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<title><![CDATA[RSS for United Auto Workers]]></title>
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<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/]]></link>
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<title><![CDATA[UAW study chides Nissan for tax breaks at Miss. plant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130517/OEM01/130519894/uaw-study-chides-nissan-for-tax-breaks-at-miss-plant]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130517/OEM01/130519894/uaw-study-chides-nissan-for-tax-breaks-at-miss-plant</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 17 May 2013 15:37:52 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[NASHVILLE -- A research study commissioned by UAW labor organizers claims that Nissan Motor Co. could receive four times the previously reported level of state and local incentives and tax breaks to operate its assembly plant in Canton, Miss. According to the study by the Washington-based Good Jobs ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat says headquarters shift to U.S. is not on agenda]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130517/ANE/305179963/fiat-says-headquarters-shift-to-u-s-is-not-on-agenda]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130517/ANE/305179963/fiat-says-headquarters-shift-to-u-s-is-not-on-agenda</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 17 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[(Reuters) -- Fiat Group said the idea of moving the group's legal headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group is not on the company's agenda. "This issue, treated several times in the last year by the world's media, is not the order of the day as the Chief ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How GM and Nissan avoided a UAW thorn]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130515/BLOG06/130519927/how-gm-and-nissan-avoided-a-uaw-thorn]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130515/BLOG06/130519927/how-gm-and-nissan-avoided-a-uaw-thorn</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:34 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[A labor taboo still exists in the North American auto industry, and Nissan and General Motors sidestepped it this week. GM revealed that it will buy Nissan's compact commercial vans to provide Chevrolet with a competitor to Ford's Transit Connect compact van. Nissan builds its NV200 compact van in ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat mulls U.S. headquarters after Chrysler merger, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130515/OEM/305159946/fiat-mulls-u-s-headquarters-after-chrysler-merger-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130515/OEM/305159946/fiat-mulls-u-s-headquarters-after-chrysler-merger-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 15 May 2013 10:04:21 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[TURIN, Italy (Bloomberg) -- Fiat S.p.A. is considering moving its corporate headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group, three people familiar with the matter said. CEO Sergio Marchionne is evaluating the switch from Turin, where Fiat was founded in 1899, to the United States as the carmaker's revenue and profit center shifts to North America, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing the internal deliberations. Fiat generated 75 percent of 2012 operating profit in North America. No final decision on the headquarters has been taken and other options are being examined, they said. A Fiat representative declined to comment. Marchionne said last month that he favored a primary listing in New York for the merged company. Moving Fiat's headquarters away from Turin's iconic Lingotto, a former car plant with an oval track on its roof, could create a political backlash in debt-ridden Italy, where the entire industrial sector is in decline. The unemployment rate is near a 20-year high as companies refrain from hiring amid the country's longest recession in more than two decades. Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., has become the group's profit generator as Fiat struggles to end losses in Europe, which totaled more than 700 million euros ($900 million) last year. European relevance Fiat's dependence on Europe has been drastically reduced since the acquisition of Chrysler in 2009. The region in 2012 represented 24 percent of the group's 84 billion euros in revenue. When Marchionne was named CEO in 2004, Fiat relied on Europe for more than 90 percent of its 27 billion euros in sales. "Europe is becoming a less and less relevant fact in the scheme of things," Marchionne told analysts last month. "It's a reflection of the ability of this house to shift its interest and to shift its resources to markets that are much more rewarding in terms of investment and return." Fiat will keep its European headquarters in Turin at the Lingotto building, which opened in the 1920s after founder Giovanni Agnelli visited Ford Motor Co.'s Detroit-area plants, the people said. Auto production at the complex stopped in the 1980s. Fiat, Italy's biggest private-sector employer, is a key part of the country's commercial fabric. Its name is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, or Italian car factory of Turin. The company, pushed by the Agnelli industrial family, played a key part in Italy's emergence as a manufacturing power after World War II and its 500 subcompact is a national symbol of the postwar economic boom. Before the locations for the listing and headquarters can be finalized, Fiat first has to buy the remaining 41.5 percent Chrysler staked owned by the United Auto Workers retiree health-care fund. The two sides are disputing in court the price for a portion of the shares Fiat is seeking to buy by exercising options.