no wonder Germans think Americans are crazy

[grzegorz]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/14/us/tennes ... nion-vote/

[chud]

What's crazy about saying no to unions? I don't get the thread title.

And btw, the Germans are nuts about Hoff (link), so the feeling is mutual.

[grzegorz]

Actually they were lied to. The Republican politicians told them that VW didn't want to deal with unions and if they went union they'd close down. Yet VW actually wanted a union because they know the employees would benefit. So much for the South will rise again.

I work in delivery and we all know the best paid delivery drivers are UPS because they're Union. All companies could pretty much pay the same but they don't because we don't have a union.

Btw, the unions are reason we have a weekend.

I don't get the Hasslehoff thing either but we live in a nation fascinated by Jersey Shore and super hero movies so who are we to talk? Besides which H's career started here.

[grzegorz]

By the way, I wikied Tennessee's median income and it's ranked 45. I can't say I'm surprised.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

[Dajenarit]

Yea, the working class self hatred is sometimes baffling but when you have deeper insight its somewhat understandable. I used to work for a union. People will believe a company lie faster than practical truth if it comes from an organizer or even worse a fellow employee who supports the union.

Then again, once you fire that first person to be made an example of, like I was, people who were already afraid of losing work just decide that much quicker to give up fighting for their interests. Tried and true tactic, and companies never get held accountable. Even if you win the case for wrongful termination like I did the odds are still stacked in the companies favor. Granted my case got run in the Bush years with a Republican stacked Labor Relations board, but Obama is just as blatantly anti-union. He didn't said 1 word about Wisconsin's workers. Let alone campaign promises to unions. You just aren't protected properly siding with unions. Every law and policy is corporate friendly, and honestly corporate money has corrupted union management just like everything else in society. Alot of times union members end up fighting union and corporate management to even bargain for raises or healthcare let alone to strike.

People are rightfully demoralized about supporting unions and messing up a 'good job' who just might have your interests in mind. Add to that the constant anti-union propaganda on mainstream media and the fact that often enough, successfully unionized workplaces (when it does happen) get immediately shutdown and everyone summarily terminated as was the case with facilities of my former company. Every time workers fight for their rights through union organizing the news doesn't even breathe before rolling out hit pieces. My mother had to go through it constantly with the MTA. Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it to bother with them here. Americans don't even know why they don't like unions half the time but they do.

[rob2]

Americans don't even know why they don't like unions half the time but they do.

Perhaps American's equate being in a union with socialism?

[grzegorz]

The irony is that ultimately it was unions in the shipyards of Gdansk that brought down Communism in the West.

[Orpheus]

Union formation is usually driven by some combination of bad working conditions, low pay, poor benefit, and ill treatment by management. I haven't come across an article that articulates complaints by the workers. Instead, this appears to be driven largely from the outside by the UAW and with the tacit support of VW that wants a works council to work with employees.

The employees were facing were mandated dues and probably a little bit of fear that the union would come into the mix and muck things up. A lot of people probably viewed unionization as adding risk and a "tax" to maintain the status quo. This isn't to say that the fear mongering and threats didn't play a role, but in my opinion, they played a secondary role.

[grzegorz]

VW's model is that the workers and management have an equal say in the company and the unions ensure this. With this recent vote VW is now saying they are reconsidering expansion in the US and especially in the South.

Keep this up Tennessee and you'll be ranked at 50 before you know it.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSB ... 9?irpc=932

[grzegorz]

According to article since VW uses the co-determination model in which the workers and management make all decisions ultimately union workers chose to have the factory in Tennessee but after this none of them are going to vote for expanding in the South. Thus the title of the thread.

[yeniseri]

New reports are that Governor Corker's threats were on his own and not that of VW core beliefs. He tried, and succeeded but he allegedly screwed further VW expansion by his efforts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/2 ... lp00000592

[grzegorz]

Cadillac makes fun of Germany, not realizing those rocket scientists were from Germany.

[aamc]

Pedant alert: Cadillac makeing fun of the French.

[Steve James]

I'm with ya, but Goddard created the liquid-fueled rocket. The Americans were just too unimaginative and lazy to take advantage. Afa the commercial, I think it's partly tongue-in-cheek, and it only risks being taken seriously by an audience of Americans.

Of course, comparing German work habits/ethics to other European countries is something that might work with Americans anyway.

[Dajenarit]

It's a typically stupid borderline nationalist commercial coming out of these major corporations with a pretty disgusting subtext.