Revolution in Tennessee

April 19, 2024 7:22 PM

The NLRB announced tonight that UAW won a historic union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga Tennessee. The union won by a margin of more than 70% as votes [continued] to be counted. With labor shortages throughout the manufacturing sector, many of the workers hired by Volkswagen were much younger and more diverse. Some had even moved from more pro-union parts of the country to work there. “It’s a totally different ball game,” [Renee Berry] said. “The atmosphere is different. You see more pro-union than anti-union [workers]. A whole lot of people who were anti-union in the past have switched.”
posted by 2N2222 (19 comments total)

Good! I'm glad to read this.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:34 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]

Whoo-hoo!!!
posted by Navelgazer at 7:34 PM on April 19 [2 favorites]

As a Chattanoogan, this is immensely satisfying news.
posted by AdamCSnider at 7:35 PM on April 19 [8 favorites]

Thank god.
posted by aramaic at 7:41 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]

This is really good news. A Mercedes shop in Alabama is up next.
posted by Ickster at 7:57 PM on April 19 [12 favorites]

That's great!

I worked (remotely from Seattle) for a company in Murfreesboro who bought out the company I had previously been working for. Most of their business was manufacturing. Never even thought about if they were unionized or not, but knowing the capitalist who ran the company, yeah, they weren't.

"What have the Unions ever done for us?"
XERXES: The aqueduct?

REG: What?

XERXES: The aqueduct.

REG: Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that's true. Yeah.

COMMANDO #3: And the sanitation.

LORETTA: Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like?

REG: Yeah. All right. I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.

MATTHIAS: And the roads.

REG: Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads--

COMMANDO: Irrigation.

XERXES: Medicine.

COMMANDOS: Huh? Heh? Huh...

COMMANDO #2: Education.

COMMANDOS: Ohh...

REG: Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.

COMMANDO #1: And the wine.
posted by Windopaene at 8:25 PM on April 19 [11 favorites]

S O L I D A R I T Y
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:33 PM on April 19 [16 favorites]

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong!
posted by praemunire at 10:32 PM on April 19 [17 favorites]

In our hands is placed a power
Greater than their hoarded gold
Greater than the might of armies
Magnified a thousandfold
We can bring to birth a new world
From the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us strong

Ever since I started as an adult in the workforce, I have been part of a union, and I have been deeply involved in advocacy and representation of members in my workplace for the last several years. I literally start to tear up when I read stories like this. It is so important for workers to understand the power that they have when they stand together. Solidarity forever!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:57 PM on April 19 [24 favorites]

Over on lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com, I have been reminded of Billy Brag, Dropkick Murphys, Joe Strummer and the Mesclaeros - and their very vocal support
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 1:23 AM on April 20 [5 favorites]

✊👍
posted by nofundy at 2:41 AM on April 20

this is really great!
posted by supermedusa at 9:11 AM on April 20

Thanks so much for posting this, 2N2222, such great news!
posted by Bella Donna at 9:22 AM on April 20

Hopefully, this portends a shift in the politics of fear, resentment, and superstition that have dominated the South for so long, and gotten especially shitty over the last several years. And kudos to Shawn Fain. That guy's been on fire.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:23 AM on April 20 [6 favorites]

Meanwhile, Kemp, other Southern governors tell autoworkers that voting for a union will put their jobs in jeopardy. Republicans down here are so incredibly anti-union (except for the cop unions, of course).
posted by hydropsyche at 1:24 PM on April 20 [7 favorites]

This is such great news - and I especially appreciated the second link, and the chance to read so many comments from individuals at the factory.

Thank you so much for posting this, and for choosing those great links, 2N222!
posted by kristi at 3:15 PM on April 20 [1 favorite]

I live in Chattanooga (6 minutes from the VW plant), and I've been hoping this would happen, but didn't really expect it. Yay!
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:17 PM on April 20 [3 favorites]

Hopefully, this portends a shift in the politics of fear, resentment, and superstition that have dominated the South for so long

This is the way.

The Governor of Louisiana is a labor boss for the LNG build out. He exploits immigrants for oil and gas, and fights immigrants from having rights, and is fighting the USA from having environmental rights. It s all for labor suppression.

He won with 18% of the electorate. There is no red mandate, only suppression.

1862 was the beginning of a labor action. It continued until the USA rolled up on Texas and declared "all slaves are free."

The bosses have their culture war crap, the point is to make voting feel hopeless, even when you win.

This vote is the opposite of that. Not hope, but power.
posted by eustatic at 9:45 AM on April 21 [7 favorites]

Another big Union win in Chattanooga. Huzzah!
posted by kirkaracha at 6:55 PM on April 21