VW considering tossing election results and accepting UAW union, group says

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Times Free Press

An anti-union group said today that Volkswagen is considering disregarding the February election results over United Auto Workers representation at the Chattanooga plant and accepting authorization cards the union claims to have collected last year.

Matt Patterson of the Center for Worker Freedom said that such a course of action “would hand over its Chattanooga assembly plant to the UAW in spite of that union’s failure to win a February secret ballot election.”

VW workers rejected the union in a 712 to 626 vote after a three-day election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

Patterson, citing unidentified sources, said VW is considering recognizing the cards even though they’ve never been examined by a third party and a number of VW workers have complained to labor authorities that they had been tricked or coerced into signing such cards.

FULL story and poll at link.


Read more: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/apr/07/vw-considering-tossing-election-results-and-accept/

---

Poll: Should VW accept authorization cards collected by UAW and toss the union vote?

yes

no

[Callmecrazy]

1. Yes. Why not?...

I think the workers will be pleasantly surprised by the power of collective bargaining.

[former9thward]

2. No because there would be litigation for years.

Anti-union workers would immediately file a desertification petition and probably win. Recognizing the union in such a manner would lose more votes than it gained.

[Omaha Steve]

3. Card check is legal in the USA

It is up to the COMPANY to accept it or not. Decertification would have to wait out the time limit to do anything negative. That is the NLR Act helping workers.

Right to workers are scared!!!!

OS

[IkeRepublican]

4. Damn straight

Good call.

[mountain grammy]

20. yep! card check is legal and the company can do it.

[okaawhatever]

25. I think there was already a lawsuit by the folks that say they were "tricked" into signing cards.

And btw, at last count that was 9 people.

I want them to get their union or works council, but I don't want to have a year of bad press for unions at Fox news and elsewhere. I also don't want the idea that the union didn't earn the right to represent them being repeated. I think if there hadn't been the massive anti-union campaign from Americans for Prosperity and others, the union vote would have passed the second time, too.

Corker basically held the workers hostage when he said "I spoke with VW officials earlier today and I'm positive that if there is a no vote, you will be rewarded with the SUV line." I think since they did vote no and the SUV line didn't materialize, the new vote would represent their true feelings. But i'm sure there would be another big anti-union push.

Oh well, I'm just glad VW may go with the union, even if we don't get to the long version of the I told you so dance.

[CreekDog]

7. "desertification"?

fail. on the whole post though, not just using a completely incorrect word.

[former9thward]

10. Oh DU's favorite typo cop is patrolling again.

Do you know anything about labor law? I didn't think so. Next time look at your own posts instead of writing tickets on others.

[CreekDog]

11. i know more about "decertification" and "desertification" than you do

and i actually take better positions on both than you do also.

win win!

[former9thward]

12. The only thing you know about labor law is misinformation you get from google.

But that would not stop a self proclaimed internet expert like yourself.

[CreekDog]

13. let's agree to disagree okay?

we're of different political persuasions.

[former9thward]

30. No, we have different life experiences.

I started working at a mill represented by the Steelworkers Union in 1974. I helped organize unions before that. I became Chairman of that union in 1979. Getting unions organized and keeping them are not as simplistic as outlined in DU posts.

[CreekDog]

33. No, we have different political ideologies

because I don't use every liberal post as an opportunity to raise concern.

[former9thward]

38. Concern?

The OP asks for a Yes or No answer. Did you think he was lying and only wanted Yes answers? Don't project on the OP. Do your own "poll".

[CreekDog]

39. oh you just do whatever the OP asks for on all DU threads

correct?

i'm not asking to change your mind, i'm asking you to not play games with me.

[former9thward]

44. No, I express my opinion.

If the OP does not want that then it is strange given the website.

[CreekDog]

47. yeah but when you were raising concerns about approving the union

something you're often concerned about, you justified it saying that OP was asking you to do that.

you had no choice after all.

if all your posts about unions are concerned about unions, people are going to think you're anti union.

can't help that.

[Omaha Steve]

17. Can we all agree to just use the NLRB info from the NLRB?

Right to Work etc. has more misinformation than google.

[former9thward]

31. I don't use google or anything else on the internet.

I was a longtime Steelworker Union member and representative until I went to law school. During law school I worked for the NLRB Regional office in Phoenix.

[CreekDog]

34. you don't use google or anything else on the internet?

sounds plausible.

and stop trying to impress us with references to 35+ year old good deeds for unions.

[former9thward]

37. Context is a concept foreign to you.

I don't use it for labor law because I don't need to. I did not say I don't use google or the internet. I know you like to speak for DU but you would be the last person on earth I wanted to impress.

[CreekDog]

40. so you work in labor law

which side?

[former9thward]

45. As my profile indicates I do criminal law.

When I graduated from law school every labor law firm (including the NLRB who initially offered me a job but retracted when they found out my age) said I was too old. So I did plan B.

[juajen]

52. That's just rude; plus, I am the spelling police and

I stood down. Don't mess with me. There's a way to do this privately without clucking.

[CreekDog]

53. i did not cluck

i am not CreekChicken.

