Despite indications to the contrary, the United Auto Workers union will not give up its quest to organize at least one foreign automaker operating on U.S. Soil.
UAW President Bob King announced earlier this month that union was “not going to announce a target” for organization, but apparently the UAW is continuing its work behind closed doors. The union is quietly drawing up plans to unionize plans to organize factories owned by Volkswagen and Daimler.
The UAW had been considering efforts to unionize plants owned by Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota, but the German automakers are viewed as easier targets. The UAW has a close relationship with IG Metall – a German union that staffs plants for both VW and Daimler – and the union is hopeful that connection will boost support for its organizing efforts. VW operates a new plant in Tennessee while Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz produces SUVs in Alabama.
However, that tie is not without its faults as IG Metall was partly responsible for the UAW’s presence at VW’s Westmoreland Assembly Plant in Pennsylvania. That plant – which produced the VW Rabbit and Golf – closed in 1988 and was well known for unauthorized walkouts and chants of “No money, no bunny”.
Do or die
The UAW was once one of the most power organizations in America, but its membership has dropped more than 75 percent over the last three decades. The union has been dipping into its strike fund since 2006 to run its daily operations and a cash shortfall is not far off. The union desperately needs to increase its membership to survive, but organizing plants in the south will be no easy task.
The south has historically been opposed to unions, and foreign plants have largely rejected the idea of joining the UAW. The raw numbers aren’t in the UAW’s favor, either.
Over the last decade U.S. automakers have eliminated 200,000 jobs while foreign automaker have hired 20,000 new workers. Entry-level workers at General Motors’ Spring Hill, Tennessee plant make slightly more than entry-level workers at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant – $14.78 versus $14.50 – but, after all union dues are factored in, the non-union VW worker makes just $15 less per month than his UAW-represented counterpart.
“You’ve eliminated, for the most part, the reasons people organize,” John Hancock, a management-side labor attorney at Butzel Long in Detroit, commented.
The UAW is keeping quiet on its organization efforts, but we expect the union to make some noise in 2012.
References
1.’Special report: The…’ view
