Nissan workers oust UAW amid allegations of coercion

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GLOBAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Richard J. Clair | Corporate Counsel and Staff Attorney (1993-Present) | NRTWLD&EF, Inc

By Sky Industry News

Aug 29, 2024

United Auto Workers (UAW) union leaders continued their efforts in April and May to organize workers from traditionally nonunion plants, with mixed results. At Mercedes-Benz's large plant in Vance, Alabama, nearly 600 more workers voted against UAW control than for it.

In New Jersey, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys assisted a group of employees in ousting the UAW from a Nissan parts distribution plant in Somerset. Michael Oliver and his coworkers successfully exercised their right to vote out the UAW, with nearly 70% of participating workers supporting the move.

“UAW union officials were far more concerned with hoarding power in the workplace than communicating with or listening to workers,” Oliver told The Detroit News. “They kept us completely in the dark about contract negotiations and treated anyone who opposed their agenda or questioned their leadership with arrogance, contempt, and even intimidation.”

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Oliver submitted a decertification petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in early April. The petition contained enough signatures to trigger a vote under NLRB rules, which took place on April 24.

Despite widespread worker opposition, UAW officials attempted unsuccessfully to manipulate NLRB processes to remain in power at the Nissan plant. Shortly after Oliver submitted the petition, UAW officials announced they had ratified a new union contract with Nissan management. However, because they could not reach a monopoly bargaining agreement before Oliver filed his petition, the NLRB’s “contract bar” did not stop the election.

UAW President Shawn Fain was caught off-guard by this development. He told The Detroit News, “I don’t have a response because that kind of happened under the radar,” and claimed that the company somehow influenced workers to expel the union. No evidence supports this claim, and UAW officials filed no objections despite having ample time.

In another case, UAW leaders at Dometic's Philadelphia-area plant face federal charges for sending a mass text threatening employees' employment if they continued working during a strike. These charges follow previous accusations that the union imposed unlawful disciplinary procedures on employees who resigned membership.

Mario Coccie, who filed these latest charges with legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, commented: “The information in this text reveals union officials’ real intentions: to hurt anyone willing to stand up for themselves. What is happening in this case is completely unjust.”

National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director William Messenger remarked: “With UAW union bosses spending millions of dollars to expand their influence into nonunion facilities around the country, it’s important to remember that workers who have experienced UAW officials’ ‘representation’ often end up resenting it. Nissan employees in New Jersey and Dometic workers in Pennsylvania are prime examples of this.”