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Mississippi Nissan workers vote against forming union after bitter contest 'Nissan, you made us mad': union promises to fight Mississippi defeat
(about 2 hours later)
Workers at a Nissan assembly plant in Mississippi have voted against forming a union, adding to decades of futility by United Auto Workers organizers at foreign-owned auto plants in the American south. Nissan workers in Canton, Mississippi voted against unionizing on Friday, by a margin of 2,244 to 1,307. The vote was a disappointing defeat for those who hoped to open the door for union organizing across the American south.
Representatives of Nissan and the UAW said late on Friday that 2,244 workers, or 62%, voted against the UAW, while 1,307, or 38%, favored the union. “With this vote, the voice of Nissan employees has been heard,” said Nissan spokesperson Parul Baraj in a statement. “Our expectation is that the [United Automobile Workers] will respect and abide by their decision and cease their efforts to divide our Nissan family.”
Company spokeswoman Parul Bajaj said employees’ voice has been heard. Pro-union workers said they had no intentions of leaving any time soon. Hardball company tactics against the vote have attracted the attention of federal labor authorities, which could call for a new ballot.
“They have rejected the UAW and chosen to self-represent, continuing the direct relationship they enjoy with the company,” she said in a statement. “Our expectation is that the UAW will respect and abide by their decision and cease their efforts to divide our Nissan family.” “It ain’t over yet,” union leader Morris Mock told a crowd of dozens Nissan workers. “It ain’t over yet. Nissan, all you did was make us mad. We are gonna fight a little harder next time. We are gonna stand a little harder next time. We are gonna shout a little harder next time because next time we are never gonna give up.”
The UAW has never fully organized an international automaker in the traditionally anti-union south, although it did persuade some maintenance workers to join at a Volkswagen AG plant in Tennessee. This lack of influence among southern auto workers has reduced UAW bargaining power when Detroit automakers lose market share and close plants. After pouring resources into the organizing drive at Nissan, this loss could leave UAW leaders with tough decisions. Mock’s speech was interrupted by chants of “six months” – the time in which workers hope the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) will grant them a new election.
“The result of the election was a setback for these workers, the UAW and working Americans everywhere, but in no way should it be considered a defeat,” UAW president Dennis Williams said in a statement. “Fight to Win, Fight to Win, Fight to Win!” cried Hazel Whiting, whose son, Derrick Whiting, died after collapsing on the factory floor in 2015.
After an effort that attracted high-profile support from Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, actor Danny Glover and others, pro-union workers were defiant amid tears at a UAW office, with some calling for another election as soon possible. Activists who fought for 14 years for the vote said they were proud that 1,307 people had voted to join a union. Nissan managers held one-on-one sessions with workers to discourage them. The company blitzed local media with anti-union ads.
“It hurts,” said union supporter Phillip White. “We ran against a machine.” We are gonna shout a little harder next time because next time we are never gonna give up
But some outspoken anti-union workers were celebrating, saying they had turned back an unwanted interloper. “I don’t take this as a loss because I have learned so much, so much, during this process,” union leader Betty Jones told a crowd of activists shortly after the vote count was announced. “I have made so many friends, family – y’all are my family!”
“They know we didn’t need it,” said Kim Barber. “They know we didn’t need outside interference coming in our plant.” The attempt by the UAW to organize at Nissan in Canton, Mississippi was unprecedented in size for the south. Under the banner of the Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFN), the UAW organized a coalition of student groups, clergy, community, labor, environmental and civil rights groups.
The union filed seven new charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just before polls closed on Friday, alleging that Nissan broke federal labor laws during the campaign. If the labor board rules in favor of the charges, the board could order a fresh election. Among the claims were that Nissan provided a faulty contact list to the union and caused a contract worker to be fired because of his union support, and that a manager told workers on 28 July that they would lose benefits it they voted for a union. Through civil disobedience, the group helped win the reinstatement of fired UAW activist Calvin Moore. Their protests lead Nissan to adopt changes that benefited long-term temp workers employed at the plant.
UAW secretary-treasurer Gary Casteel telegraphed the move on Monday, when he alleged illegal activity by the company. For more than a decade, a formal union seemed out of reach. Then, this spring, more than 5,000 union activists showed up for an historic “March for Mississippi” against Nissan, featuring the Vermont senator and 2016 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Bernie Sanders.
“Despite claiming for years to be neutral on the question of a union, Nissan waged one of the most illegal and unethical anti-union campaigns that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Casteel said in a statement on Friday. The march gave the union drive an unexpected burst of energy. In the following month, the UAW gained 386 members at the Canton plant. Despite having only a narrow majority of Nissan workers signing cards, the union decided it was time to call an election and force a discussion about workers’ rights in the south.
Nissan spokeswoman Parul Bajaj said the company lived up to its obligations in providing the list. She generally denied the other charges. Major factories like the 6,000-person Nissan plant in Canton often unionize after multiple attempts. Through workplace struggle and defeat, many workers learn valuable lessons. Many at the Canton plant realized they might lose but saw the election as the beginning of a long-term struggle.
