United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)

fintail

Will be very interesting. I wonder if many Germans know that the relationship between workers and managers is much different in the US than in Germany. Maybe VW could actually have organized employees who don't seek war with the employer, and VW can act as an employer not out to belittle and denigrate the employee.

stever

And maybe Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman will have a rematch next month.

tlong

Will be very interesting. I wonder if many Germans know that the relationship between workers and managers is much different in the US than in Germany. Maybe VW could actually have organized employees who don't seek war with the employer, and VW can act as an employer not out to belittle and denigrate the employee.

I have a feeling the VW-union thing won't end well (in this country).

gagrice

I have a feeling the VW-union thing won't end well (in this country).

I am skeptical myself. If they allow any of the UAW inbreds from Michigan into the factory, it will not end well. VW will need to be stronger than they were in PA years ago. It is really hard to tell what the UAW could possibly have to offer the workers. I would bet they are making close to what the Domestics are now paying new hires.

Volkswagen’s new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, made headlines this year as the first US auto assembly plant to pay its entire production workforce the lowest starting wage for new US autoworkers—$14.50 per hour.

Looks to me like a pretty good Median income at VW in TN.

http://www.salarylist.com/city/Volkswagen-Group-Of-America/Chattanooga-TN-Salary- .htm

stever

And then there's this interesting wrinkle in today's WSJ:

GM Lowers Boom on Germany Plant

"General Motors Co. said it will move forward with plans to shut permanently a plant in Bochum, Germany, by the end of 2014 after workers rejected a cost-cutting deal the auto maker had hammered out with union leaders."

Clash of cultures?

fintail

Or Opel is slowly but steadily circling the drain - it has become less powerful as time moves on, kind of like the US GM brands 25-30 years ago. Vauxhall is of course already more or less gone.

gagrice

Way too funny
In an unusual case where the United Auto Workers union is bargaining as an employer, about 74 workers at the UAW-General Motors Center for Human Resources rejected the union’s latest contract proposal.

The staff workers include clerical, custodians, maintenance workers and professional staff, that provide safety training and legal services to UAW workers at dozens of GM factories and offices. Some of the center’s employees are represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union. The UAW and GM jointly manage the center at the foot of Walker Street on the Detroit riverfront.

The employees have been working under the terms of their previous deal, which expired March 31, 2012, after rejecting the latest proposal Tuesday by a vote of 58 to 4.

Kevin Nix, lead negotiator for OPEIU Local 459, said his members have not authorized a strike. UAW-GM negotiators have not threatened to impose new working conditions.

But OPEIU has filed three Unfair Labor Practice complaints with the Federal Labor Relations Board during the bargaining process, Nix said. Specifically, the union alleged that the UAW-GM leaders failed to pay the OPEIU bargaining team, proposed to change workers’ health care plan and stopped bargaining at one point.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130328/BUSINESS0101/130328075/Unionized-workers-r- eject-UAW-GM-bargaining-proposal

stever

"The Canadian Auto Workers Local 88 union said Wednesday that formal negotiations with General Motors Co. to reach a new contract for hourly workers at GM's CAMI assembly plant have been temporarily suspended as the parties review "a number of issues."

GM Canada spokeswoman Adria MacKenzie said the sides remain engaged and have ongoing dialogue.

"There is still more work to be done to enhance the competitiveness of our Canadian operations and we will continue to work with the CAW to identify opportunities to improve," she wrote in an email to The Detroit News."

CAW, GM negotiations temporarily suspended (Detroit News)

stever

"The UAW will find no open door at Mercedes-Benz’s assembly plant near Tuscaloosa, Ala., a executive of the German automaker said Thursday.

“The workers are free to decide if they want to be represented by the union or not,” Porth said.

But Porth said the union faces an uphill battle at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama. The 2,900 workers there receive wages and benefits that management considers adequate."

Mercedes is neutral, but not welcoming to UAW (Detroit Free Press)

marsha7

Mercedes generally is considered high-quality...
UAW has made some of the worst cars and has come close to ruining the US automakers as a hobby of theirs...
Would ANYBODY have an open door for the UAW???
Would ANYBODY even open their door for a former UAW worker to work in their plant???

