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http://www.no2uaw.com/
11 Reasons Why We Demand a Secret Ballot Vote
1. We were told Volkswagen wanted us to sign a card. (I heard this personally at a UAW meeting)
2. IGMetall Told us to sign a card. Link
3. We were told by the UAW that they were just gauging interest and it wasn’t an official campaign. Link
4. Some were cornered and TOLD to sign the cards. Proof of this exists.
5. Some cards were signed for people.
6. Many signed because they were constantly pressured by other employees and Team Leaders.
After almost two years who wouldn’t give in?
7. We were told it was for the works council and not the UAW.
8. We were told “No UAW, No Works Council. Link
Then we were told we didn’t need the UAW for a works council. Link
9. We were told “No works Council, No VW expansion”. Link
10. Aerotek workers were promised employment if they signed a card.
Once they were hired by Volkswagen their cards counted.
11. The UAW has promised more money and better benefits. This is very illegal, but very persuasive.
Mr. Williams, speaking at UAW headquarters, said the union hasn’t seen a decline even after renegotiating some deals that would allow workers to opt out of paying union dues."
UAW Chief Says Little Impact Seen From Michigan Right-to-Work Laws (sorry, WSJ registration link)
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
MADISON, Wis. — While big labor and the politicians who love their money paint doomsday scenarios should Wisconsin become the nation’s 25th right-to-work state, at least one top national union leader says there is little harm in giving workers the right to choose.
Gary Casteel, secretary-treasurer of the United Auto Workers, said he prefers organizing in a right-to-work environment.
“This is something I’ve never understood, that people think right to work hurts unions,” Casteel said in February, according to a July 1 piece in the Washington Post.
http://dailysignal.com/2014/12/13/uaw-boss-right-work-doesnt-hurt-unions-helps/
"United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams said on Monday the current two-tier wage scale for auto workers is unacceptable, and the roughly $19.50 an hour wage new hires earn should be a “good starting point” for negotiations with Detroit auto makers next year.
It is the fundamental belief of the union that people doing the same job should get paid the same wage."
He is absolutely right. However there needs to be compromise. The D3 are not going to roll over and raise the bottom tier up to the top level. Williams knows it and told his people it will be 2019 before they can get parity in the ranks. I think that is optimistic. They are waiting for the top tier to die off or retire.
“The more difficult issue is going to be the Tier 2,” said Art Schwartz, a professor of labor relations at Wayne State University and a former general director of labor relations for GM. “How much of the gap are you going to bridge?”
Schwartz said raises for Tier 1 workers shouldn’t be as difficult as significantly bridging the gap between the two tiers. He said it’s “doubtful” the union will be able to eliminate the two-tier system in 2015 negotiations.
UAW hourly members surveyed by The Detroit News said getting rid of the system is a top concern.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2014/12/15/uaw-president-union-faces-huge-hurdles/20432139/
Hammond, IN – All workers at Lear Corp.’s plant in Hammond, Ind. will earn more than $21 an hour by the end of a new four-year contract ratified Sunday evening—a week after a one-day strike shuttered the plant.
The contract abolishes the unfair system that locked hundreds of workers into fast-food-like wages, paving the way for all workers in the plant to enter the middle class. Under the deal, wages will start at $16.50 and rise to $21.58 by the end of the agreement, establishing a new industry standard for seating workers across the country. Wages for some workers will rise more than 60%.
http://www.uaw.org/articles/indiana-auto-workers-ratify-deal-lear-eliminating-two-tier-pay-system
Since then, Williams says Nissan has made it more difficult with its heavy use of temporary workers.
“They’re in constant fear of losing their jobs. They’re in constant fear of talking about organizing. The way the Labor Act is set up, it’s virtually almost impossible to organize temporary workers in a workplace, even though they are permanent because they are employed by another employers,” Williams said. “It’s a shell game.”
http://nashvillepublicradio.org/blog/2014/12/15/uaw-volkswagen-success-may-make-tougher-organize-south-easier/
A rival labor group to the United Auto Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant said Saturday it expects to have signed up at least 15 percent, and perhaps as many as 30 percent, of the workforce as members by late January.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2014/dec/14/ace-eyes-15-30-percent-membership-vw/278038/
Sweetheart deal? Unions allowed to cut retiree benefits rather than fix underfunded pensions. But when it comes to standing by the obligation unions made to provide pensions to retirees, UFCW pleaded poverty in persuading Congress to let chronically underfunded union pension plans cut the benefits of workers, including those already retired.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/29/big-spending-unions-got-congress-to-approve-pensio/
Here is the new law:
http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/multiemployer-pension-payouts.aspx
Once Upon a Car
gagrice - this is what I hope Boeing does not do. Yikes! If Boeing has the control over the funds and IAM/SPEEA have fought to get the pension funding, it should take something catastrophic like Boeing bankruptcy to halt pension payouts to retirees. Otherwise that's not right, turning the other way from their promises made.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Let's keep in mind that this provision was added to the spending bill that if vetoed by the President would have shut down the government again.
