Foreign Automakers Beware! Sincerely, UAW Boss Bob King
Another day and the same story, UAW boss Bob King is threatening foreign automakers with unionization. Bob King, again, is going back on his 11 principles for fair union elections. Bob King speaking at the annual White Shirt Day lunch said:
“UAW will target one of the transplant car companies within 90 days and will take the fight to unionize workers there to showroom floors, picketing dealerships with the targeted transplant company”
According to King’s principles, fair elections consist of:
No coercion, intimidation or threats
2. Employees must be free to exercise the right to join a union or refrain from joining a union in an atmosphere free of fear, coercion, intimidation or threats. There is no free choice if a worker is afraid of
losing a job or losing benefits as a result of his or her choice, or is intimidated into making a choice not of one’s own making.
Bob King’s quote is direct intimidation and a threat to foreign automakers. Apparently, there is no principle for employers. They are allowed to be threatened and intimidated by union officials. In addition, union members of foreign automakers should examine Principle 2 closely and look to the employees of the Big 3. The Big 3 employees ended up losing their jobs and benefits from unionization. To the Bob Kings of the world, an employer looking out for their employees is against UAW and King’s principles.
Another of King’s principles:
No repercussions from management or the union
3. Management must clearly articulate that if workers choose to unionize, there will be no negative
repercussions from the company. The UAW must clearly articulate that if workers choose not to unionize, there will be no negative repercussions from the union. Both the company and the union will negotiate in good faith, and any failure to reach agreement will not be caused by bad faith negotiations.
Bob King and UAW have consistently attempted to unionize foreign automakers in past and have yet to succeed. Still, UAW continues its effort to organize automaker employees. From Bob King’s threats, there will be negative repercussions for not unionizing. Calling foreign automakers “human rights violators” and picketing dealerships will affect the automakers and employees negatively, a clear violation of Principle 3. It is time for King to walk away and act on his principles.
If consistently going against your principles is not enough, King calls for Americans to recognize that:
“It was unions that built the middle class in America, It’s our job to remind people that you cannot have a strong (country) without a strong middle class (and) you cannot have a strong middle class if you do not have strong unions.”
As Americans taxpayers can see with the growing federal, state, and local debt from fiscally unsound retirement pensions and benefits in the public sector, and from the Big 3 in the private sector. Unions do not build a strong middle class or a strong America. Labor officials do create jobs they eliminate jobs. Employees beware of union official rhetoric of better pay and benefits. As the Big 3 employees have found out and government workers are seeing now, you can only keep those benefits if your employer is in business.