If I was in charge of employment at an automaker, and I was reading a resume of an applicant, and, under "previous employment" I saw just the "U" of "UAW worker" I would not even read the rest, I would simply terminate the interview and recommend they go to Italy and see if they will hire him/her to work at Chrysler...

UAW workers to the Asians transplants is kinda like Kryptonite to Superman...death poison...

gagrice

Chrysler should have stood up to the UAW on allowing the Pot heads back into the factory. In light of these findings they are promoting Schizophrenia in the work place.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324637504578566094217815994.html

stever

Chrysler did "stand up" but lost the arbitration and that was their only remedy to try to keep the workers fired under their contract with the UAW. (HuffPo)

I don't know if the automakers have the will to "fix" the contract next time around to make it easier for those yahoos to stay fired. Could be the execs are too busy snorting blow with their banker friends to care.

Mr_Shiftright

Every company gets the workers it deserves.

stever

I bet these guys stay fired:

GM fires employees over Indian recall (Fox)

But maybe not, since some work in the US.

gagrice

Media reports said GM employees misled government officials about emissions results on the Tavera, built and sold only in India, to meet standards.

The vehicles under recall were sold between 2005 and 2013.

Looks like White collar workers that got the boot.

gagrice

I hope they did not get unemployment, food stamps or back pay. To me that would be reason to end the UAW contract when it came up for renewal. Michigan is now right to work and they would have NO trouble finding people that are willing to live by the rules. I worked too many years around the oil companies in the Arctic where drugs and alcohol were forbidden and zero tolerance was enforced. A friend accidentally left an airline bottle of wine in his carry on. BP found it and he was on the next plane out, fired, no return to the oil field.

stever

"Volkswagen would become a “laughingstock” if it goes through with a deal to have the United Auto Workers represent workers at its Tennessee plant, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday.

“For management to invite the UAW in is almost beyond belief,” Corker said. “They will become the object of many business school studies — and I’m a little worried could become a laughingstock in many ways — if they inflict this wound.”

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company has faced pressure from labor representatives on its supervisory board, who have called it unfair for the company to deal with organized labor at every one of its major facilities around the world except for at its U.S. plant."

Sen. Corker of Tennessee calls Volkswagen talks with UAW 'incomprehensible' (Detroit Free Press)

Mr_Shiftright

Rather harsh words considering Germany's far more enlightened approach to labor relations. I don't see VW dying because of their other union workers.

Sen Corker needs to look at the other side of the coin--bad management. Talk about case studies for business schools!

stever

Not everything is rosy at VW Chattanooga (and with all the incentives they've given VW, that could bite the pols).

"Because of the sluggish sales, a move to ramp up production at Volkswagen's gleaming $1 billion Chattanooga plant backfired, and 500 contract workers were let go after less than a year on the assembly line." (WSJ)

gagrice

What is the problem in Chattanooga VW? It looks like a thriving operation to me. They will likely build and sell 100k+ Passats this year. They are not making huge gains. But not losing like their main competition the Camry. I don't think the workers will vote the UAW into the plant. They know they have it better than a lot of the UAW workers in other states.

(CBS News) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Jessica Davis started on the assembly line at the VW plant in Chattanooga. Today, this 37-year-old mother of three is a supervisor.

"I've jumped three levels in three years," she says. "And so it's made me that much more hungry."

Davis started out building cars and ended up building a career.

Five years ago, Chattanooga beat out 400 other cities to become the home of the new plant. It cost VW $1 billion to build. More than 2,500 workers here are assembling the Passat sedan.

They belong to the manufacturing middle class America is trying to rebuild. VW's plant workers, with overtime, average $50,000 a year.

"The main jobs that were here were heavy duty, nasty, manufacturing jobs," Davis says. "And they're gone. They're few and far between. To come into Volkswagen as a team member, making $14, $15, it was a big jump for a lot of people in this area."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57601812/vw-plant-brings-auto-manufacturin- g-jobs-to-tennessee/

stever

"Employees at the Faurecia Interior Systems plant in Tuscaloosa today rejected a bid by the United Auto Workers to organize a union there.