The law hasn't impacted the UAW's autoworkers yet because they are under a contract that expires later this year."
Michigan union membership falls to 14.5% (Detroit Free Press)
Going to be interesting to see what happens with the numbers as the UAW renegotiates with the automakers.
I don't think the rank and file of the UAW are going to be happy with what the Union gets for them this year. The members want to end the two tier wage scale and rightly so. That is a horrible contract they have now. They want the pension plan the old timers have, which they are not likely to ever get. There is no way you can pay one person $30 per hour and someone doing the same job $18 per hour year after year and not have labor problems. The UAW needs to cut the long time employees down and raise the new employees up to meet them. Having a progression is fine over 4-6 years. When you know you are never going to make as much as some old broken down dude, it makes for bad employee relations.
That is exactly what I see happening if they do not get parity. Tell the Union boss I will start paying dues when I make the big bucks. Taft Hartley is the Federal RTW law since 1948. Many Federal employees get all the benefits without the dues.
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2015/02/07/1200-a-day-union-workers-force-shut-down-of-29-west-coast-ports/
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
United Steelworkers on strike at BP Whiting refinery (wgntv.com)
"Analysts don’t expect the strike to have an effect on local gasoline prices."
That's a laugher.
“After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work,” said PMA spokesman Wade Gates, “especially if there is no end in sight to the union’s actions which needlessly brought West Coast ports to the brink of gridlock.”
Time to start hiring all those illegals that Obama is giving the green light to. They are hard workers and can learn to operate a crane for a heck of a lot less than $150k a year.
I guess you struggle to make it, and when you're comfortable, you don't want to struggle again.
Everybody wants to be understood.
Everybody wants you to see things from their point of view.
The UAW Won’t Leave
In the northwestern corner of Alabama is the tiny town of Hamilton, where the folks who work for the big ball-bearing company, NTN-Bower, are having a tough time. The majority of the workers don’t want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union anymore but the UAW, in typical fashion, is refusing to leave.
So the NTN-Bower employees will have an unprecedented fourth vote on February 20th in yet another attempt to cast out the union that so desperately needs members. UAW officials were able to persuade the National Labor Relations Board to dismiss the first two votes by the employees and, when a third vote was taken on January 16 of this year, the union finally won.
But, once again, there was a discrepancy – 139 workers voted but 148 ballots were found in the box. Imagine that. Only 140 workers at NTN-Bower are eligible to vote.
The vast majority of those in the Chattanooga area are “anti-union” after organized labor nearly ruined Chattanooga 50 years ago. Many can still recall when there was little industry in what is now a vibrant city. As Deb Emster so succinctly put it, “The union rabble rousers need to get out of Tennessee. They are not welcome. They are not good neighbors. They are thugs and institutions of evil."
“The unions of today do no good to anyone but themselves,” she said. “They pocket the money they collect and it is skimmed by the mafia. Thuggery, mafia, meanness and evil is not Tennessee. Now these bad people need to get out of here and go back to the hell holes they came from.”
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/2/5/293426/Roy-Exum-The-UAW-Wont-Leave.aspx
Workers at the factory have held three elections, including two NLRB votes, to determine whether or not to remain in the union since 2013. Alabama is a right-to-work state and does not allow forced unionization. NTN-Bower employs 140 workers at the factory who are union eligible, but only 76 pay union dues to Local 1990, according to 2013 federal labor filings.
UAW Local 1990, which represents the workers, collected about $38,000 in dues from its members in 2013. It spent $17,000 on staff, officers, and administrative costs. The majority of the money was turned over to the national UAW for per capita taxes.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/workers-try-to-boot-union-for-fourth-time-after-rigged-election/
See Ruby Falls.
I can tell you the UAW members in Michigan will be taking advantage of the right to work laws if the Union does not end the two tier system. It is not right to be doing the same job making $15 per hour when the old timer is making $28 per hour. They need to compromise and pay all full time about $22. That would be about equal with what VW & other transplants are paying their employees after 3 years.
Still wouldn't want his job though - he got hurt on the job and was stove up pretty bad last time I heard anything about him.