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat mulls U.S. headquarters after Chrysler merger, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130515/ANE/305159943/fiat-mulls-u-s-headquarters-after-chrysler-merger-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130515/ANE/305159943/fiat-mulls-u-s-headquarters-after-chrysler-merger-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 15 May 2013 10:04:21 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[TURIN (Bloomberg) -- Fiat is considering moving its corporate headquarters to the United States following a planned merger with Chrysler Group, three people familiar with the matter said. CEO Sergio Marchionne is evaluating the switch from Turin, where Fiat was founded in 1899, to the United States ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[NLRB likely to certify UAW to represent Flex-N-Gate workers at Texas plant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130510/OEM10/130519982/nlrb-likely-to-certify-uaw-to-represent-flex-n-gate-workers-at-texas]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130510/OEM10/130519982/nlrb-likely-to-certify-uaw-to-represent-flex-n-gate-workers-at-texas</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 10 May 2013 15:48:20 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The National Labor Relations Board likely will issue a certification today confirming the UAW as bargaining representative for hourly workers at a Flex-N-Gate Corp. plant in Arlington, Texas. The board held an election May 1 in which 51 workers voted in favor of union representation and 22 opposed. ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Flex-N-Gate workers at Texas plant vote to join UAW]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130506/OEM10/305069960/flex-n-gate-workers-at-texas-plant-vote-to-join-uaw]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130506/OEM10/305069960/flex-n-gate-workers-at-texas-plant-vote-to-join-uaw</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 06 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[After a contentious organizing drive, hourly workers at a Flex-N-Gate Corp. plant in Arlington, Texas, voted last week to join the UAW. The bumper supplier, which has more than 12,000 employees at 59 sites worldwide, has been a high-profile target of the UAW. UAW members at Flex-N-Gate plants in ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Flex-N-Gate workers in Texas vote to join UAW]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130502/OEM10/130509954/flex-n-gate-workers-in-texas-vote-to-join-uaw]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130502/OEM10/130509954/flex-n-gate-workers-in-texas-vote-to-join-uaw</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 02 May 2013 16:10:57 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT -- Hourly workers at a Flex-N-Gate plant in Arlington, Texas, voted to join the UAW on Wednesday. Of the 73 employees eligible to vote, 51 voted in favor of union representation and 22 opposed, the National Labor Relations Board said today. The NLRB conducted the election. Flex-N-Gate, ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford to add 2,000 jobs, raise F-150 capacity at Kansas City plant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130502/OEM01/130509965/ford-to-add-2000-jobs-raise-f-150-capacity-at-kansas-city-plant]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130502/OEM01/130509965/ford-to-add-2000-jobs-raise-f-150-capacity-at-kansas-city-plant</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 02 May 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. today said it will hire an additional 2,000 workers at its Kansas City Assembly Plant to meet increased demand for F-150 pickups and for the upcoming production of the new Transit family of commercial vehicles. The increases will come in two phases. Ford will add 900 jobs ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Chrysler's outlook raised to positive from stable by SandP]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130430/OEM/130439980/chryslers-outlook-raised-to-positive-from-stable-by-sp]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130430/OEM/130439980/chryslers-outlook-raised-to-positive-from-stable-by-sp</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:39:48 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT (Reuters) -- Chrysler Group may get an upgrade in its credit rating in the next 12 months, said Standard and Poor's, which raised Chrysler's outlook to "positive" from "stable" on Tuesday. SandP changed its outlook on the company to positive even after Chrysler posted a 65-percent drop in ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Opel rejects new vote for Bochum workers on plant's restructuring]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/130429930/opel-rejects-new-vote-for-bochum-workers-on-plants-restructuring]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/130429930/opel-rejects-new-vote-for-bochum-workers-on-plants-restructuring</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:10:06 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[BERLIN (Reuters) -- General Motors' Opel division is against giving workers another vote on a restructuring deal at the automaker's embattled plant in Bochum, Germany. The head of the United Auto Workers union, Bob King, had suggested in a Reuters interview on Tuesday that Bochum staff should vote ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat may have