– Volkswagen’s top labor representative threatened today to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the U.S. South if its workers there are not unionized, Reuters reported today.

“I can imagine fairly well that another VW factory in the United States, provided that one more should still be set up there, does not necessarily have to be assigned to the South again,” said Bernd Osterloh, a member of VW’s powerful supervisory board and head of VW’s works council.

“If co-determination isn’t guaranteed in the first place, we as workers will hardly be able to vote in favor” of potentially building another plant in the U.S. South, said Osterloh, who was quoted in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Workers at VW’s factory in Chattanooga last Friday voted against representation by the United Auto Workers, rejecting efforts by VW representatives to set up a works council labor board at the plant.

Osterloh complained that “the conservatives stirred up massive antiunion sentiments.”

Source: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/19/volkswagen-official-threatens-block-expansion-if-w/?breakingnews

– 32BJ members and other union members are speaking out against anti-worker bills in Harrisburg and politicians are listening. Because of the thousands of phone calls and door knocks that SEIU and other union members have made, we were able to push back destructive anti-worker bill HB: 1507 another week.

Will you help keep the fight going? Come to a phone bank this week.

Tonight, Thursday, Feb. 20, 5:00-8:00pm
District 1201 Office: 455 N. 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123

Friday, February 21, 12:00-3:00pm
MAD Office: 42 S. 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

32BJ members and members from many unions from across Philadelphia and PA. have been braving the cold to knock on hundreds of doors. 32BJ members like Audra Traynham connected with community members who are outraged about these out-of-state attacks on PA union members.

“While I was out knocking on doors in Delaware County, I spoke to a SEPTA worker who had just returned from the ER after being injured on the job,” said Audra. “He said that without his union, he would not have had access to good healthcare or the time he needed to recover from his injury. He insisted on taking action against HB: 1507 immediately and called his representative in Harrisburg!”

We’re keeping the pressure on, but the fight is far from over. The next date that HB: 1507 could come up is March 11. Over the next two weeks, we know that our legislators will be hearing from out-of-state corporate special interests who want to take away your rights. That’s why it’s more important than ever that they hear from us too!

Join Audra in fighting back. Volunteer for an hour or two at a phone bank this week.

When we fight, we win.

In solidarity,

Gabe Morgan
32BJ Vice President and Pennsylvania State Director

By Steve Tawa

— Area elected officials and union members gathered today outside the former Nabisco and Kraft bakery in Northeast Philadelphia to protest the company decision to close the factory by early next year.

Word that Mondelez International is “consolidating its current US biscuit manufacturing footprint” by closing its Philadelphia bakery, at Byberry Road and Roosevelt Boulevard, prompted state representative Brendan Boyle to say Mondelez is exploiting workers for even more profits.

“This is corporate greed on steroids,” he said today.

Boyle says it’s not a case of the company falling on hard times and needing to change its business model.  He says Mondelez made $54 billion last year.

Shutting down the plant will affect more than 300 workers.  The plant has changed hands over the years from Nabisco to Kraft, and then to the Chicago-based Mondelez.

Union leader John Lazar of Local 492, who has put in 30 years at the plant, joined a chorus of others who suggested boycotting Fig Newton, Oreo, Ritz, and other brands of cookies and crackers whose production Mondelez has shifted to plants in Mexico.

“Put it back on the shelf if it says ‘Made in Mexico’ on the box and the code date on the box has an ‘MM’ — that’s Monterey, Mexico,” Lazar said.

Source: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/02/19/union-members-urge-boycott-as-ne-phila-food-plant-is-shuttered/

– Pete Matthews, the President of AFSCME District Council 33, today announced that contract negotiations between the Union and the City of Philadelphia are set to resume on Friday February 21, 2014 (location to be determined) and should continue, around the clock if necessary, until a fair contract settlement is reached.

Matthews said the contract negotiations have dragged on for more than five years due to the Nutter Administration’s insistence on what Matthews characterized as “unjustified concessionary demands” regarding furlough days, pension and overtime cuts, and health benefit changes.

Matthews noted that District Council 33 members have continued to work in every department in the City this year during the worst winter in recent memory. For the last five-plus years, union members have not gone on strike and, while continuing to work each and every day, have helped the City financially by foregoing raises and health care increases during that time.

Matthews said that District Council 33 members have earned the right to a fair contract settlement as a result of their dedication and the sacrifices they have already made.

The union was instrumental in helping the Nutter Administration achieve legislative approval for an increase in the sales tax which generated over $425 million in new revenue and allowing pension trustees to defer pension payments saving the City millions of dollars.

“District Council 33 members who work for the City have waited long enough, and contributed more than their fair share to help the City through the recent recession, not receiving health benefit and wage increases in over six years,” said Matthews. “That has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and five balanced budgets that kept the City on a steadfast growth to a Wall Street A plus bond rating, which, according to the City is ‘its highest level ever’. Mayor Nutter has admitted that the improved bond rating reflected the City’s strong financial position.”

Matthews added: “It is time for the Nutter Administration to return to the bargaining table and demonstrate a more serious intent to get this contract settled.”

– A vote on union representation at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee ends in a defeat for IndustriALL affiliate the UAW by 626-712 after threats and intimidation by Republican politicians and anti-union groups.

Workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant voted against union representation that would have led to the establishment of a works council. It would have been the first such model of labor-management relations in the United States, supported by the Volkswagen company and its CEO of the Chattanooga plant, Frank Fischer.

At the end of a three-day election  supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, on 14 February it became clear that Volkswagen workers had voted against United Auto Workers (UAW) representation by 712 to 626.

The workers’ free choice was undermined by an aggressive opposition campaign led by Republican politicians and anti-union groups, involving threats and intimidation. Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers threatened to withhold tax incentives from Volkswagen if the workers voted for union representation. A Republican senator claimed he had been “assured” of new investment if the workers voted against the union.

The election took place after unprecedented cooperation between IndustriALL, United Auto Workers (UAW) and German’s IG Metall. UAW worked hard in the weeks leading up to the election, being allowed to enter the plant to inform workers of the consequences and benefits of establishing a works council.

“While we certainly would have liked a victory for workers here, we deeply respect the Volkswagen Global Group Works Council, Volkswagen management and IG Metall for doing their best to create a free and open atmosphere for workers to exercise their basic human right to form a union,” said UAW President Bob King.

“We commend Volkswagen for its commitment to global human rights, to worker rights and trying to provide an atmosphere of freedom to make a decision,” said UAW Region 8 Director Gary Casteel, who directs the union’s Southern organizing. “Unfortunately, politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that that would grow jobs in Tennessee.”

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina says:

“This is sad news for IndustriALL’s global family, but equally for the workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga. Outside interference undermined the workers’ free choice.  Workers  in Tennessee should be able to enjoy true freedom of association. We applaud the 626 who resisted threats and intimidation and voted in favour of defending their rights collectively.”

The Tennessee plant is the only Volkswagen manufacturing unit in the world without union representation.

Source: http://www.industriall-union.org/outside-interference-undermines-vw-workers-free-choice-in-chattanooga