"The ACE is an alternative to and has campaigned against the UAW union, which a year ago lost an election to be the sole representative of workers at the plant.
The ACE proved to an outside auditor it had achieved support from at least 15 percent of the plant's hourly and salaried workers, VW said. The UAW two months ago proved support from at least 45 percent of hourly workers at the plant and also represents workers there.
The VW policy allows increasing levels of access to plant management based on a group's support level. The UAW at 45 percent has more access to management than the ACE at 15 percent."
I really need to make a trip home and chat up my nephew who works for one of the auto suppliers down there. Funny when the weather is in the high 60s instead of single digits, the urge to leave town just isn't that strong. Seems like we were going to TN every four or five months from the UP.
The UAW says they have about 50% signed into the pseudo union local. If it was really true why haven't they asked for another NLRB vote? If ACE keeps signing up hourly and salaried workers, it should muddy the playing field real good. Like the ACE leader said a large part of the employees do not want any union ACE or UAW. I also wonder how many of the people signing up are Temps from the agency? I don't think they would be allowed to vote in an election.
The ACE proved to an outside auditor it had achieved support from at least 15 percent of the plant's hourly and salaried workers, VW said. The UAW two months ago proved support from at least 45 percent of hourly workers at the plant and also represents workers there.
Moss said he hopes the ACE can convince anti-UAW workers who are anti-union to join his group. But, he said, it is difficult to convince anti-union workers to join any worker group.
All the UAW is after is the $$$$. With 1500 dues payers they could send about half a million a year back to Michigan. Add to the fact VW is not selling that many Passats from the TN plant. VW sold 96k Passats in 2014 down from 109k in 2013. VW also made less net profit in 2014 than 2013. They let rival Toyota take back the profit crown. Not sure that will put VW in a generous mood if UAW comes in like the bullies they were in the past. I just don't see any UAW advantage for the workers.
Hadn't seen that about the Passat. But I gave up on trying to figure out VW years ago. It was a bit of an eye-opener when they Americanized it while decontenting it and it sold like hotcakes. VW fans weren't fooled though I guess.
Back in the VW Bug days, that was a big selling point.
Since their "Americanization", they are bland, not nice inside, not good driving (I'm talking to you Jetta). Yet still unreliable and costly repairs at a poor dealer network. IMHO the disadvantages remain while the advantages went away. If I want a boring dull cr@p sedan I can always buy a Corolla and get excellent reliability instead. I liked the previous model Passat a lot better than the current big bland one.
For real fun get the new Golf R.
You must have been one of the unfortunate ones that bought a UAW built Neon. I hear the Mexican built ones are still going strong in the third World.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Interesting article in the Washington Post today on Walker and RTW, at least related to public unions.
up the unions that Walker as a candidate for President might decimate them again nationally in some
way--sort of Bain-like activity.
However, even though there is a primarily political message with sudden interest in Governor Walker, can't feel sorry for the unions. Those poor folks who had a 10% loss in take home pay?... They had their total retirement from the state paid for by the taxpayers. Their healthcare was totally paid for, if I understood correctly, in work years and retirement. Note, they also paid SS and Medicare.
The last folks I heard about getting total healthcare payments were the union boss equivalents in the Ohio teachers association (not union). The field workers who helped negotiate for teachers were negotiating with their own bosses in the OEA and were negotiating for full healthcare to be kept. This at the same time they were telling teachers' local associations (not unions) to accept increases from maybe 10% teacher paid to 20% teacher paid.
That's typical of the unions. Not sure what unions were discussed but a Louisville talk radio program had folks in the know on the program. They said while the workers' retirement funds were 70-80% funded, the separate fund for the folks who were union bosses and running the union was 103% funded.
If the unions provide services or merit, RTW is not a threat. However, the union management parallels our national governmen(and California?) with the leaders in golden goose, lifetime jobs, and the working stiffs and taxpayers footing the bill.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That was what I took from the article - membership rates fell in half, and across party lines. Biggest gripe I'd have if I moved (back) to Wisconsin is that they exempted police and fire unions.
Our friends who recently moved to NW corner of SC (Walhalla) talk about how continually companies are moving in there with jobs and plants because of the low wages due to no unions. They are relatively close to Greenville. Those are jobs that don't go to Michigan or Ohio.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Just who would Walmart negotiate with to get their workers (any sympathetic customers) back as they bleed green ink?
Last night I watched two workers at the third closest Walmart in our area spend 10-15 minutes talking in a rear aisle in front of TVs before both heading on out. I was looking for DVD players and looking at phones. Did either make eye contact to ask if they could help me? No. Lost productivity time.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,