Volkswagen Workers Vote to Join the UAW

 

 

Another Musing Here At The Wealthy Ironworker

 

 

 

Volkswagen, the prominent German auto manufacturer, has just ONE non-union facility on the planet. JUST ONE – located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Well, HAD.

Last week, Volkswagen employees voted by a large margin (73%) to join the UAW. What’s more, this is on the heels of last year’s unprecedented union wins. The UAW won significant raises for their members from the “big 3” – Ford, GM, and Stellantis.

Volkswagen’s response?

According to Manufacturing Dive,

 

“Late last year, Volkswagen boosted wages by 11% at the Chattanooga plant and reduced the time required to reach the top of the pay scale. The changes took effect in December.”

 

And do you know why?

Because Volkswagen could. According to this website, Volkswagen’s “Net profit rose 13.1 percent to 17.9 billion euros ($19.6 billion) from the previous year [2022].”

Turns out, a rising tide does indeed lift ALL boats.

And they thought raising wages would head off a vote to unionize.

Volkswagen (among other manufacturers) has been accused of Unfair Labor Practices in organizing drives and coupled with lower wages, it’s a volatile system ripe for workers organizing.

For example, see this Reddit thread that discusses Volkswagen wages, working conditions, and everything else in between.

 

What’s Leading the Charge?

Of course, the UAW contract wins with the “big 3” had a tremendous effect. Previous unionization campaigns, 2014 and 2019, respectively, illustrate this.

But is that all that’s going on, here?

Not likely.

 

COVID-19 and Wealth Transfer

 

COVID-19 transferred enormous amounts of money

 

The previous elections were both before COVID-19 – and that in and of itself should warrant a significant pause. Americans learned a lot during the pandemic, notwithstanding the significant transfer of wealth to the super-wealthy, increasing the already burgeoning gulf, as reported by Reuters.

 

“The World Inequality Report produced by a network of social scientists estimated that billionaires this year collectively own 3.5% of global household wealth, up from slightly above 2% at the start of the pandemic in early 2020.”

 

What’s more, that was at the end of 2021. Inequality.org reports that the

 

“Total U.S. Billionaire Wealth: Up 88 Percent over Four Years.”

 

That stat was from last month.

 

Workers Struggle to Afford Anything

 

The crushing weight of not being able to afford anything

 

Inflation has been tearing through Americans’ earnings, but not all inflation is created equal. Fortune reported in January that,

 

“Greedflation’ caused more than half of last year’s inflation surge, study finds, as corporate profits remain at all-time highs.”

The wealthy do not particularly care about inflation since they do not feel it. “Greedflation,” as Fortune calls it, actually has another name: “Maximizing Shareholder Value.” Elsewhere, former GE CEO Jack Welsh said,

 

“On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world.”

 

It seems people actually tire of not being able to afford anything – while companies sit on record profits – and tell them that more organizing (and more money, by extension) is not the answer.

 

Representation Gap

 

Mind the gap – because it’s big

 

We should also acknowledge and take a look at the representation gap.

Oxford Reference, speaking about the representation gap, notes,

 

“The representation gap refers to the fact that a significant proportion of workers in non-union enterprises would like to be represented either by a trade union or by some other form of representative body. It is a product of the decline of trade unionism and collective bargaining and the continued aspiration of many employees to participate in the government of industry through representative institutions. The existence of the representation gap suggests that for many workers management communication and attempts at employee involvement are not an adequate substitute for independent representation at work.”

 

To say that workers do not desire representation – through unions – is disingenuous at best and deceptive at worst. Yet, that is precisely what you are told.

At this point, I probably could run a poll and social experiment as I’ve talked to literally hundreds of people over the past several years, researched a significant amount, noted various social media postings, and fielded complaints nationwide of exploitative behavior from companies that have misclassified employees.

If the verification for the organizing process were easier – where employees indicated their desire to be represented, employers had a day to state their case, unions were able to state theirs, and then they voted – YOU WOULD SEE MILLIONS JOIN A UNION STAT.

 

Workers Have Been On The Menu For A Long-Time

 

Workers have been excluded at the table for far too long

 

As the old saying goes, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.” This has been the description for employees for far too long.

Interestingly enough, even conservatives are beginning to see the mounting problems with our current economic model that excludes such important stakeholders.

American Compass – with staunch conservative members like Jeff Sessions and Marco Rubio – and their brief “Conservatives Should Ensure Workers a Seat at the Table,” acknowledges,

 

“The defense of markets, though, has at times made us overly solicitous of businesses. As we advocate for owners and managers in their pursuit of profit, and celebrate the enormous benefits their efforts can generate for us all, we must accord the same respect to the concerns of workers and ensure that they too have a seat at the table. In a well-functioning and competitive market, participants meet as equals able to advance their interests through mutually beneficial relationships.”

 

Couple all of these together, and you have conditions that create a perfect storm. One begins to wonder if – and when – these same results will appear in the construction industry.