[rpannier]

21. Since VW has begun discussing moving out of TN all together decertification

would likely make the decision for VW much easier
The challenge would be silly and futile in the long run

[Historic NY]

24. 3-4 morans already filed with help of KOCH related activitists

VW should summarily dismiss them

[former9thward]

32. If they were fired they would file a complaint with the NLRB.

And they would win. You can't be fired for exercising your rights under federal labor law.

[Historic NY]

43. Tell that to the 250 UPS guys....

http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/04/extreme-action-ups-fires-250-ny-90-minute-protest/

[former9thward]

46. I would.

They will file a complaint. Whether it is upheld or not depends on the facts of the situation. Neither of us know what those facts are because they never can be determined from newspaper articles.

[Historic NY]

59. Well UPS backed down and rehired the 250....

Apparently the political pressure and negative publicity brought them to the table.

http://tdu.org/media/daily-news-ups-backs-down-rehires-250-drivers-0

[former9thward]

60. Good for them.

I was involved in countless labor negotiations when I was a Steelworkers Union representative at a steel mill I worked at and few would enjoy seeing how the sausage is made.

[safeinOhio]

5. I only buy new cars if they are

built here by UAW workers. Next time I purchase a new car, I can now look at VWs.

[Thinkingabout]

6. In your face Bob Coker. VW sees the assets of having a union, wish the

Workers well.

[PDittie]

8. 72% say yes in poll

vote at the link in the OP

[JVS]

9. No. This would set a precedent that would allow companies to install "company unions"

whenever there seems to be the threat of a bargaining unit getting organized.

[Omaha Steve]

14. NLRB: Conduct Elections (card check has been legal since 1935)

"Company" unions through card check is very unlikely. I'll have the stat on the numbers tomorrow.

OS

http://www.nlrb.gov/what-we-do/conduct-elections

Snip.

Alternate path to union representation

In addition to NLRB-conducted elections, federal law provides employees a second path to choose a representative: They may persuade an employer to voluntarily recognize a union after showing majority support by signed authorization cards or other means. These agreements are made outside the NLRB process. If a union is voluntarily recognized, its status as bargaining representative cannot be challenged during a reasonable period for bargaining, which the Board defines as not less than six months (and not more than one year) after the parties’ first bargaining session.

[mountain grammy]

22. I knew I had read that before. Thanks, Steve.

[WillyT]

15. K & R !!!

[Kingofalldems]

16. That filthy little worm Grover Norquist not liking this one.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Legal since

1935

But expect usual suspects to scream.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Oh and looking at poll

Worm might be turning

[frylock]

23. yes

[okaawhatever]

26. You know, the more I think about this the more it sounds like a negotiation to keep the Gov

and Corker out of jail/trouble. Why on earth would VW take this step? I realize they may want to go ahead and introduce the second line, and I know the heads of their workscouncil said they would strike if they sent another product to a plant without a union/workscouncil, but still.
I think Corker and/or Haslam have realized they are up to their necks in it and don't want to risk jail/sanctions/civil lawsuit. The only way to avoid that is if the ballot election is voided or nullified, whatever the term is. Of course, UAW won't let Corker and Haslam say "just kidding about the whole blackmail with tax credits thing, let's have another election and I won't say stupid shit this time". So, maybe
UAW is giving up a chance to pursue a civil lawsuit which may hurt Corker or Haslam but they still would have another election and who knows what the outcome would be. Or, they could accept the VW offer of certifying the card vote, but then they probably couldn't do anything legally with the second vote.

[Exposethefrauds]

27. VW should move the plant to a labor friendly state

I do know that if VW does not unionize in the USA, I will never purchase a VW, won't even consider it.

I will never purchase a non UAW/CAW made automobile either because that is how I show my support for labor.

[liberal N proud]

28. Right wing heads exploding everywhere

[DetlefK]

29. What about simply holding a new vote?

VW could say that they don't accept the former vote because of the outside interference and misinformation.

[TroglodyteScholar]

35. Does it matter at all that there was a US senator..

...lying actively and publicly to the workers in the days before the vote?

[Boom Sound 416]

36. Seems like a dangerous precedent.

Could it not then work the other way too?

[CreekDog]

42. yes and it has happened the other way too

there's no precedent. there are two ways to get a union, card check or a vote.

you're in a union, you should know this.

[CreekDog]

49. oh you're calling me a troll?

i've been here 11 years, mostly supporting what this place was created for.

and for that you call me a troll.

while you discourage union recognition in this case.

this is probably like those PM's you sent me accusing me of having sockpuppets (which I don't...)

[Boom Sound 416]

50. You mean icymint!

Sorry, I meant pa-troll.

[CreekDog]

51. so let's make this really clear to everyone, you're accusing me of posting under that name?

when i have only ever used only ever had *this* screen name you see here, for everything, reading, posting, whatever and no others.

which is what i told you in a direct message in response to you accusing me of the same thing that way.

[Skip Intro]

54. Maybe all the disrupting and harrassing you do confused the poster.

[CreekDog]

55. do right wingers disrupt DU?

yes or no?

[Skip Intro]

56. Creepy, harassing, stalker-ish, personally-insulting poll-trappers do. n/t

[CreekDog]

57. too hard for you to answer that one

you aren't sure.

[CreekDog]

58. sounds like you made a friend

that's cute.

[Nye Bevan]

41. If the majority who voted "no" don't like it, I guess they can find another job (nt)