MayAllTheirPeaksAndValleys
BeTheirOwnAuthorityVille
As per a recent post about the Achille's heel of our multinational corporate overlords, the following, as reported by Jeanne Whalen and Lauren Gurley in the Washington post, is a most interesting, and hopeful, development:
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed a historic vote to join the United Auto Workers on Friday, making the auto factory the first in the South to vote to unionize since the 1940s.
Nearly three-quarters of 3,613 workers voted yes in a three-day election that drew high turnout, giving the union an impressive first win in its campaign to organize the factories of a dozen automakers in the South...
Which is great for those folks in Chattanooga and potentially even greater more widely:
...Local “right to work” laws in Southern states, as well as political and cultural traditions, have made it difficult for unions to expand. That could change if the UAW’s momentum continues in the region, Rutgers University labor professor Rebecca Givan said.“There will be an opportunity to raise standards across the South,” Givan said. “Other employers will not be able to compete for workers in a tight labor market if they don’t keep up. We’ll likely see organizing in manufacturing and areas where there already have been campaigns — everything from Starbucks to hospitals.”...
Somewhere, the spirit of Crytsal Lee Sutton, the real life Norma Rae, is smiling.
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Image and subheader?...This (for the historical) and...This (for the warbled acoustical, non-Mellencampian cover).