Its customers include the Mercedes-Benz auto plant in Tuscaloosa County, as well as Nissan and Volkswagen"

Employees at Mercedes-Benz supplier reject UAW bid to organize a union there (al.com)

What was interesting to me was the vote - 86 to 62. Not really a slam dunk anti-union vote at all. And this is the deepest South you can get.

gagrice

The UAW did lose by 28%. That is a pretty big loss. How much did the UAW spend on a handful of workers? From my experience trying to organize in AK that was much more pro Union than the South. It was not a slam dunk even after you got a NLRB win. We got the North Slope Borough workers in Prudhoe to sign cards and the Teamsters won the election. The North Slope Borough (Local Government) would not meet with the Union. They were finally forced by the NLRB to meet. We fought with them for over 2 years. They finally resolved the issue. They contracted to a Prudhoe company to do all the camp and equipment maintenance. Laid off the Borough employees and they got nothing from the Barrow gangsters. That was a tough lesson for those dozen guys.

So even if the VW workers were to have an election and wanted the UAW to represent them. VW has the upper hand and will force their work council onto the UAW. Would be interesting to see how that would work. The UAW is used to doing everything with Baseball bats. I don't think they are a match for VW.

gagrice

Not to mention those that vote against the UAW will not have to join. They will get the benefits without paying the dues. The beauty of a Right to Work State.

imidazol97

posts about the auto plants & related in the South.

Thanks.

robr2

What is the problem in Chattanooga VW? It looks like a thriving operation to me. They will likely build and sell 100k+ Passats this year.

The plant is just fine. The problem is that it's designed to build 200K cars a year and VW might sell 100K. They let 500 contract workers go earlier this year and until they can get the proposed 7 seat CUV into production, it's a big investment that isn't being fully utilized.

lemko

Before you go too far with union-bashing, dig this!

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Ex-Wall_Street_chieftains_living_large_in_post- -meltdown_world.html

gagrice

Meantime, the major banks that survived the crisis, largely because they were saved with taxpayer money after being deemed “too big to fail,” are now bigger and more powerful than ever.

The same could be said about GM and the UAW the tax payers bailed out. Just not on the grand scale a few of the banksters are enjoying. Citibank laid off 52,000 little people after getting the bailout. I bet they don't have the retirement the UAW workers are enjoying at our expense. How much will the next big bailout cost the tax payers? And it is NOT far off. Look at the good paying jobs being dumped over the last year. Most scrambling for a few McJobs.

http://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-mass-layoff-announcements-2013-4?op=1

Mr_Shiftright

unions are going to make a roaring comeback now that the disparity of wealth between rich and poor is the greatest in 100 years. You think the strikes at McDonald's and Walmart are a coincidence? Just the first clouds in a gathering storm.

gagrice

That is just wishful thinking. Possibly the public employee unions will grow to the Detriment of ALL tax payers. I look for more Union companies to bail out of the closed shop states. More full time workers put on part time to avoid Obamacare. And the McJobs may get a MW raise to $9. GM is moving production to Mexico on their top sellers. For right now it is to compensate for higher sales numbers. As soon as the market heads back down hill the layoffs will start here not Mexico. The UAW will continue to shrink in size. Teamsters may grow a little as there is a shortage of truck drivers.

Mr_Shiftright

Don't think so. Historically, the social pressures suggest otherwise at least. ACA is going to be very successful I think, once it is tweaked properly.

andre1969

ACA is going to be very successful I think, once it is tweaked properly.

What's that old saying? "You think it's expensive now? Just wait until it's 'free'!"

gagrice

Have you looked at the 4 ACA plans? Silver will cost $321 per month in Los Angeles. You are a young person making $9 per hour that is 20% of your gross income. And if you refuse the IRS dings you. If you take the cheaper Bronze the copays are higher. Not sure a large part of the population will still be able to afford HC.



http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/13/news/economy/obamacare-affordable/index.html

Mr_Shiftright

Silver plan is one of the premium plans. You can buy cheaper (bronze)

The silver plan helps subsidize those needing assistance.

