Regular Folks Against Union at KY Toyota Plant
Posted on January 27, 2008
The Cincy Enquirer gives us the inspiring story of a regular Joe just looking out for his own best interest. And his best interest, as far as he and many other of his coworkers are concerned, is to stay OUT of the United Auto Workers union.
Brian Howard is the operator of the website NoUAW.com where he helps keep his coworkers informed on the latest union machinations and news. But, he is often portrayed by the UAW and the media as, “big, bad Toyota preventing the union.”
But, Howard is not “Toyota,” he is just a worker that doesn’t want to be forced into a union. And he isn’t alone. The majority of the Toyota employees in Williamstown, Kentucky agree with him.
Fewer than 20 percent would vote to join the UAW, he said. “Hard-core, dead-set against it, I’d say 40 percent or more.”
“The UAW knows they do not have and will never have the votes to win an election,” says Howard’s co-worker Marvin Robbins. “So they want to take the rights of the workers away and not have an election.”
And, even more to the point the employees are getting sick of the UAW’s harassment.
“The majority are sick of the harassment,” Robbins said. “You would think the UAW would get the message after 20 years, but they are so desperate for membership they continue to show up where they are clearly not wanted or needed.”
The unions have little support in the Toyota plant. The employees are important to the management and the two work hand in hand.
But, the Cincy story gives us the problem that these happy employees face…
The UAW has been unable to get even half of Toyota’s Georgetown workers to sign cards in support. But the union could win anyway if Congress eliminates secret ballots.
The doublespeak “Employee Free Choice Act” introduced by Democrats would force companies to accept a union if 51 percent of workers sign cards in support. And it’s too easy to bully workers into signing cards.
Once again, I am struck with the hostility that unions and Democrats show “the people” that they claim to represent. You see, Democrats and unions aim to take away your freedom of choice. They hate your ability to decide for yourself.
Let us hope that these vicious measures can be defeated. It will be folks like Brian Howard and his NoUAW.com that will lead the charge.
Good luck, Brian. You’ll need it.
» Filed Under Liberal Media/Bias, News, Union Mafias/Thugs
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9 Responses to “Regular Folks Against Union at KY Toyota Plant”
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Eh, I’m not crazy about the UAW or any union for that matter….with that being said, I think the whole southern anti-union mentality harkens back to the fact that the south was ruined by the northern states in the civil war. Deep down, it all comes back to that no matter how you try to pin it.
No unions= in future means going back to working conditions of old What has hapened will happen. Hope you all enjoy job insecurity, low pay, and poor working conditios. No pensions. Hope the cheap chinese cars get here quick for you non union folks thats all you ll be able to afford.
Don, unions do nothing but skew the market and cost other people jobs. They are draining our economy and killing large employers (just ask companies like Ford and GM what union costs are doing to them). It’s unions that keep our companies from being able to be lean and efficient. It would be much easier to compete if we didn’t have the unions. They care nothing about the quality of work they do - just how much they get for themselves. We all got to see it with the longshoremen a few years ago here on the west coast. And this is all on top of their known corruption. Why do you think they have such low membership numbers now? It’s because people know how worthless and damaging to our economy they are.
Personally, I think unions should be banished. We have labor laws that we didn’t have when they first started up in the early 1900s. They are unnecessary and wasteful.
Unions had their time. It’s now time for them to go away. They no longer serve any productive purpose.
I disagree. When workers form unions they are standing together to have a say in decisions about their futures. Unfortunately people have been led to believe that unions are the reason companies like Ford and GM aren’t doing well…I think the truth is they arent building cars people are wanting to drive but still they want to make big bucks. So, they blame the union. A lot of those workers in kentucky want a union is because they want job security- I know what its like to be an at-will employee. Then you think about how much money Toyota is making (billions and billions) and they want to treat the Americans who are building those cars like they don’t mean nothing. That just aint right. Let them folks decide if they wanna form a union, those companies are ripping American workers off.
Them Japanese companies sales in Japan are down, way down. But, their employees over in Japan got record bonuses last year. Sales in the US were way up, profits were way up, and they cut their US employees health benefits. You know what? They are making tons of money off of AMERICAN workers backs and selling cars to AMERICAN buyers, but all the money is going to the Japanese workers while the US workers are still considered “at will” and can be fired b/c their boss doesn’t like their haircut. Something aint right. That’s why workers in Kentucky are trying to form themselves a union, some respect, some dignity, and a say in how things are run at their plant- they’re the ones doing the work, they know what’s right.
I don’t get it. Why in our country, anything which is actually a real winner is always threatened. Toyota or for that matter even Mitsubishi or Honda are one of the most respected corporations all over the 7 continents. They already have the highest salary structure in the industry. Still some people want to play the same dirty game over and over again. GM and Ford management want to make money by selling crap while Toyota (In this case) is based only on Truth and Engineering. All the brick Battering should end if we want any good company to operate from our land.
Respect? Go get a job at one of them “natural winner” places. See how you like being a worker there instead of just being a driver of their cars.
Don - what is wrong with letting Toyota workers vote in a secret ballot election? Why does the UAW want to deny the workers this right? FYI - Toyota has the best job security in the world. They have not laid off anyone in 50 years. How many UAW workers have lost their jobs over the last few years?
Bernie - so what if Toyota started charging their employees $50 a month for a family health plan. They make $70,000 to $100,000 per year. Look at what other people pay for health insurance. Out-of-control health care costs are not Toyotas fault. Perhaps Toyota wants to keep costs under control so that they do not end up like GM, Ford & Chrysler. Don mentions cars coming from China - maybe Toyota wants to make sure that it can compete with Chinese imports. As for Toyotas Japanese workers’ bonus - some of Toyotas Japan factories are busy building cars for the US & other markets. Just because Japanese sales are down does not mean that the Japanese workers are not contributing anything. Also the cost of living in Japan is double the US and the Japanese autoworkers only make about $15 to $18 per hour versus $25-$27 at Toyota’s US plants. If you like the Japanese pay scale better then move to Japan.