UAW Crushed. What Comes Next? UAW Crushed In Vote Attempting To Unionize At VW Plant In Tennessee, Despite Obama Intercession

No wonder they wanted card check:  I remember, toward the end of the last Bush administration,  whippersnappers all the confident young Dem policy warriors repeating labor’s talking points about the need to allow the secret ballot in union recognition elections to be replaced by “card check,” a system in which workers sign cards in the presence of union organizers. Without card check, management would “coerce” workers by pointing out the downside of unionization in mandatory propaganda meetings.

Wasn’t it possible that workers who turned down unions simply looked at what Wagner Act unionism had done, say, to Detroit, and decided for themselves that this wasn’t what they wanted to happen to their company? Nah.

Now we know different: At Vokswagen’s Chattanooga factory, the UAW was actually welcomed by the employer. No union-busting propganada sessions. VW, which already has a powerful union back home in Europe, wanted to set up German-style “works councils,” where rank and file employees could have a say in production decisions. But, according to many U.S. labor lawyers, it needed a union partner — otherwise, under the Wagner Act the works councils would be considered an illegal “company union.” The UAW seemed ready to be that partner. UAW organizers were allowed in the plant to make their case. Management didn’t argue back.**

And the workers still said no. In the secret ballot election that concluded Friday, VW’s Chattanooga employees voted against unionizing by a margin of  712 to 626. The UAW couldn’t even win an election it had been handed on a silver platter by management.

The most interesting part comes next: If Volkswagen now goes ahead and starts its works councils anyway, without the UAW, will organized labor sue to have them declared illegal? That would give the Roberts Court a precious opportunity to interpret the Wagner Act in a way that actually allows non-legalistic, non-adversarial forms of worker participation in management (despite the “company union” prohibition). In effect, the courts could help VW create what those on the left have been (correctly) demanding of the right: a reasonable alternative to traditional unionism, giving workers a “voice” without subjecting every management decision to a war of bargainers and lawyers and (ultimately) the formalized pitched battle of a strike.

Now that would be a threat to Big Labor. Which is why they might not sue.

Via: Daily Caller

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'Evil' Koch brothers just 59th on top political donation list

Sometimes, if you listen to some Democrats, they're running against the "Evil" Koch brothers rather than a specific Republican candidate.

The brothers that liberals like to hate are often trotted out as prime examples of why campaign finance reform is necessary. They are often portrayed as one of the biggest contributors to political candidates, their evil money financing evil Republicans.

The group OpenSecrets.com has compiled a list of top donors to candidates and, to the left's surprise, the Koch brothers are far down the list.

Washington Examiner:

Charles and David Koch are the two most evil people in American politics, right? We know that because Jane Mayer proved it with her landmark "Covert Operations" tour de liberal force in 2010.

Well, it turns out that Mayer's aim was off just a little, by like 58 slots on the all-time biggest donors in American politics list, as compiled by OpenSecrets.org.

OpenSecrets.org tallied the top donors in federal elections between 1989 and 2014. Koch Industries -- privately owned by the Evil Koch Bros -- is on the list, to be sure, but doesn't appear until the 59th slot, with $18 million in donations, 90 percent of which went to Republicans.

Unions, unions, unions

So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are ... wait for it ... unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.

These are familiar names: AFSCME ($60.6 million), NEA ($53.5 million), IBEW ($44.4 million), UAW ($41.6 million), Carpenters & Joiners ($39.2 million) and SEIU ($38.3 million).

In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.

Via: American Thinker

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Why Doesn’t The UAW Want A Secret-Ballot Election At VW?

It is a long-standing precedent that unions are legally allowed to lie to workers in order to get their support–and lie they do.

Take, for example, Carol Wilson, a Volkswagen employee in Chattanooga who was misled into signing a UAW authorization card.

“When I was approached to sign a card a year and a half ago, it was, ‘Oh, the card just means you want more information.‘”

Lying to workers in order to get them to sign union authorization cards is, unfortunately, a common tactic.

It is also one of the reasons unions like the idea of card-check–the process of unionization based on signatures, as opposed to secret-ballot elections.