to pay union trust fund more for Chrysler shares, judge suggests]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/304259866/fiat-may-have-to-pay-union-trust-fund-more-for-chrysler-shares-judge]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130425/ANE/304259866/fiat-may-have-to-pay-union-trust-fund-more-for-chrysler-shares-judge</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:53:25 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WILMINGTON, Delaware, USA. (Bloomberg) -- Fiat may have to pay more than its $139.7 million offer for Chrysler Group shares that the automaker wants to buy from the United Auto Workers' retiree health-care trust, a judge suggested. Fiat is increasing its stake in Chrysler and is asking Delaware ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat may have to pay UAW trust fund more for Chrysler shares, judge suggests]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130425/OEM/130429931/fiat-may-have-to-pay-uaw-trust-fund-more-for-chrysler-shares-judge]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130425/OEM/130429931/fiat-may-have-to-pay-uaw-trust-fund-more-for-chrysler-shares-judge</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:53:25 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[WILMINGTON, Del. (Bloomberg) -- Fiat may have to pay more than its $139.7 million offer for Chrysler Group shares being bought from the UAW's retiree health-care trust, a judge suggested in court today. Fiat SpA is increasing its stake in Chrysler and is asking Delaware Chancery Court Judge Donald ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat weighs New York listing following merger with Chrysler, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130424/ANE/304249709/fiat-weighs-new-york-listing-following-merger-with-chrysler-report]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130424/ANE/304249709/fiat-weighs-new-york-listing-following-merger-with-chrysler-report</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:19:21 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[MILAN/NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Fiat may retreat further from its heritage by selecting New York as the primary exchange for its stock after a planned merger with Chrysler Group. CEO Sergio Marchionne is evaluating the Italian automaker's switch from the Milan exchange as the carmaker's revenue and ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[UAW's King prods Opel workers to revote, keep German plant open]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130423/OEM01/130429963/uaws-king-prods-opel-workers-to-revote-keep-german-plant-open]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130423/OEM01/130429963/uaws-king-prods-opel-workers-to-revote-keep-german-plant-open</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:19:18 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT (Reuters) -- The head of the UAW suggested German hourly workers at a General Motors plant should accept a deal they previously rejected in order to keep their jobs. UAW President Bob King, who is a member of Opel's supervisory board, said on Tuesday that workers at GM's Opel plant in ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. union leader prods Opel workers to keep German plant open]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/304239810/u-s-union-leader-prods-opel-workers-to-keep-german-plant-open]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/304239810/u-s-union-leader-prods-opel-workers-to-keep-german-plant-open</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:19:18 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[DETROIT (Reuters) --Workers at Opel's factory in Bochum, Germany, should accept a deal they previously rejected to keep their jobs, Bob King, the head of the U.S.-based United Auto Workers union, said. Hourly employees at the plant should ask to vote again on the restructuring deal they rejected ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat close to securing financing for Chrysler buyout, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130423/OEM/130429967/fiat-close-to-securing-financing-for-chrysler-buyout-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130423/OEM/130429967/fiat-close-to-securing-financing-for-chrysler-buyout-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:02:05 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Fiat could secure financing by May for a possible buyout of the rest of Chrysler, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters today.andnbsp; The Italian automaker is in advanced talks with banks, which are expected to conclude next month, on financing to buy the 41.5 ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Fiat close to securing financing for Chrysler buyout, report says]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/304239838/fiat-close-to-securing-financing-for-chrysler-buyout-report-says]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130423/ANE/304239838/fiat-close-to-securing-financing-for-chrysler-buyout-report-says</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:02:05 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Fiat could secure financing by May for a possible buyout of the rest of Chrysler, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Fiat is in advanced talks with banks, which are expected to conclude next month, on financing to buy the 41.5 percent of Chrysler which is held ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Transplants keep rolling in N. America]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM01/304229996/transplants-keep-rolling-in-n-america]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM01/304229996/transplants-keep-rolling-in-n-america</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The