Friday, February 14, 2014

Fox Enters Tennessee Labor Fight With Anti-Worker Binge

www.mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/13/fox-enters-tennessee-labor-fight-with-anti-work/198047
"All Volkswagen plants currently have union representation besides Chattanooga and two plants in China. And the German company has praised the benefits such organization has brought to its other plants -- As The Washington Post wrote, "the company even sees its culture of worker codetermination as a 'competitive advantage,'" according to Volkswagen's global works council leader, Bernard Osterloh. As UC Berkley's Harley Shaiken has explained, this competitive advantage has already helped boost Volkswagen's bottom line -- the company "has led all major automakers in raising shareholder value" over the last three years and was "virtually tied for second place in global auto production in 2012."
And economic research is on Volkswagen's side. Unions around the country have repeatedly been shown to boost productivity and allow greater flexibility during economic downturns, restoring demand to the economy by raising wages. As the Economic Policy Institute has noted, unionization increases the stability and buying power of the middle class, which is necessary to maintain a healthy consumer-based economy"