In Chattanooga, where the UAW has claimed that it has gotten a majority of VW’s employees to support the union’s efforts, the does not want employees to vote by secret-ballot on unionization.

Why? Because, according to the UAW, it will lose.

“We’ve determined we definitely have a majority of employees who favor this representation,” Casteel told the Tennessean last month. “But we are not seeking a vote necessarily.”

Why not, if that is what the workers want?

“We know if we go for a traditional election where the outside organizations could campaign against us, we’d probably lose,” Casteel said. [Emphasis added.]

Via: Red State

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Experts Fear Backdoor Unionization in Tennessee

A business’ attempt to collaborate with workers may provide an auto union a long-sought foothold in right-to-work Tennessee, which experts suggested could end up hurting employees.

United Auto Worker Region 8 director Gary Casteel claimed that a majority of the 2,500 workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga manufacturing facility had signed card check forms, which would grant the union exclusive representationrights at the facility.

This wasn’t a typical example of a union organizing: It was the company, not the union, that raised the issue of giving workers a voice in the plant’s operations.

VW, a German company, approached the Tennessee manufacturing plant earlier this month, hinting that it would not receive additional investments if it did not establish an European-model works council to represent employee interests.

“When I toured the Chattanooga plant and spoke with workers, I found little evidence of any job dissatisfaction … all anyone could talk about was the number of applicants and how lucky they felt to have such a good job,” one auto analyst told theWashington Free Beacon on condition of anonymity.

Works councils provide employees with direct representation to management in worker safety and plant operations. They differ from American unions in one respect, according to Lipscomb University economics professor Richard Grant.

Via: WFB

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Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees

UAW union bosses target Volkswagen workers for unionization

Springfield, VA (September 5, 2013) – The National Right to Work Foundation has issued a special legal notice regarding Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen AG (VOW.DE) workers targeted by United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials for unionization. The notice can be viewed here: http://www.nrtw.org/en/vw-chattanooga.

Recent media reports suggest that Volkswagen and UAW union officials are in talks about unionization of the VW workers at the Chattanooga plant. The Foundation's notice debunks UAW union boss Bob King's remarks that Volkswagen workers must unionize with the UAW union in order to discuss wages and working conditions with their employer. The notice also informs workers about what they can legally do if they oppose, or change their minds about their support of, the unionization scheme.

"Volkswagen workers can discuss their work with their employer without UAW unionization," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. "The UAW's campaign of misrepresentation is meant only to misinform workers into thinking that they have no choice but to unionize."

"National Right to Work attorneys have assisted workers across the country who have suffered the consequences of these top-down organizing campaigns designed by UAW union officials," added Mix. "Workers who feel they are being unfairly pressured when deciding whether or not to associate with the UAW union may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600 or contacting us on the Foundation’s website at www.nrtw.org."

Via: Freedom Works

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Gasparino: GM’s Devil’s Bargain

GM’s devil’s bargain - Still stuck with Uncle Sam

The Obama campaign raves about how it “saved the auto industry” — that is, the government’s bailout mainly of General Motors — and so preserved millions of jobs.

But if it was such a success, why is the bailout losing so much money — and why do current GM managers want nothing to do with Washington as they try to save the company?

The answer: They know that with the lefties in the Obama administration breathing down their necks, their chances of ever restoring GM to its past glory are anywhere from slim to none.

Of course, it’s hard to feel sorry for GM’s management, which news reports and my own sources say has been prodding the administration to sell off its remaining 26.5 percent stake in the company. GM’s bosses invited Uncle Sam in — tough luck for them that he doesn’t want to leave.

For way too long, the Big Three — GM, Ford and Chrysler — kept on cutting generous wage and benefit deals with their unionized workforce as if it was still the 1950s and ’60s, when foreign competition didn’t exist. By 2009, that heyday was long, long past — and the Great Recession brought their highly flawed business model crashing down.

The $17 billion in loans from the Bush administration in its waning days wasn’t enough. GM and Chrysler came hat in hand to the President Obama for a little more hope and change.

An easy solution would have been to let the companies reorganize under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. They’d have had a good chance to survive; plenty of other companies have restructured under bankruptcy protection and emerged later as viable businesses. American Airlines is doing it right now, and without major disruptions in service, or mass layoffs.