Also, under ACA you can't be turned down for prior medical condition.

7.3 million (2 percent of population) will not be eligible for any assistance and will simply have to buy a plan or pay the penalty. 94% of all non-elderly Americans (250m out of 280M) already have health insurance. (like the UAW)

You probably won't even know anyone who has to pay the IRS their $94.

Cost of one ER visit without insurance = more than the average monthly rent paid in the USA.

Right now, You pay for deadbeats who skip their ER tabs.

berri

This thing is so messed up because Congress (mostly lawyers) rammed it through and it seems like most of the coordination in developing it was with the health insurance industry instead of people like physicians, pharmacists and hospital administrators. Washington never learns. Wasn't it under Al Gore's reinvent America that they decided to encourage small stand alone surgery clinics and now the hospitals have major unabsorbed overhead problems driving up their costs and driving many of them into red ink? But then the insurance industry seems like the government; some clerk makes decisions on whether the physician's recommendation is valid. Can't tell me Canada's government run system is any worse really!

robr2

Have you looked at the 4 ACA plans? Silver will cost $321 per month in Los Angeles.

$321 a month beats the $1900 a month list price my plan costs now. Of course, most of that is covered by my wife's employer, but it's a reference point.

You are a young person making $9 per hour that is 20% of your gross income.

A young person in good health would/should take the lowest cost plan available. Further, since that person earns only $18K a year, he is eligible for a subsidy from the government to help pay for insurance.

berri

In many states a poverty wage means Medicaid right now which doesn't cost him anything. Of course, the states often just shift it to the physician who barely makes cost and waits months for reimbursement (which also means rates go up for the rest of us to make up for it).

stever

"A majority of workers at Volkswagen AG’s Chattanooga Assembly Plant in Tennessee have signed cards in support of union representation in creating a German-style works council, according to United Auto Workers President Bob King."

UAW: Majority at Tennessee VW plant have signed union cards (Detroit News)

If this flies, we'll be talking about the Chattanooga model, and I don't mean Terrell Owens.

berri

So why does the UAW have to be the union they use? Didn't they do this once before with the failed Pennsylvania VW plant? I agree with Sen. Corker - they will rue the day! There will be excessive work rules and constant antagonism with management driving up inefficiency and overhead costs, while hammering quality (an already sensitive image for VW from their past here - think Squareback or Rabbit). If they want a union, start a new one separate from the awful history the UAW has displayed over the past half century. Hopefully, TN is right to work so the conscientious employees can opt out of this fiasco in the making.

Mr_Shiftright

quality control is a management issue, not a union issue IMO. You could take the exact same workers and build a good car or a crappy one.

stever

My guess is that the UAW has been working with IG Metall in Germany to get to this point. I doubt that the Teamsters or Steelworkers or some new group has the interest or the clout (ie, money to hire organizers, etc.) to compete with the UAW.

berri

"quality control is a management issue, not a union issue IMO"

I'd agree with that most of the time. But UAW tends not to be a normal situation. Their contract work rules and rights makes it very difficult to manage these workers effectively, let alone discipline. Their attitude is they work for their union and brothers before the company. Remember during the BK days the UAW would be on the newscasts always wearing UAW garb instead of company or product logos! And as you can see from the BK process at GM, the gov seemed more concerned about the UAW than any other stakeholder. Try managing workers in that kind of environment.

tlong

The plant is just fine. The problem is that it's designed to build 200K cars a year and VW might sell 100K. They let 500 contract workers go earlier this year and until they can get the proposed 7 seat CUV into production, it's a big investment that isn't being fully utilized.

VW's problem is that they used to be marginally reliable smaller cars with great interiors and great handling. Then they decided to Camry-ize their Passat and Jetta offerings. Now they're marginally reliable more US-centric cars with less great interiors and less great handling. They thought they would rapidly increase sales with that strategy. What a joke.

robr2

Didn't they do this once before with the failed Pennsylvania VW plant?

There was more to the closing of Westmoreland than just the UAW. VW was building vehicles there that were not competitive with what was being offered by other brands at the time. They were building a small car when the cost of fuel was dropping and buyers wanted bigger cars. The Golf MK2 wasn't received by the market positively.

