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In reply to the discussion: The ED Show now!!!.... The Tennessee VW plant workers completely reject and refute [View all]spanone
(136,139 posts)35. not well. editorial and article sum it up...
Matt Pattersons Feb. 10 op-ed, TN taxpayers subsidize UAW outrage at VW plant was a blatant attempt to mislead. The only true statement in his entire diatribe was that Volkswagen Chattanooga did receive generous help from Tennessee taxpayers. In return, Tennessee has received thousands of jobs.
As for the UAW, the workers will make that choice, and I totally endorse their right to do so and encourage them to vote in favor of union representation. There is not one dime of taxpayer dollars going to the UAW. Volkswagen works councils are not controlled by IG Metall. Patterson clearly has no idea what cooperative programs are or how they work. Why is it when upper management says we respect our workers right to choose representation, it is conspiring with the union?
Even the name of Pattersons organization is misleading. The Center for Worker Freedom does nothing to help workers have freedom to exercise a voice in the workplace. The only organization that has ever given workers a voice is organized labor.
Keith R. Kirchner
Franklin 37064
As for the UAW, the workers will make that choice, and I totally endorse their right to do so and encourage them to vote in favor of union representation. There is not one dime of taxpayer dollars going to the UAW. Volkswagen works councils are not controlled by IG Metall. Patterson clearly has no idea what cooperative programs are or how they work. Why is it when upper management says we respect our workers right to choose representation, it is conspiring with the union?
Even the name of Pattersons organization is misleading. The Center for Worker Freedom does nothing to help workers have freedom to exercise a voice in the workplace. The only organization that has ever given workers a voice is organized labor.
Keith R. Kirchner
Franklin 37064
The Tennessee GOP's union-thwarting push has backfired
Friday is the last day of a union-organizing vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. At stake is whether the German automaker's sole plant in the U.S. will be represented by the United Auto Workers. But it's also much more than that: The battle being waged in Chattanooga is being billed as a seminal moment that will either pave the way for more labor unions in the South, or affirm the continuation of a "right to work" region that is UAW-free.
Going into the three-day election, the vote was too close too call among the 1,550 workers.
"A vote for unionization at Volkswagen would be a historic victory not only for the UAW, but for the entire labor movement," says John Logan at Reuters. "It would provide unions with a key victory in the South, even in the face of a lavishly funded external anti-union campaign, and may lead to transformative changes in labor-management relations, especially among European-owned firms." Those notably include the BMW plant in South Carolina and the Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama.
Those "lavishly funded" salvos are coming from conservative groups like Americans for Tax Reform, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the National Right to Work Committee. Tennessee Republicans have also gotten involved and this is where things get dicey.
http://theweek.com/article/index/256496/the-tennessee-gops-union-thwarting-push-has-backfired
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The ED Show now!!!.... The Tennessee VW plant workers completely reject and refute [View all]
ChisolmTrailDem
Feb 2014
OP
It is very rich and ironic that Bob Corker is giving lectures to a world class corporation how to
Fred Sanders
Feb 2014
#3
Some young free-market twerp was interviewed by Jeffrey Brown on PBS last night...
WorseBeforeBetter
Feb 2014
#6
I watched it, via your link. I hate Young Republicans. What a smarmy little douchebag.
NBachers
Feb 2014
#13
Senator Bob Corker needs to get a job...we can take care of ours...stand up Chattanooga nt
bkanderson76
Feb 2014
#8
President Gore makes up for all the bad Tennessee politicians, in my opinion.
TrollBuster9090
Feb 2014
#12
it's cool. So sad to see they were intimidated into voting it down. As I posted, the GOP saw it as
freshwest
Feb 2014
#44
Go Tennessee! The good people of Tennessee will throw off the yoke of conservative politicians
TrollBuster9090
Feb 2014
#11
That's what needs to happen. I give conservatives a hard time. But if only they would
ChisolmTrailDem
Feb 2014
#14
Workers need to understand, if they are not organized they are at the whim of their employer.
Dustlawyer
Feb 2014
#22
I've already got an article assigned from Workers' Power about this.....
socialist_n_TN
Feb 2014
#32
That cliffhanger title scared me half to death. I was afraid you were going to report
IrishAyes
Feb 2014
#34
The VW workers I referenced in the OP said it wouldn't come close to rejecting UAW. They expect
ChisolmTrailDem
Feb 2014
#41