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Will Volkswagen Vote Kill Power Of Big Unions?
Investors.com ^ | February 18, 2014 | Stephen Moore

Posted on 02/18/2014 3:51:25 PM PST by jazusamo

Mark down Feb. 14, 2014, as the Saint Valentine's Day union massacre. Years from now we may look back at this date as the turning point of the modern-day union dominance over manufacturing industries in America.

That's the broader national significance of the 712-to-626 vote in Chattanooga, Tenn., to reject a United Auto Workers attempt to unionize a Volkswagen auto assembly plant. Despite a full-court blitz by the AFL-CIO and even the Volkswagen management to allow the union in, the workers turned thumbs-down to the power play.

Why? Three weeks ago I traveled to Chattanooga on behalf of the Beacon Institute to educate workers and community leaders on the perils of unionizing the 3,000-worker plant. My message and those of others, including UAW members from Michigan: Beware turning Chattanooga, a surprisingly fast-growing metro area in the South, into Detroit.

Workers got the message. A union would put their jobs at risk.

When I traveled to Chattanooga and met with families who would be affected by the union presence, l heard multiple concerns. One was that unions would withhold money from worker paychecks with few corresponding benefits.

Workers are paid well at the VW plant — $18 to $30 an hour (plus benefits) depending on skills — and there is high demand for these jobs. One worker at the plant told me that collectivist union work rules might prevent merit-based advancement.

They also understood that the higher plant costs associated with a union presence could mean that over time more assembly jobs are outsourced to Mexico or China.

This vote in Chattanooga was one of Big Labor's most severe setbacks in years. The stakes were much larger than what would happen to a few thousand workers within this one factory's walls.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: righttowork; uaw; unions; volkswagen
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To: Vince Ferrer

Great questions and the UAW doesn’t want them asked.


21 posted on 02/18/2014 4:49:31 PM PST by jazusamo ([Obama] A Truly Great Phony -- Thomas Sowell http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3058949/posts)
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To: jazusamo

UAW is likely talking to some judges...


22 posted on 02/18/2014 4:50:24 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: DugwayDuke

“So, if they’d hired more blacks, the union would have passed and that’s why it’s racism.”

If the blacks could manage to stay out of prison, maybe they would have more say...


23 posted on 02/18/2014 5:00:01 PM PST by babygene ( .)
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To: SamAdams76
The socialists will learn from this and they will soon be back for another try.

It won't be from THIS BUNCH

An interesting read if you filter out the turgid Socialist prose.

24 posted on 02/18/2014 5:48:29 PM PST by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: Don Corleone
Common sense..Why would VW workers vote to support a union that controls a rival auto company...GM??

This nails it.

Even if they were receptive in a general way to being in a union, this would be a deal killer.

25 posted on 02/18/2014 5:51:35 PM PST by Salman
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To: jazusamo

As industrial unions lose power the government unions become more powerful.


26 posted on 02/18/2014 7:00:54 PM PST by arthurus (Read Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson ONLINEhttp://steshaw.org/economics-in-one-lesson/)
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To: centurion316

how foolish that some workers actually voted to unionize... they have got to be downright stupid...


27 posted on 02/18/2014 7:21:31 PM PST by latina4dubya (when i have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: jazusamo
Will Volkswagen Vote Kill Power Of Big Unions?...it's a start, along with stories like the one rocking Philly tonight - ten members of the local ironworkers union arrested for "mob-like" activity - threats, arson, and beatings to force contractors to use their workers on building jobs - gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to local politicians - 'rat Allison Schwartz, now a member of the House but set to run for governor named as one who "redonated" her contribution from the union to a charity - surprisingly getting good coverage on most TV outlets (though not the CBS outlet channel 3, which seems to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 'rat party).....
28 posted on 02/18/2014 9:07:42 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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