French National Assembly member Christian Hutin
The UAW just won’t back down when it comes to the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi. After years of no success attempting to organize that plant, the Auto Workers are teaming up with allies in Europe, specifically the French government—who is Nissan’s largest shareholder. One French parliamentarian is expected to visit the plant himself in order to “persuade” Nissan to support unionization at the plant.
A little further north in Kentucky, the Steelworkers are working on getting employees at Pilkington North America’s Versailles plant to sign enough cards expressing their desire to be represented to qualify for an official election. Daimler AG, the German company responsible for the Mercedes-Benz, broke ground late last month on their $500 million plan in Charleston, South Carolina. Daimler seems to be pretty set on avoiding union intervention at this shop, which is expected to be operational by 2020.