“The UAW is again launching baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against Nissan Canton in a desperate, last-minute attempt to undermine the integrity of the secret ballot voting process,” Bajaj said in a statement. “It’s the beginning of a war,” said one, Robert Hathorn. “They light a torch for us.”
The labor board has already issued a complaint against Nissan alleging other labor law violations that predate the election, but a judge has yet to rule on those. A decision on the new charges could be months or years away. When Nissan said, 'We are going take away your leased vehicle,' everything changed
The union also could try to encourage a backlash against Nissan outside the US, where it has tried to build pressure on the company through unions at other plants and supporters in the French government, which owns nearly 20% of the Renault Group, Nissan’s business partner. The union said it would “educate” the French government about Nissan’s anti-union campaign. The fight at Canton has pitted union activists against those who see unionization as antithetical to growth in a poverty stricken state.
Nissan has sought to finesse its position against unions in the US while defending its work with organized labor in the rest of the world. Carlos Ghosn, chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, told French lawmakers last year that the alliance “has no tradition of not cooperating with unions”. “If you want to take away your job, if you want to end manufacturing as we know it in Mississippi, just start expanding unions,” Governor Phil Bryant said last week.
Rodney Francis, the plant’s human resources director, said the company has a right to make its case to workers that unionization would hurt management flexibility and make the plant less competitive economically. Republican Mississippi governor Phil Bryant and anti-union workers blamed the UAW for layoffs and plant closings by Detroit’s major automakers. All over town, businesses put up signs saying “Our Team, Our Future, Vote No August 3-4”. Local TV featured a similar message. Many workers reported pressure from friends, neighbors and others to vote against the union, so the plant would not close.
“With the UAW, all you’ve got to do is look at their history,” said Tony Hobson, a Nissan forklift driver and outspoken union opponent. Then one-on-one meetings started. Thousands of workers were forced to sit alone with bosses and describe how they felt about the union drive. In such meetings, workers were told of the threat a union would represent. They were told unionization would make the plant more rigid and would lead to many workers not being able to get favors from bosses when they needed time off.
For years, union organizers reached out to the majority African-American workforce at the Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant, arguing that workers’ rights are civil rights. They pointed to reduced retirement and health benefits for longtime workers, and lower pay scales for 1,500 Nissan workers who began as contract laborers in recent years. White and other union supporters said after the vote they felt those newer employees, in particular, had been intimidated. They were repeatedly warned that a union would make the plant a place of conflict.
A 2015 study by the Center for Automotive Research found that Nissan paid an average of $44 an hour in pay and benefits, toward the low end of all automakers. Nissan has given pay raises since then. “You feel threatened, and it’s a real fear,” said Mock. “If you want a day off, you want to spend time with your family, or you are too sick, you have to call this person and explain the situation is. It’s like, ‘If I don’t do it, then I am going to be treated differently.’”
Workers at Nissan’s plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, voted against UAW representation in 1989 and 2001. This was the first election at the Mississippi plant. The UAW also lost a 2014 vote among all workers at Volkswagen in 2014 before winning a second vote among 160 maintenance workers. Many were told that if workers unionized, the company would take away special lease rates on new cars.
Both sides shifted into a frenetic and highly visibly campaign mode after pro-UAW workers filed petitions seeking a vote in early July. “When Nissan said, ‘We are going take away your leased vehicle,’ everything changed,” said worker Betty Jones. “And the more they were saying that, the more people were wearing their [anti-union] shirts.”
Kristen Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research said that although the UAW was the underdog, odds were unlikely to improve soon, as President Donald Trump’s appointees take over the NLRB. A corruption scandal involving union employees allegedly taking bribes from a former Fiat Chrysler executive also threatened to spread. Then, management said the company would maintain an “open door” policy to address complaints. Many workers received long-sought-after raises and special deals on car purchases.
The UAW’s failed campaign could leave scars. Pro-UAW worker Earnestine Meeks said a co-worker flashed a gun at her, demanding she leave his property during a home visit by union backers recently. Late last month, the NLRB charged Nissan with illegally threatening workers and bribing workers to vote against the union. On the day of the election, the UAW filed seven more unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. If the federal body decides that Nissan broke the law, it could re-order another election within six months.
“Nissan will focus on bringing all employees back together as one team, building great vehicles and writing our next chapter in Mississippi,” Bajaj said. Nissan has denied the charges and plans to appeal. For now, despite not having a union, workers say they must act like a minority union on the shop floor.
“They don’t understand that they are the union,” said worker Michael Carter. “There is not a third party coming in there, the union is already in there, and that’s what we gotta make them understand, that they are the union.”
Union activists say they look forward to a new election. They hope that in that time, workers will realize the necessity of a union.
“The company is gonna help us win this next campaign and they don’t even realize it because they are not going to keep their word,” said worker Castes Foster. “Once a snake, always a snake.”