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Not to mention one of the largest automobile ports in the country is currently blocked by a fallen bridge. Granted that will be sorted out sooner rather than later, but yeah, they can't take all that manufacturing overseas. There's a reason all these companies set up shop in the US in the first place. (Also, P.S. to lawmakers, the reason Canada is seen as an attractive place to make "American" cars is the companies don't have to worry about healthcare in their union contracts.)

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Ta, Robyn. Solidarity Forever. One of the reasons I work far from home for too little pay is I get to be in the Union.

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Shawn Fain said an important thing for all workers to remember: Donald Trump represents the billionaire class.

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Shawn Fain Will be remembered in history as the man who murdered apathy. This successful union Drive in Tennessee would have been utterly impossible without the massive strides and creation of optimism that he has engendered in atrophy broken labor union. This is just the beginning. More than anything else the bosses really needed everyone to believe that it could never happen here in the south. that notion just got punched in the dick. I'm feeling really good about what's going on in labor right now. The repercussions of this are going to be much much greater than anyone realizes. We have no idea of the social and political changes that are going to come out because of this. This has been a major win for Democrats. Note to Democratic leader ship. Don't abandon labor unions again like you did in the 80s. Lab must be your number two concern right behind global warming. And oddly enough those two things can fit together quite nicely

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"They" sure say a lot of things hoping that we won't try.

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*the upper

(after have, before hand)

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That's fantastic news! Congratulations, workers of Tenessee. Now do the rest of the US...

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73%?!?!!!?! That is amazing!

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"Bah, 88% is the minimum for success!" - Vlad "The Impaler" Putin

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This is great. I hope more southern manufacturing plants of all stripes follow suit. This is going to be huge for those workers and their families.

I used to live in a town that was home to the Hoover Company for many decades. They employed thousands of workers and paid them union wages. The company shut down partly because of some executive fuckery, but the legacy of the relatively high wages the company paid its employees lives to this day…The city’s schools are some of the best in the state, and it still mostly has the feel of a cute old factory town, with neat little houses on small, tidy lots. The place is chock full of parks and walking trails, too.

We moved to North Carolina a few years ago, and my wife works in the town where they make the Cheerwine soft drink. The HQ of Food Lion grocery stores is also there. Yet the town is a dump(although, they do have some good restaurants and an awesome independent bookstore). Homelessness and poverty are higher than average for the region and the schools are terrible. Every time I drive through there, I wonder where all that corporate money has gone all these years. Stock buybacks, executive salaries, and vanity gifts to charity, I guess.

I have no proof of this, but it seems like, from a societal standpoint, you get way more bang for your buck in the long run by enriching “ordinary” workers than you do trying to pay them as little as possible.

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Yay Tennesseans ! Go Vols!

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I hope this is a sign of big changes here in TN at the polls this year. Tennessee ranks 50th in voter turnout. We have to show up like VW did and make our voices heard.

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As a former resident of the Volunteer State who may return, I'm hoping to wake up on November 6 and read the Gloria Johnson will be the new Senator from Tennessee, replacing Marsha Blackburn (R - Aquanet).

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Word on the street is that since the RNC is spending so much money on trump's legal fees that there is little left for downballot races such as Marsha's.

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Blackburn is ok.

Except she hates women.

Women's healthcare.

Women's rights.

Women voting.

Protection against violence, abuse, stalking.

Not too crazy about children neither.

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You have a very generous definition of "OK".

That probably makes you a calm person and nice to be around.

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Oh, I'm also hoping that this will be the year I receive a MacArthur "Genius" Grant and am named People's Sexiest Man Alive. I know how realistic all of those hopes are. (Though in the case of Gloria Johnson, I've donated a little money to help make it possible.)

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German law requires that workers be represented on corporate board of directors. And I believe that corporations in Germany have to incorporate social benefits into their business plans, instead of operating on plans of sheer avarice. These are things where we can learn about corporate governance from other countries. And congrats to the VW plant workers!

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VW was pissed at elected officials in Tennessee fucked up the previous votes. They wanted the Union in, like it is in all their other plants around the world, because the standardized process to deal with their employees would save them money in the long run.

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I remember that VW wanted their then-new plant (I think it was in Tennessee, I could be confused, tho) to have at least a "workers' council", which is an elected body representing the workforce and negotiating on their behalf and which is very much a part of Volkswagens DNA in Germany. I doubt they'll be all that mad about having a union fill that capacity now.

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One one hand, I'm so happy so see this huge UAW victory take place in Tennessee. My personal theory on why this vote was so lopsided this time around is because the standard of living for most of the workers at the auto plant has dropped so low that the workers had almost no other choice that to vote yes to unionization. So, let's turn this car around and see the workers of these auto plants start making some money again and get a better standard of living!!!

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And then we'll see this new money filter out into the community when they can finally take care of things they've been putting off because of finances and also be able to enjoy some recreational things with their families.

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"Nothing succeeds like success." Shawn Fain gets that.

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According to VW execs, they prefer to be Unionized, they are quite used to it. It's the state government trying to stop it.

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I gotta wonder if that's just them spinning the results of the election. "Sure, we love unions! We're happy to have them here!"

My impression has long been that one of the selling points when trying to bring big industry to Tennessee was its status as a right-to-work state.

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I've worked at German companies and as much as they gripe about how works councils can gum up decision-making all of my colleagues were aghast at the fact that I had no fixed contract and no real say in the company. It really is in the DNA of German business. May Day is also a national holiday there, so perhaps there's something to that.

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VW actually welcomed the union vote beforehand. It was the state that engaged in union busting.

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This is a huge deal. Organization of workers needs to happen, and the South could become the kicking off point of a new wave of unionizing efforts. I would love to be a part of that. My union has already completely organized our work force though. So for us it's mostly about fighting right to work, and free-riders. No new shops to organize.

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