Primer on who subverted the NLRB election at Volkswagen
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On Wednesday the UAW subpoenaed Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and 18 other state officials to appear at the NLRB hearing into third-party intervention in the union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga.
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Below is a primer on the main actors in the campaign to subvert workers’ choice:
Center for Worker Freedom: A special project of Grover Norquist’s American for Tax Reform, CWF Director Matt Patterson spent a year in Chattanooga spreading misinformation. After the election, he boasted that his strategy of involving workers’ families and the community had caused “strife.”
Bob Corker: Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) twice told workers he had been given assurances that Volkswagen would expand production at Chattanooga if they voted against the union. It wasn’t true. Never before has a senator misused his position to interfere in a union election at a private company in this way.
Jim Gray: Anti-union consultant Gray heads a South Carolina firm that has a “primary focus on union avoidance.” After attending an anti-UAW planning meeting, Gray stated, “I’m just here to help out.”
Bill Haslam: Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam offered Volkswagen $300 million in subsidies, but only if the UAW lost. Written at top of the confidential document was the following caveat: “The incentives described below are subject to works council discussions between the State of Tennessee and VW being concluded to the satisfaction of the State of Tennessee.”
Peter List: A notorious anti-union consultant, List is the founder and CEO of Kulture Labor Relations. According to Fortune magazine, List is “a firm believer in Ayn Rand's philosophy of radical individualism” who “opposes all state efforts to regulate labor relations.”
National Right to Work Committee Legal Defense Fund: The organization claimed that it only provided free legal support for anti-union workers, but the UAW has alleged that a NRTW lawyer was also involved in coordinating the anti-union campaign.
Maury Nicely: A Chattanooga anti-union lawyer who fronted Southern Momentum, Inc., Nicely told Reuters that his group had raised over $100,000 from anti-union businesses and individuals. Despite purporting to represent ordinary Volkswagen workers, none of SMI’s funding came from workers.
Projections, Inc.: One of the country’s leading “union avoidance” firms, Projections created three anti-union videos for SMI (see below), which were shown at public meetings, put on the group’s “no2uaw.com” website and given to workers on flash drives so they could watch them with their families.
Robin Smith: Chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, Smith compared the UAW to an “infestation” of “Ichneumon wasp larvae.” When the NAACP criticised Haslam’s secret offer, Smith tweeted: “@NAACP supports @UAW at @VW in Chattanooga. Those allies tell the tale.” Smith and the Tennessee GOP establishment intervened in a disgraceful manner.
Southern Momentum, Inc.: SMI was the one anti-union group that claimed to represent ordinary Volkswagen workers. In reality, it was another AstroTurf organization, headed by anti-union lawyer Maury Nicely, funded by anti-union businesses, and which hired expensive external union avoidance professionals.
Bo Watson: Tennessee State Sen. Watson (R) and other senior state politicians threatened to block financial incentives for the company if workers voted for the UAW. The day before workers started voting, Watson stated at a press conference that, “members of the Tennessee Senate will not view unionization as in the best interest of Tennessee,” and that lawmakers would “have a difficult time convincing our citizens to support any Volkswagen incentive package.”
Todd Womack: Corker’s Chief of Staff was in direct contact with Tennessee politicians – including members of the Governor’s cabinet -- and union avoidance groups about anti-UAW messaging. Womack sent an email concerning the three Projections anti-UAW videos. Recipients of his message included Gray, List, and the heads of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and Tennessee Manufacturers Association.
The Volkswagen election showed the extraordinary lengths to which Republican lawmakers and anti-union organizations are prepared to go in order to subvert workers’ right to choose a union.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/203252-primer-on-who-subverted-the-nlrb-election-at-volkswagen
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because I'm in the general area and I've supported the UAW organizing effort at Nissan in middle Tennessee, at least as much as I can and as much as they will let me, and none of this was a surprise to me. True I didn't know all of the names involved, but it was pretty obvious that there were a LOT of well-funded outside groups involved in anti-organizing efforts leading up to this vote.
The governmental involvement was pretty obvious too. Corker's statement about the SUV line coming in IF the workers rejected the UAW, actually came out DURING THE VOTE ITSELF. So it was pretty obvious that there was some heavy hitters opposing the UAW, including elected politicians. And for good reason. If the UAW organizes the Chattanooga plant, that puts a lot of pressure on Nissan in Smyrna, TN. which would be the only unorganized workforce in the state. In addition, there are a other plants in other southern states that would have felt that pressure. So this WAS a very important vote.
All that said and acknowledged, the UAW was not totally blameless in this IMO. Because they didn't face any opposition from the actual owners of VW, I think they took the vote for granted, at least a little bit. They also had a majority of the workforce signing the cards back in September which I think also contributed to some overconfidence on the UAW's part. I didn't notice much pushback by the union when the dollars started flowing in with the radio spots and billboards blaming the union entirely for the decline of the American auto industry in the 80s. It was like management didn't have anything to do with said decline. Also there was a prime opportunity to go after the politicians whose entire mantra for their entire careers had been, "Getting government off of the backs of businesses" going after a business who didn't agree with their ideology. That's just a couple of examples from an outsider of how the UAW could have fought back, but didn't.
Not many folks in all that's been written about this situation have brought up the cultural aspect either. In the south, owners are equated with God which makes unions the Devil. One of the old adages around here that I've heard all my life as a comeback and putdown is, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?". That phrase encapsulates a LOT of the culture by equating wealth with intelligence and social standing. No matter HOW good it looks for organizing at the beginning, YOU CAN NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED in the south.
To sum up, the UAW kind of fell into a trap that a lot of the Democratic Party fell into for a lot of years during the height of the Reagan "Revolution". They were being portrayed as some far-left, red flag waving revolutionaries (of course they're not, they're a prime example of the "business model" union. I wish they WERE as radical as they're portrayed 
and rather than fighting back they didn't say anything to counter this perception, they just let it go unchallenged. What this did for the average worker at VW (and probably more importantly that workers family and friends in the area) was support the opinion that that's what they were AND reinforce the idea that the workers didn't need the union. Why have a union that's supposed to fight for you, if they won't even fight for themselves? James Carville and Bill Clinton proved that you can't ignore attacks, you've got to counter them and counter them quickly.
I do wonder what happens next and I have some questions. How will the NLRB see these anti-union groups and pols? Since VW didn't actively interfere, will that be the only criteria for a new election? Or will they take into account these third parties and their influence? Will VW just go ahead and accept the signed cards from September and organize the Chattanooga plant anyway by recognizing this as the "yes" vote the UAW didn't get?