rise of foreign automakers in North America gained huge momentum during the dark days of the recession, accelerating the decline of Detroit 3 dominance. Today 39 percent of all auto company employees in North America work for companies other than the Detroit 3, according to an Automotive News ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[As retirement approaches, Publisher Peter Brown honors some of the best, and worst, automotive adventurers]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM02/304229971/as-retirement-approaches-publisher-peter-brown-honors-some-of-the]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130422/OEM02/304229971/as-retirement-approaches-publisher-peter-brown-honors-some-of-the</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[In five years, we will have fuel cell vehicles out of the lab and on the road, a big fleet of cars burning cheap compressed natural gas, and new cars with so many active-safety features that you can't crash them. Unless we don't. In this surprising and fluid industry, peopled by geniuses and ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mercedes joins growing list of UAW organizing targets]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/OEM01/130419942/mercedes-joins-growing-list-of-uaw-organizing-targets]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130415/OEM01/130419942/mercedes-joins-growing-list-of-uaw-organizing-targets</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:10:18 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[The UAW, which has been trying more aggressively to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the United States over the past two years, is taking another shot at organizing the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala. The union hopes that support from the German trade union IG Metall will aid in the effort ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford, GM Get Team in Gear (4/15/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/73616780/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/73616780/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:21:35 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Rivals to work on 9- and 10-speed transmissions; U.S.-made Infinitis?; UAW push at Ala. Mercedes plant; pioneer before '42.']]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford, GM Get Team in Gear (4/15/13)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://search.autonews.com/v/73611855/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?]]></link>
<guid>http://search.autonews.com/v/73611855/ford-gm-get-team-in-gear-4-15-13.htm?</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:27:43 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Rivals to work on 9- and 10-speed transmissions; U.S.-made Infinitis?; UAW push at Ala. Mercedes plant; pioneer before '42.']]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nissan wages to rise after 6-year freeze]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130412/OEM01/130419958/nissan-wages-to-rise-after-6-year-freeze]]></link>
<guid>http://www.autonews.com/article/20130412/OEM01/130419958/nissan-wages-to-rise-after-6-year-freeze</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:00:33 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[NASHVILLE -- Nissan North America, in the midst of dealing with a UAW organizing drive, said it will boost hourly wages for U.S. factory workers later this year for the first time since 2006. Hourly workers will receive an increase of 55 cents an hour for production technicians, 65 cents for ...]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Danny Glover's new role: Nissan's celebrity nemesis]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130409/ANE/304129996/danny-glovers-new-role-nissans-celebrity-nemesis]]></link>
<guid>http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130409/ANE/304129996/danny-glovers-new-role-nissans-celebrity-nemesis</guid>
<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:01:00 EDT]]></pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[NASHVILLE, Tennessee, USA -- When Hollywood star Danny Glover recently wrapped up shooting his latest movie in Charlotte, North Carolina, he hopped on a plane and flew to Mississippi to be a nuisance to Nissan Motor Co. Glover, famous from movie and TV roles in the Lethal Weapon series, Witness, "Lonesome Dove" and others, has decided to devote his spare time to organizing Nissan's U.S. assembly plants for the United Auto Workers, starting with its factory in Canton, Mississippi. That's not something Nissan wants. Glover doesn't care. It has become his mission. Moreover, the movie star's mission represents a departure for the UAW as it tries for the third time to organize Nissan in the United States. This time, instead of going straight to the workers itself, the UAW is relying on a partnership between Glover and a network of social activist college students -- working with local community groups -- to raise union interest among workers. "This is something I feel very strongly about," Glover said during a recent visit to Nashville, home of Nissan's sales, marketing and manufacturing headquarters for the Americas region. "The whole civil rights history of that region of Mississippi is very important to me. To me, this union organizing drive is a part of that history." Glover describes himself as a lifelong union activist, following in the footsteps of his father, who remained active in the postal workers' union until his death at age 82. Danny