The latest regarding VW..........

[piece-itpete]

I did.

Deception, intimidation, sounds like a good old fashioned Union vote Seriously was someone standing in the booth with them?

Pete

[CarlV]

I guess you must have missed the other thread.
http://www.politicalchat.org/showthread.php?t=6893

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been "assured" that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build.

Corker's bombshell, which runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen, was dropped on the first of a three-day secret ballot election of blue-collar workers at the Chattanooga plant whether to allow the UAW to represent them.

Corker has long been an opponent of the union which he says hurts economic and job growth in Tennessee, a charge that UAW officials say is untrue.

"I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga," said Corker, without saying with whom he had the conversations.

In the past few weeks, Volkswagen officials have made several statements that the vote will have no bearing on whether the SUV will be made at the Chattanooga plant or at a plant in Puebla, Mexico.

National Labor Relations Board expert Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, who is professor of labor at the University of Indiana-Bloomington, said Corker was trying to intimidate workers into voting against the union.

"I'm really kind of shocked at Corker's statement," said Dau-Schmidt. "It's so inconsistent with what VW has been saying and VW's labor relations policy in general."

The Indiana professor also said Corker's comments "would be grounds to set the election aside and have to run it all over again at a later date" because it could be ruled to be interfering to the point that it is against federal labor law.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A1C04H20140213


Carl

[piece-itpete]

I saw that. I've also heard Dems say the world is going to end if their Pres doesn't win, and the GOP saying the same thing. Why doesn't VWs management or union reps come right out and say if he was right or not? Heck they could've responded immediately.

The whole thing smells IMO. Something just ain't right!

Pete

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I saw that. I've also heard Dems say the world is going to end if their Pres doesn't win, and the GOP saying the same thing. Why doesn't VWs management or union reps come right out and say if he was right or not? Heck they could've responded immediately.

The whole thing smells IMO. Something just ain't right!

Pete

I agree, something does stink. The foul odor first fill my nostrils when St. Ronnie fired PATCO. And the most recent stench filled the air when Republican politicians started sticking their noses in it and running their mouths. I see it as a long overdue effort to turn the tide against neo-conservatism on the labor issue.

Dave

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I saw that. I've also heard Dems say the world is going to end if their Pres doesn't win, and the GOP saying the same thing. Why doesn't VWs management or union reps come right out and say if he was right or not? Heck they could've responded immediately.

The whole thing smells IMO. Something just ain't right!

Pete

Because if anyone in VW management was proved or admitted to giving "assurances" to that piece o' crap Corker, there would be hell to pay. It is illegal.

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Because if anyone in VW management was proved or admitted to giving "assurances" to that piece o' crap Corker, there would be hell to pay. It is illegal.

Hence, something is amiss.

I did say I would've voted for the union if I worked there.

Consider this:

"...
When Volkswagen opened its plant in Chattanooga in 2011 and hired 2,000 workers, Rattner says, "little attention was paid to the fact that the beginning wage for assembly line workers was $14.50 per hour, about half of what traditional, unionized workers employed by General Motors or Ford received."

With benefits, Rattner says that the workers cost VW $27 per hour but that in Germany the figure for the average auto worker is $67 per hour.

...."

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...e-auto-market#

VW is full of something, and it's not goodwill towards their fellow man.

Pete

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Hence, something is amiss.

I did say I would've voted for the union if I worked there.

Consider this:

"...
When Volkswagen opened its plant in Chattanooga in 2011 and hired 2,000 workers, Rattner says, "little attention was paid to the fact that the beginning wage for assembly line workers was $14.50 per hour, about half of what traditional, unionized workers employed by General Motors or Ford received."

With benefits, Rattner says that the workers cost VW $27 per hour but that in Germany the figure for the average auto worker is $67 per hour.

...."

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...e-auto-market#

VW is full of something, and it's not goodwill towards their fellow man.

Pete

Agreed on VW management. I might've bought one of their products but given this latest, not a chance. My guess is that Corker was full of shit about the so called assurances he allegedly received and was using his bully pulpit to bugger the vote. Would that he could be censured for it but I ain't holding my breath.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

"...
When Volkswagen opened its plant in Chattanooga in 2011 and hired 2,000 workers, Rattner says, "little attention was paid to the fact that the beginning wage for assembly line workers was $14.50 per hour, about half of what traditional, unionized workers employed by General Motors or Ford received."

There's something that's amiss. I know people who work at GM in Lordstown. They do not start at anywhere near $29/hour, that's ridiculous. Last I heard, assembly line folks start at ~$18. A strong wage, sure, but not what these people are claiming. A millwright at topped out union scale makes ~$34/hour. Unless someone is counting benefit costs for union workers, but not VW workers.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what you think is amiss, Pete. It seems pretty simple to me. Are you thinking maybe the German Works Council is trying to force the work out of the USA for some reason?

Dave

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

How do you know the results of that election represented the true will of the workforce? How many voted no, or didn't show up for the vote at all, out of fear of reprisal from management?

Dave

That would be a good question for the workers' friends at VW.

I'm still convinced that there's more to this than we know.

Here's another take on it:

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily...160128679.html

Pete

[CarlV]

It is VW's money, maybe they built here because they wanted to build on this continental but without Mexico's corruption. Now they have built here and figured out corruption is here just as it is in Mexico after spending 1 billion of our money and 1/2 billion of theirs. They could be looking at Canada even instead of throwing good money after bad.

I'm still convinced that there's more to this than we know.

No, I don't see it at all.


Carl