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Nissan workers in Mississippi vote against forming union

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29 Comments
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Shame. Could have set a good precedent.

-13 ( +5 / -18 )

You don't get rich at Japanese companies... but you very rarely have to worry about being laid off or fired either. If you work hard they'll always take care of you.

-8 ( +6 / -14 )

Unions in the US ask for way too much, There are now plenty of work related laws and regulations in place to make sure people aren't used and abused anymore.

Look what happened to Hostess, they could not meet the demands of the Union, so 18,000 people ended up losing their jobs, they may have been rehired, but they ended up but making much less with higher insurance premiums.

To me, Unions are like divas, they think they are all high and mighty and can demand anything, but one day your luck runs out and no one wants you around anymore.

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

Now, workers do not have to worry Nissan will move out from Miss. The company can install modern machinery and can train workers to be technicians instead of keeping them as laborers.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

That's too bad

0 ( +5 / -5 )

saiko:

If you work hard they'll always take care of you.

And what happens if they overwork you?

4 ( +7 / -3 )

And what happens if they overwork you?

You take your valuable skills and talents elsewhere?

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Probably Nissan is glad there are people available to work for its factory in Canton. Back in. Japan population. shortage are so severe that no one apply for factory jobs.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Shame. Could have set a good precedent.

But they did set a good precedent.

Well, actually the just followed the precedent that was set years ago. This is just the latest in a long line of failed votes for the UAW.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Wise move by the people who know what's important to them: the very workers. Unions are actually responsible, in part, for factories closing down and moving somewhere else.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

An average of 44$/h is a lot. That's more than 90 000$ a year and the union want more money. They should be lucky to have a high paid job that requires almost no education and training. No wonder why they move the plants to Mexico.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

It's their choice, now they have to live with it.

Watch and see what happens over the next 4 years.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

tabana, the workers do not make $44 an hour.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I wonder if they have an electoral college in place, they could probably still form a union at 38% , even though they didn't get the popular vote?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@yuriotani: inn automindustry $44 is for a laborers.. push button equipment operators get more money.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Poor paycheck-to-paycheck people are only making an average of $85,000 per year. They should get some form of government subsidy to make up for this travesty.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

englisc aspyrgendAug. 5  11:57 pm JST

It's their choice, now they have to live with it.

Watch and see what happens over the next 4 years.

Not becoming another Detroit?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

They already do - in the form $1.3 billion in corporate welfare courtesy of the state of Mississippi.

Says a study conducted by the UAW, not exactly a neutral source.

1.3 billion over 30 years isn't bad when you consider the tax revenue generated from keeping Nissan in the state.
3 ( +4 / -1 )

YuriOtani - tabana, the workers do not make $44 an hour.

According to the article -

A 2015 study by the Center for Automotive Research found that Nissan paid an average of $44 an hour in pay and benefits, toward the low end of all automakers. Nissan has given pay raises since then.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I forgot to mention... many Japanese companies take better care of their workers at overseas facilities than they do in Japan itself. In Japan... you'll get overworked while labor laws and social norms at overseas' facilities make for a much better environment. This coming from a person that worked in a Japanese factory in the USA.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you want to work in Japan you need t get student work visa. You can work up to 24 hers a week while enrolled full time in a university. You need to ne fluent in Japanese. So forget to work n Japan.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I think it's for the best. Unions are outdated and are from a time of mass organized labour, not the high tech manufacturing we see today. They would have just been disadvantaging themselves by unionizing in this hyper-competitive economy today.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Bob Dylan said it so well in his song "Union Sundown". Unions were very necessary and did a great job establishing and preserving workers' rights. They got greedy and became more like a business. Now I think they may be needed again in some cases.

In this specific case I am not privy to all details but in general I could see unions making a comeback in the U.S. With the disparity between rich and poor growing again and seeming to hit early 20th century levels as well as with real (adjusted) income actually falling over the past couple of decades there are certainly some places where unions are needed to protect the American workers.

Well, they voted and I guess it did not work out. I would like to see the breakdown of the $44/hour figure. Benefits (and if they are factoring in payroll taxes as benefits) could eat up a good chunk of that.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

 The UAW's lack of influence among southern auto workers has reduced its bargaining power when Detroit automakers lose market share and close plants.

Detroit is all but a ghost town now. Empty stores, theaters, hotels, and a bankrupt city government. Why did this happen? The UAW carries more than a little blame. People should of course work for the highest wages they can get, relative to their ability. The problem with many UAW workers is that their wages were much higher than their ability. What was the popular saying back in the early 70's? "I get $18 an hour to turn a screw."

The cost of labor and benefits adds greatly to the cost of every car made and sold. Legacy costs, that is, the cost for pensions and other retirement benefits to retired workers adds some $2000 to the price of every car made by the "Big Three". It's obvious that retired workers should get pensions and benefits, but how much? The UAW has been the world's largest consume of Viagra, as the cost of ED treatment is covered by the insurance the UAW provides to it's members.

The world is a competitive place, and those who cannot sell their product at a competitive price end up not being able to compete against those which do. When that happens, factories shut down, and the excessive wages paid to the previous generations of workers and negated by the zero wages being earned by the successive generations. Detroit is a perfect example of the consequences of this system.

What is left unsaid about the unions is their declining political power. If you are a union member, you tend to vote for whomever the union supports. The union leadership extracts great favors (lots of money) from politicians in return for delivering the votes of their members. Between crooked corporations, crooked unions, and crooked politicians, the rest of us end up with fewer jobs, lower wages, and less opportunity for economic improvement. As is almost always the case, promises of short term gains always become long term losses.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Pro-union workers were defiant amid tears at a UAW office, with some calling for another election as soon possible.

It sounds like 38% pro-union workers are democrat voters. They will call another election until they win. The workers at a Nissan assembly plant in Mississippi decided for no Union. It was right decision. The blood sucker Union bosses won't be happy but they must accept the majority of workers' decision.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Nissan pays more than $44 an hour. for a laborer now. Not enough. to pay. union de,

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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