Posted on 09/12/2013 2:53:51 AM PDT by markomalley
Volkswagen's factory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, is close to becoming the first U.S. car assembly plant run by a foreign company to have its workers officially represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, a German paper reported.
"Yes, we have a majority," UAW boss Bob King was quoted saying by business daily Handelsblatt in a preview of an article to be published on Friday.
More than 50 percent of the employees at the plant, which according to VW figures numbered 2,415, had signed union cards and registered as future union members, the paper said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Tennessee got the VW plant because their incentives far exceeded what any other state offered ($577 million, vs. Alabama’s $385 million).
I work near a VW dealership. Low volume sales is what that car line is all about.
Yes, the UAW was a big part of the problem.
Too bad VW didn't learn their lesson.
Nobody wants to face it but big companies often prefer to deal with the union over the individual.
The UAW? There goes VW’s fahrtvunoogan!
There was a sitcom many years ago where one of the characters bought a VW Rabbit convertible. His friend at the office told him it was a girl’s car so he put a bumper sticker on it that said “I DIG CHICKS”. His friends response was “Great, not it’s a dike’s car.”
I’m pretty certain a good number of the VW Chattanooga workers came over from the Ford Nashville plant during the 2008/9 period.
Would be surprised if the UAW didn’t move over organizers during that time frame also.
Senator Corker is pulling no punches on this issue:
The 2007-1010 version of the Passat (B6 platform) was German-built, is fun to drive and better looking. They’re having a hard time selling the Chattanooga B7 and are furloughing workers, which might explain the UAWs traction with the workers... VWs target audience (who they ignored) looks at the B7 and says “meh ... might as well get a Camry”.
Ahem. I happen to have a 2002 Beetle Turbo S.
My wife would probably not agree with your assessment.
(btw, 0-60 in 6 seconds -- personally clocked -- and a top speed of 220 kph -- though I've only gone to 180, doesn't sound like a chick car to me -- I call it my "poor man's TT")
If this happens, it’s a game changer — would be the first successful auto organizing drive in a right to work state. If they can organize in Tennessee they can organize anywhere. Scary. Bob Corker, despite being a RINO on other issues, has personally intervened against the UAW but still it looks dicey.
My daughter bought a VW. It was a POS. To change the water pump they had to remove half the front end of the car.
She got rid of it and is now a happy Toyota owner.
Looks like VW essentially invited the UAW in...
Not sure what the motive could be there.
Healthcare perhaps?
You’re observation is correct- this is interesting that a Union will organize in a right to work state. However, this vote is basically 50/50 which means that if the UAW get Collective Bargaining, 50% of the members will not join the Union. Plus, some people that voted yes, probably won’t join. How will the UAW react to the cost of presenting a plant in which less than 50% aren’t members.
The VW Rabbit that Stephanie Zimbalist drove in Remington Steele suited her well I thought.
Yep! Look at any objective quality performance metric and VW is at the bottom for all models. Not sure how they stay in business now.
I think the German unions forced them to. Could mean trouble for other non union plants where main production facilities are unionized -- which is basically true for the entire auto industry.
I bought a new 1980 VW Rabbit Diesel back in 1980. The stripped C model. I could go 0 to 60 in about six hours and it would go over 80 MPH if you drove it off a tall cliff.
Joking aside. I really loved that car. I was getting ready to separate from the Air force and finish college and that car got me 50 MPG on the highway and around 41 MPG combined. There were months during my college years that I spent $10 on fuel and yet I lived eight miles from the campus, plus I had a job.
Oh yeah! Stephanie Zimbalist, she was hot. Hated the British guy but watched only to see her. Forgot she drove a POS VW!
Sounds like an Opel Kadett that I once had.
Funny thing, though, I later bought a Manta that went like greased lightning...
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