Glover's own off-screen resume includes helping labor drives for the United Farm Workers, textile workers and the food and hotel services union Unite Here. Three years ago, while participating in a Service Employees International Union protest at the Maryland offices of France's food services giant Sodexo, Glover was arrested and taken away in handcuffs. Helping the UAW is not strange for Glover. But relying on a Hollywood star to organize an auto plant qualifies as unusual for the union. For the Nissan campaign, Glover is not merely lending his name to posters or giving his famous face to photo ops. He is traveling the country to spark student rallies against Nissan's nonunionism. In January, he joined the UAW at a press conference during the Detroit auto show. He says he was approached to help organize Nissan's Mississippi workers by UAW International President Bob King after the two of them participated in a civil rights memorial presentation together there last year. "I heard about some things going on at Nissan that I didn't like," Glover told Automotive News , without specifying what they were. "As a young kid, I remembered that area around Jackson, Mississippi, as being central to the civil rights movement, and I wanted to be involved." Pro-union organizers argue that Nissan has taken steps to make workers shun information about unionizing. A Nissan spokesman has said that the company prohibits all types of soliciting, whether union-related or not, in the plants. In late March, Glover accompanied a group of Mississippi college students to Nashville to help enlist college students there as Nissan-organizing volunteers. Wearing brown corduroys, a sport coat and a baseball cap, Glover sat silently on an auditorium stage at a student rally at Tennessee State University. After a parade of Nissan workers, union organizers and student volunteers told the audience about the importance of unionizing Nissan's U.S. operations, Glover rose and took the microphone. "It's going to take all of us to help them," he told the audience, referring to the approximately 10,000 hourly workers at Nissan's assembly plants in Canton and Smyrna, Tenn. "They have the right to have a union negotiate for them. I'm proud of these young students." Until now, bringing labor union representation to workers at Nissan -- or any other non-Detroit 3 automaker in the United States for that matter -- has been a fruitless mission. Nissan workers have built cars and trucks in the United States for 30 years without union representation. Since the Japanese auto industry began manufacturing here in 1982, the UAW has been unable to organize workers at any plant that was not affiliated with the Detroit 3. Over those three decades, as first Honda and then Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia and most recently Volkswagen launched more than a dozen nonunion assembly and engine plants, the UAW has requested only two worker elections at any of them. Both votes were at Nissan's Smyrna plant, and Smyrna workers rejected UAW representation both times -- the second time, 12 years ago, by a wider margin than the first. While Glover talked with college students in Nashville, Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn was speaking with reporters at the New York auto show. Responding to questions about the UAW organizing drive in Mississippi, Ghosn said only that it was not Nissan's first organizing campaign and probably would not be the last and that workers would decide for themselves whether to unionize. But this campaign, with Glover's high-profile involvement, represents a change in strategy for the UAW. This time, the union is organizing from the outside, approaching community and church leaders around Mississippi and the rest of the South with a message about civil rights. Glover has also been reaching out to college students in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. At the center of the organizing effort is a college student group called the Mississippi Student Justice Alliance. That group of about 200 students has been using Facebook, Twitter, college Web sites and public rallies to enlist student volunteers from other colleges under the banner of "Concerned Students for a Better Nissan." On the topic of organizing Nissan workers, the students tend to talk less about auto industry issues than about civil rights. At the helm of the Mississippi student group is Chicago native Tyson Jackson, a student of Tougaloo College near the Canton plant. Jackson says he helped launch the Nissan student drive in hopes of "capturing the spirit of other civil rights organizations, like SNCC." SNCC -- pronounced "snick" -- was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the fabled student civil rights organization of the 1960s. Jackson and his fellow students speak of organizing Nissan workers as the next step in a decades-long civil rights movement. The students have traveled as far as this year's Geneva auto show to hand out fliers. Jackson also alludes to the possibility of mobilizing a student boycott of Nissan vehicles. "We're in this to win it for Nissan," Jackson says. "If Nissan can't treat their workers right, why should we buy their products?" So far, Nissan has made little acknowledgement of either Danny Glover or the fledgling student movement that he is aiding. If the past is any indicator, the automaker may do no more than simply wait for the campaign to run out of steam. That is exactly what has happened to all other UAW organizing drives among the non-Detroit 3 automakers over the past 30 years. But until now, Hollywood has never factored into the effort.]]></description>
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