Since we have been following the resurgence of workers' rights -- and the new teeth accorded to NLRB decisions, for about five years here -- largely at Amazon, but also at Starbucks and a few other shops. . . I thought it important to point to the larger narrative: for over three decades, larger employers have been increasingly unfair to their blue collar workforces. With almost no push back, in evidence.
Well. . . that time has now likely ended. The UAW may not be perfect, but it is certain that something was needed -- to counter the highly unequal bargaining power, and bully-tactics, of the German carmaker, in the Volunteer State. Auto-makers (including Tesla, obviously) should take heed: the time of Draconian "workshop rules" is (once again) coming to an end. Here's the latest, from Reuters:
. . .The United Auto Workers is counting on scoring a seismic victory at Volkswagen's Tennessee plant as unionization votes are tallied on Friday - one that opens up the anti-union U.S. South to organized labor.
A win would make the Chattanooga factory the first auto plant in the South to unionize via election since the 1940s and the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to do so.
[The UAW is presently attempting] to unionize plants owned by more than a dozen automakers across the U.S., including Tesla. . . .
Federal officials from the National Labor Relations Board on Friday evening will start the counting of ballots after three days of voting ends, with results expected around 11 p.m. Eastern Time (0300 GMT).
"Everybody else is watching," said Isaac Meadows, a worker at the VW plant, who said he voted in support of the union. "This is going to change the labor landscape across the country. . . ."
And real wage levels -- ones upon which a normal American family might actually afford health care, and a modest home. . . shall return, in the process. Or so I am hoping. Onward, into the sunshine!
नमस्ते
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