I noticed that Charles Jay put up an informative diary just before I published this. If my diary was duplicative I would pull mine — we don’t need multiple diaries on the same subject. However I put together some other context I think is very important. (And my top photo is frikin awesome — Thanks to Diana Hussein)
Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga is where VW electric vehicles are assembled -. The first ICE vehicle was assembled there in 2011, but in 2019 Volkswagen announced that Chattanooga would be the hub for EV assembly and Research/Development in North America. The first EVs, the model ID.4 began assembly in July 2022.
During the recent UAW victories many Kossacks will remember how critical unionization of EV assembly plants was quickly becoming. With EVs the inevitable future, the UAW needed more representation in those assembly plants or they could face a fading future.
This is a huge “milestone” victory with a foothold in EV assembly and representation in a state with “right to work” (for less) laws.
This is also a big advance for democracy. Our democratic process and institutions extend far beyond electoral politics. Unions are the embodiment of democracy in the workplace, they give the worker a voice in assuring safety, health, fair work rules, and fair compensation. Mister Big in the Corner Office can no longer take all profits for the C suite and shareholders. From school boards to worker cooperatives to unions, any place where workers and citizens have a voice, and where inclusion can be won, we are strengthening the values embedded in democracy.
This is a big deal for me personally since we are a union family, and the ID.4 is now on my primary list of EVs I am looking at to buy.
We have a foot in the south, and maybe more will follow. When more workers in “right to work” (for less) states see advantages to union strength, more will follow:
Workers at a Mercedes plant in Vance, Alabama are set to vote on whether to join the UAW in mid-May. Shawn Fain, the UAW president, is also targeting Tesla, whose boss, Elon Musk, has vigorously fought unionization efforts.
Workers at the plant in Chattanooga voted against the union in 2014 and 2019 in closely contested elections. In 2014, the UAW tried to partner with Volkswagen management to push for a works council similar to ones the company has in Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered. But the plans faced significant backlash from anti-union groups and Bob Corker, the Republican US senator whose staff was in contact with anti-union groups over messaging ahead of the election.
The UAW had been expected to win its latest vote given the firm support of workers beforehand, a quick turnaround from filing for the election to holding it, and a changing culture and landscape that has seen the US labor movement and the surge in the UAW’s popularity after its successful strike against the US’s domestic automakers last year.
Against that background, Republican elected officials had been less eager to come out against the UAW.
www.theguardian.com/...
We can all help unions gain strength. Major corporations lead by billionaires including those who also hold vital media properties like Xtwit and WaPo are dangerous. They are trying to get the National Labor Review Board itself declared unconstitutional.
Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB general counsel, accused some of the US’s largest corporations of “jumping on the bandwagon” in mounting legal challenges to the labor watchdog, which has found itself at the center of the ongoing battle between the companies and a wave of unionizing efforts by workers.
Attorneys representing Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks have all argued in recent months that the NLRB is “unconstitutional” and has overstepped its authority.
Unions have been strongly supportive of Dem causes. Let’s be sure to think twice about giving our money and business to corporations that are attacking the fundamental protections of labor in federal law.
And the NLRB is only going to stay strong if Team Blue continues to win at the ballot box.