Another UAW Organizing Scheme

After their unsuccessful attempt to organize the Volkswagen automobile plant in Right To Work Chattanooga, UAW union officials are attempting another end-run around workers in Alabama.  Patrick Rupinski as the story in tuscaloosa.com.

The United Auto Workers adopted a new tactic this month in its drive to organize Southeastern auto plants. It formed a new UAW local for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International workers in Vance before those workers even authorized the union.
The creation of UAW Local 112 does not make the UAW the collective bargaining agent for Mercedes workers. The UAW still must convince the workers to support the union.

“Legally, nothing has changed,†as a result of the formation of the local, said Patrick Semmens, vice president for public information of the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation in Springfield, Va. “What they (the UAW) hope to do is to use the local to bypass having a secret ballot election.â€

Casteel declined to put a time frame on how long the effort at Mercedes might last.

Bain said there are unknowns that could affect things.

While MBUSI management might emphasize neutrality, no one publicly knows what discussions, if any, occurred in Germany, Bain said.

There were indications before the unsuccessful union vote at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga that Volkswagen, another German auto company with ties to I.G. Metall, was willing to work with the UAW in Tennessee, he said.