Labor & Employment Law

UAW Pushing Foreign Companies with U.S. Plants to Allow Union Votes

By James Parks

Companies that do not allow union elections violate human rights, said Bob King, president of the UAW, which is talking with some foreign auto companies that have plants in the United States about a set of principles aimed at ensuring fair elections. Such principles are necessary, King said, because National Labor Relations Board procedures are outdated and allow companies to intimidate workers and spread misinformation. Transplant companies are foreign-owned companies that have plants in the United States.

UAW is adopting this strategy because of changes in the global economy.

Fundamental changes in the global economy have demanded fundamental changes in the labor movement. Our mindset is not adversarial, and we do not seek conflict. We do not believe the United States can successfully compete in a global economy if we are divided and politicized.

?These are really good companies,? King said of the foreign auto manufacturers. King said he thinks the companies will see that working with the union is more cost-effective than spending millions of dollars to keep UAW out.

 That light bulb’s going to go off.

Speaking yesterday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, King said automakers in Germany and Japan, in particular, recognize and co-operate with unions in their home countries. If the same companies do not allow fair union elections in this country, the UAW will publicize the idea that the company treats its U.S. workers as ?second-class citizens.?

He cited a recent picketing campaign against Toyota dealers in California, which called attention to the company’s plant closing there, as an example of the type of actions workers might take against companies that mistreat workers. The adverse publicity ?had a huge impact? on the company, King said. Workers also could hold public meetings, outreach campaigns and focus on young consumers to get the automakers’ attention, he said.

Meanwhile, the Commercial Appeal in Memphis  reports that U.S. Sen. Bob Corker ( R-Tenn.) says he has told Volkswagen officials that he thinks it would be “highly detrimental” to the German manufacturer if the UAW organizes its Chattanooga assembly plant, which opens next year.

The UAW is “committed to the success of the employers that we represent, Ford, GM, Chrysler,” King said, and the union supports a “winning formula” for overseas transplants, “whether it be Volkswagen, Toyota or Honda.”

Guenther Scherelis, Volkswagen Group of America’s general manager of communication, told the paper in an e-mail: 

At Volkswagen Chattanooga, the employees will decide for themselves about their representation. Volkswagen Chattanooga has a neutral position.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on January 13, 2011 (boomark / email).