According to a recent article on The State website, the United Auto Workers may be stepping up efforts to organize workers at Nissan Motor Co.'s auto plant in Mississippi. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, of Bolton, is among those scheduled to speak Sunday at a news conference in Canton, home of the 3,300-worker assembly plant. The event is meant to support workers seeking an election to organize a union.
The UAW has tried unsuccessfully in the past to unionize workers at Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn., and at other foreign-owned auto plants in the South. However, Nissan spokesman Dave Reuter said Friday that no union election has been held at the Canton plant since it opened in 2003.
"We don't believe that putting a third party between ourselves and our employees is going to make things better," Reuter said. "We don't believe it's going to improve our employees' work environment or our own prosperity." A UAW spokeswoman confirmed union officials would attend Sunday's meeting, but said officials authorized to make further comments were in transit to Mississippi Friday. It's unclear how far the union effort has advanced.
The National Labor Relations Board said Friday no petition has been filed seeking a union vote in Canton. At least 30 percent of non-managers have to sign a petition for the board to set a vote, although unions often aim for higher percentages to try to build momentum. The UAW, faced with shrinking employment rolls at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, has repeatedly said it's going to redouble its efforts at non-unionized plants operated by foreign-based firms. In December, top officials of the union said they would not target a single foreign company. However, union leaders discussed Nissan as a target for organizing, a person briefed on union meetings told The Associated Press at the time.
UAW President Bob King has said he's seeking deals with foreign automakers to allow workers to vote on union representation in an atmosphere free from the pressurized tactics that labor and management often use to make their case. But the union has also been training workers to demonstrate at dealerships of non-union automakers.
King also said in December that the union has reports of civil and human rights violations by Nissan from workers and the community. Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who's supposed to appear Sunday with Thompson and others, voiced similar complaints Friday. He said his organization has gotten complaints of "unfair treatment" and noted that Nissan workers in Canton make less than those in Smyrna. Johnson also said workers don't have enough control over their work schedules and pay more than Nissan workers elsewhere for health benefits.
"We're only here to provide support if workers want to vote on a union," Johnson said. "It's our position that they should be able to do so in a fair, open, democratic process."
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