Business

Auto Writers' Consensus: UAW Feels 'Another Stinging Setback' In VW Vote

February 16, 2014, 9:15 AM by  Alan Stamm

The decision by VW workers not to unionize deeply wounds the UAW, automotive journalists and industry analysts suggest in after-action reports on that battle.

Featured_vw_11593
Workers at this four-year-old Tennessee assembly plant rejected union representation by a 712-626 margin.

"The United Auto Workers' stunning defeat . . . raises difficult questions about what the union needs to do to be successful," David Shepardson writes from Chattanooga, Tenn., in The Detroit News. "The loss is certain to complicate the contract talks next year between Detroit's Big Three automakers and the UAW."

At the Free Press, Brent Snavely also sees a serious setback. "The UAW was perceived as an outsider," he notes, adding: "Even some UAW supporters didn’t feel strongly about their decision."

Here's a summary of what they and others says this weekend: 

Detroit Free Press: "The UAW must soberly assess whether it can effectively organize any foreign-owned assembly plant in a region where organized labor has been regarded as an undesirable force for generations. . . . Anti-labor politicians and lobbyists succeeded in portraying the union as a main cause of the Detroit Three’s decline in recent decades and a presence that would harm economic development. As a result, the UAW was perceived as an outsider." -- Brent Snavely

Automotive News: "The vote at VW is another stinging setback for the UAW, which was rebuffed by a 2-to-1 ratio in its last secret-ballot election at a foreign automaker's U.S. assembly plant -- Nissan's factory in Smyrna, Tenn., in 2001. And the UAW's ongoing attempt to recruit workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala., and a Nissan factory in Canton, Miss. . . .  now appears harder to achieve." -- Gabe Nelson

Center for Automotive Research: "Bob King [UAW president] has been very open that if they don’t organize the transplants, their future as a large automotive union is in jeopardy.” -- Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Ann Arbor nonprofit, quoted in New York Times

Detroit News: "Workers rejected the union after three days of voting this week — a major setback for the UAW that has said its survival depends on organizing foreign auto workers." -- David Shepardson

Vanderbilt University professor: "It will create an even more uphill battle for labor unions when they seek to organize in the South.” -- Daniel Cornfield, labor relations expert quoted by New York Times

Kelley Blue Book: "The UAW’s attempts to organize other nonunion plants in the United States are very unlikely to be greeted with as much cooperation from other manufacturers. This could mark the end to UAW hopes to gain traction in these nonunion southern state plants." -- Jack Nerad, executive editorial director, quoted by Financial Times

Related coverage at Deadline Detroit:

Doron Levin: UAW Earned Its Defeat In Chattanooga, But The Union Isn’t Done



Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day