As it turned out, Chrysler and then GM did declare banktuptcy — but the resolution wasn’t the normal court-overseen reorganization. Under Obama, the feds dumped in tens of billions more into the companies and took controlling stakes in an industry that was once a bedrock of free-market capitalism.

In the administration-overseen restructuring, bondholders got hit hard in what many legal experts say was a violation of bankruptcy laws, and dealerships around the nation got slammed

.

But the president’s buddies in the United Auto Workers largely feasted. Sure, the absurd “jobs bank” — Detroit’s version of a “no show job,” where the auto companies basically handed fired workers free money — got shut down. And new hires lost out on the old guaranteed pensions for the market-driven 401-k plan that most of the rest of us rely on for retirement.

Via: New York Post

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The Delphi Debacle Union members were made whole at the expense of non-union employees in auto bankruptcy

Fred Arndt and his brother Dave came to General Motors straight out of high school.

They spent their entire careers building the engine cooling systems that increase the lifespan of Cadillacs and other vehicles. Dave worked in assembly; Fred, one year younger, qualified for GM University, which propelled him to work as a draftsman and engineer. They worked the line side-by-side. Dave built the parts Fred had designed.

The brothers made their way to Delphi, an auto supplier spun off from GM that builds components—seats, instrument panels, steering and suspension systems—for cars.

After more than 30 years with the company, the brothers retired in their native Michigan. They watched as Delphi’s growing labor costs dragged it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. It would not emerge until 2009 when the government stepped in with $50 billion for GM.

And then the Arndt brothers’ paths diverged. Fred, 64, lost his health, dental, and life insurance, along with 70 percent of his pension. Dave lost five percent of his health insurance and some dental coverage.

His pension, however, was made whole.

The difference: union membership. Dave is a member of United Auto Workers—the labor group that financially backs the Democratic Party. Fred was considered management.

“I worked for GM and Delphi because I thought I had security; I worked my buns off to be a ‘company guy,’ and to be treated this way in retirement is incredible,” he said. “I knew there would be a price to pay, but I expected everyone to take a cut—not just the salaried guys.”

When GM separated from Delphi in 1999, Fred travelled far from Michigan. He worked all over Ohio and in company plants in upstate New York. As he neared retirement, he returned to Saginaw, Mich., and commuted 100 miles each day to Delphi headquarters in Troy. He retired a bit earlier than he had expected—the daily drive took its toll. He never had children, so he had plenty of savings to supplement his pension. Now he has been forced to use the money to pay for his home, groceries, and gas.

Via: WFB

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DNC TO PROMOTE 'SUCCESS' OF AUTO BAILOUT

The DNC has plenty of good elected official seats still available. 

The (Convention planning) documents also give a glimpse of what parts of Obama’s record will get the most attention in the campaign, with one piece — the auto bailout — rating several mentions in the plan....

President Barack Obama claims the $82 billion auto bailout “created or saved” one million jobs.  But this is the Administration that claimed the $1 trillion so-called “Stimulus” bill “created or saved” jobs - in non-existent Congressional districts.

Chevy Volt

The administation spent $80 billion on “green jobs” - but couldn’t define what a “green job” was.  And when they finally started defining it - counted things like oil industry lobbyist, bus driver and garbage man. Suffice to say, President Obama and his Democrat cohorts have a long history of being...disingenuous.  And having a great deal of difficulty with math. 

We think the auto bailout rates several mentions - though we’re sure ours won’t come up at the Charlotte, North Carolina Democrat Lie-A-Thon.  Behold:

Taxpayers are poised to lose over $42 billion on the $82 billion auto bailout.  President Obama in late 2009 said we would make money on it.

$26.5 billion of the loss was a straight payoff to the Democrat-apparatchik United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

During the bankruptcy process, President Obama illegally paid off the UAW first and in full - before secured bondholders who should have been made whole before anyone else got a dime.  Which was incredibly disruptive and destructive of the entire bond market. 

President Obama illegally carried forward through the bankruptcy the ridiculously exorbitant UAW contracts, a huge contributing factor to GM going under in the first place - and are again, predictably, helping to wreck the bottom line.

Via Breitbart

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