All that combined with the poor relationship between VW and the union is what killed the plant.

robr2

VW's problem is that they used to be marginally reliable smaller cars with great interiors and great handling. Then they decided to Camry-ize their Passat and Jetta offerings. Now they're marginally reliable more US-centric cars with less great interiors and less great handling. They thought they would rapidly increase sales with that strategy. What a joke.

Really?

In 2011, Jetta sales went from 97K to 150K and Passat sales went from 23K to 117K in 2012. "Americanizing" the models sure did improve sales. Yes, they are no longer the value German car but when they went that route, sales were pitiful.

gagrice

In 2011, Jetta sales went from 97K to 150K and Passat sales went from 23K to 117K in 2012.

I think this is the first month in a long time that VW has not had good gains. It could be as simple as retooling for the 2014 models. I know the dealer where I just bought my VW was having a hard time keeping certain 2013 models in until the 2014s started to arrive. Audi is having double digit increases almost every month. And I imagine VW does quite well with both Audi and Porsche profits.

I am skeptical of VW welcoming the UAW into the fold. A bit like opening the hen house for the fox to get in. Maybe VW feels they have the upper hand offering to set up a Works Council. Not sure that fits the thug mentality of the UAW rank and file. The UAW is desperate to gain members as their numbers keep dwindling. The UAW is small compared to many of the other trade unions. And they have a lot larger retirement role to maintain. I think it is about 2-1 retirees to worker bees. That is NOT good.

robr2

I think this is the first month in a long time that VW has not had good gains.

The Passat, Jetta and Beetle are the only reasons that VW is even close to last year's numbers. Their real problem is the rest of the lineup. The EOS, Tiguan and Toureg are not competitive in the mass market. A new Tiguan based on the Jetta and the new 7 seat Passat based crossover - both built in NA - can't come soon enough.

I think that VW knew that Chattanooga would be under utilized for 3-5 years. I highly doubt they expected to be able to sell 200K Passats in such a short time.

I am skeptical of VW welcoming the UAW into the fold. A bit like opening the hen house for the fox to get in. Maybe VW feels they have the upper hand offering to set up a Works Council.

VW doesn't have a choice in a union - it's up to the workers. VW is being pressured by the unions in Germany to work with the UAW in setting up a works council. AFAIK, a works council won't pass muster with the NLRB as a union. Perhaps VW might set up a works council in conjunction with the UAW but without formal representation. With the UAW on the works council board, it could act as a check/balance.

berri

Well, I believe TN is a right to work state. I wonder how many of those workers will remain dues paying UAW workers over time? If they do, this plant is probably doomed. UAW militancy and attitudes combined with the high fixed costs of a new facility and a brand that still needs to work on their quality reputation doesn't portray a good story down the road. It will be interesting though because either the UAW will corrupt the worker attitudes or the workers will bail on them. My experience living in the south several times is that they will probably bail on the UAW dues. I think they are too independent minded to put up with the nonsense for very long.

lemko

Dig this!

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130912_1_Percent_zooms__while_the_rest_of_us- _languish.html

gagrice

But their conversation soon moved to what has become a contentious topic this summer: labor’s renewed anger over Mr. Obama’s health care law and decisions surrounding it, especially the postponement of an employer mandate to ensure coverage for workers and the potential effects of the coming health insurance exchanges on existing plans.

At the convention, though, several labor leaders spoke their minds.

“If the Affordable Care Act is not fixed and it destroys the health and welfare funds that we have fought for and stand for, then I believe it needs to be repealed,” said Terence M. O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. “We don’t want it to be repealed. We want it to be fixed, fixed, fixed.

“We’ve had our asses kicked on retirement security and we know our health funds are under siege,” he added. “We ask the president and Congress to do the right thing for the men and women we represent.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/business/unions-misgivings-on-health-law-burst- -into-view.html?_r=0

stever

Just wait until the Big 3 try to emulate Honda.

Honda cuts pensions, reduces benefits (Columbus Dispatch)

Pensions are really sacrosanct to unions, compared to employer paid health care.