advocacy groups along with MAFFAN, comprised of civil rights leaders, ministers, worker advocates and others. In each city across the region, local delegations are hand-delivering letters on behalf of MAFFAN to Nissan dealers detailing the mistreatment of workers in Canton and calling for an end to the company’s anti-union position.



Nissan began operating in Canton in 2003 amid high hopes for Magnolia State workers. But despite expectations that the plant would “bring quality jobs to our community for years to come, over time Nissan has decided to take a different path,” wrote Dr. Isiac Jackson, chairman of MAFFAN, in letters delivered to Nissan dealers. “Today, the company exploits its predominantly African-American workforce in a variety of ways.”

Among other examples, Jackson pointed to punishing production quotas in the Canton plant as well as a lack of adequate safety equipment. The company has relied heavily on temporary employment agencies for hiring, paying lower wages to temporary employees for the same work as permanent workers. Nissan management has run a campaign of coercion and intimidation to keep workers from speaking about the union.



“Workers are getting hurt at Nissan in Mississippi, but the company threatens to fire workers or close the plant if we organize a union,” said Everlyn Cage, who worked at Canton for ten years and was fired after getting injured on the job. “We’re letting Nissan – and other companies in the South – know that we aren’t standing for these violations of our rights.”

“Nissan spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year marketing itself as a socially responsible carmaker,” said Rev. Gregory Williams of Power Community Church in Atlanta. “It is unacceptable for Nissan to violate the civil rights of African American workers in Mississippi. Whether it’s in Mississippi or here in Atlanta we refuse to allow any major company and employer like Nissan to treat the African American community this way in 2017. It’s time for Nissan dealers and customers to recognize that what they’re selling and buying just doesn’t fit the image of what Nissan claims it’s producing.”


https://popularresistance.org/black-workers-accuse-nissan-of-civil-rights-abuses-in-mississippi/

[Initech]

6. The sad thing is you know unionization isn't going to pass.

The GOP has done a number on unions the last 30 years. They've demonized them at every turn. They failed at Volkswagen, and they failed at Kia in Georgia and Hyundai in Alabama. I really want to believe this is going to be different, but I doubt it.

[radical noodle]

7. People often see "dues"

without seeing "benefits." Just as they see "taxes" without seeing what those taxes do for them.

[Donkees]

9. UAW Tweet

Link to tweet

[Donkees]

10. Nissan faces safety fine in Mississippi as union rally looms

March 2, 2017

Excerpt:

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A federal workplace safety agency wants to fine Nissan Motor Co. more than $21,000, saying the company’s Mississippi plant should have better trained a maintenance worker who lost three fingers in a July incident.
The citations were issued weeks before a Saturday rally to support unionization by the United Auto Workers, where pro-union speakers are likely to denounce the company’s safety record. Nissan, though, defends its safety record as “significantly” better than average.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in proposed citations Feb. 10, said the company failed because the worker didn’t know how to disable the line before he tried to work on it. OSHA also demanded that Nissan install buzzers and lights that would warn workers before a conveyor line started.

Nissan spokesman Brian Brockman said last week the company hasn’t decided if it will appeal the ruling.
“This issue is still open,” he told The Associated Press. “We’re still working through the process.”
The company also faces a potential $29,000 fine following a November worker death at its Smyrna, Tennessee, assembly plant. Nissan has said it’s contesting that fine.

Union advocates frequently voice safety concerns about the Mississippi plant. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is supposed to headline the rally, organized by the pro-union Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan. The alliance seeks to link support for the union with civil rights for African-Americans, saying Nissan is unfairly hostile to unionization efforts. Workers in Smyrna rejected the UAW in 1989 and 2001 votes, but no election has been held in Canton.

“Nissan has union representation at 42 out of its 45 plants around the world,” Sanders said in a statement. “The American South should not be treated differently. What the workers at the Nissan plant in Mississippi are doing is a courageous and enormously important effort to improve their lives.”

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks and actor Danny Glover are also scheduled to speak.




http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/nissan-faces-safety-fine-in-mississippi-as-union-r/