Chattanooga,Tennessee Volkswagen Workers Reject UAW Union Vote … Devastating Defeat for Unions … “A Southern Man Don’t Need Them Around Anyhow!”

Tennessee, it’s called the “Volunteer” state, not the union state …

Lynard Skynard may have been singing about ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ but the same holds true in Tennessee and the rest of the South … “Well, I hope Neil Young  UAW will remember, A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow!”

YES TO AMERICAN WORKERS, NO TO UNION THUGS!!! Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee have voted no against union representation in a devastating loss for the UAW, United Auto Workers union. The vote was  712-626, that was released late Friday night opposing unionization of the Detroit based union. Imagine that, the workers in Chattanooga, TN did not want their plant or their city going the way of Detroit? As Reuters  reports, this failure to unionize VW is a stinging defeat that could accelerate the decades-long decline of the United Auto Workers. Prior to the vote, Barack Obama interjected himself into the discussion on the side of “Big Labor”. Of course, Obama’s message was divisive and stated that the union representation of VW was “settled science.”

President Barack Obama on Friday waded into a high-stakes union vote at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Tennessee, accusing Republican politicians who oppose unionization of being more concerned about German shareholders than U.S. workers.

Obama’s comments, made at a closed-door meeting of Democratic lawmakers in Maryland, came as the vote to allow union representation at the Chattanooga plant drew to a close.

Obama’s interjection in the war of words on Friday, albeit behind closed doors, underscored how much is stake in the three-day vote by VW’s 1,550 hourly workers. The vote is due to end at 8:30 p.m. ET and the results could be announced soon after that.

Obama said everyone was in favor of the UAW representing Volkswagen except for local politicians who “are more concerned about German shareholders than American workers,” according to a Democratic aide who attended the meeting with Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

NOT SO FAST BARACK, WRONG AGAIN … Not everyone was in favor of UAW representation ... including 712 workers who voted in the majority and said NO!!!

VIDEO of vote announcement.

Union organizers in the South suffered a setback Friday when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers.

The vote was 712 against the union and 626 in favor. There are about 1,550 hourly workers at the plant who were eligible to vote.

The vote was seen as the UAW’s best chance to organize a nonunion auto plant, because Volkswagen management did not oppose the effort.

Winners and Losers:

Winners: The VW workers, The city of Chattanooga, The state of Tennessee, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), right to work, Volkswagen, America

Losers: UAW, Unions, Big Labor, President Barack Obama, liberalism, Democrats, Thuggery

UPDATE I: Frank Fischer, CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, thanked the workers for participating  in the vote in the following statement.

“They have spoken, and Volkswagen will respect the decision of the majority,” said Fischer in a statement.

Of about 1,500 Volkswagen workers eligible to vote, 89% cast ballots between Wednesday and Friday night.

“We think it was unfortunate that there was outside influence,” said Gary Casteel, UAW regional director who led the unsuccessful campaign. “I want to urge the VW employees to go back to the business of building cars. There are some issues to be sorted out.

UPDATE II: From the Chatanooga Times Free Press: UAW President Bob Kingexpresses his disappointment of the vote.

UAW President Bob King said he was “deeply disappointed” by the outcome, but insisted that the union will regroup and consider its options, which may include a challenge to the results because of what he said was interference by Tennessee Republicans.

“To lose by such a close margin is very, very difficult,” King said. “We’re also outraged by the outside interference in this election. Never before in this country have we seen a U.S. senator, a governor and a leader of the Legislature threaten the company with incentives and threaten workers with a loss of product. That’s outrageous.”

Jack Nerad, executive market analyst of Kelley Blue Book, said UAW put a lot of work into trying to organize VW’s Chattanooga operation. He termed it “a publicity setback for certain.”

UPDATE III: And now for the most hypocritical “sour grapes” comment of the post vote outcome from the unions, they actually had the audacity to claim their were “outside outsiders trying to influence and intimidate VW workers.”  Who are the outsiders UAW? That would be you, trying to come to a Southern, right to work state and causing chaos within a business that came to the state to operate and has been successful because they do not have to deal with unions. A note to the unions, Sen. Bob Corker is a Tennessee senator, whose job it is to represent the people of Tennessee. He is hardly an outsider. The UAW and Barack Obama are the outside “carpetbaggers”.  Also, how comical is it for unions to call out others for intimidation … the UAW and other unions are infamous for intimidation and thuggery.

During three days of voting, the UAW repeatedly complained of outsiders trying to influence and intimidate VW workers into voting against joining the union.

One specific complaint involves Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, a Republican, and vocal critic of the UAW.

During the vote, Corker said he had been told by people close to Volkswagen that the German automaker would not bring production of a new vehicle to Chattanooga if workers rejected the union offer.

4 Responses to “Chattanooga,Tennessee Volkswagen Workers Reject UAW Union Vote … Devastating Defeat for Unions … “A Southern Man Don’t Need Them Around Anyhow!””

1. A Texas Grandfather on February 15th, 2014 8:29 am

   Of course Obama wanted the UAW to win. The Democrat/Socialists receive a lot of money from the unions and unions have been a large part of their base.

   Good for the workers and the city. They made the right decision. Volkswagon escaped a bad situation in the making. This is not Germany and the unions do not behave in the USA as they do there.

2. dennisintn on February 15th, 2014 9:18 am

   “During the vote, Corker said he had been told by people close to Volkswagen that the German automaker would not bring production of a new vehicle to Chattanooga if workers rejected the union offer.” corker said this? did he lose his mind?
   __________________________________
   SM: Actually VW was given like $550 million in tax breaks on the backs of TN tax payers to entice them to come to the Volunteer state. It was done so under the premise of no Unions. TN is a right to work state and the reason why car makers like Toyota and VW are in TN. They do not have to deal with BS inflated Union costs and their nonsense.

   The workers are paid well for an honest days work and if the FU, they are held accountable and fired. What a novel concept.

   I am no Bob Corker fan in general, but I give him credit on this one for telling these workers the truth … If they went union, most likely the production for the new VW would have been sent to Mexico. Unions kill, just take a look at Detroit.

   Labor Unions once served a valuable purpose in the US, but that was many moons ago. Now, Big Labor is just as bad, actually worse than Big Business.
   R

3. lightwave on February 15th, 2014 11:16 am

   The reality:

   If Obamee had kept out of the election, it would have passed. He knows it, the UAW knows it, and the Democrat party knows it.

   Second, all unions and all collective bargaining in the US should be abolished. If Republicans had the political will to do that, we would end the Democrats permanently.

4. dennisintn on February 15th, 2014 12:10 pm

   the article as printed reads as if coker said vw would NOT bring new products if they REJECTED the union.

Leave a Reply