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Filed under: Government/Legal, Volkswagen, UAW/Unions

Senator Bob Corker at podium

Unions and southern auto plants go together like ice cream socials and diabetes, but the mere thought of an organized Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga must give Tennessee Senator Bob Corker bad dreams. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Corker was asked by VW to give input as to whether or not the facility should take a pro-United Auto Workers stance. The senator reportedly told representatives at the German autoworker that the presence of organized labor would be “highly detrimental.”

So why the negative stance on unions? Corker claims that his dealings with the UAW during the bailout of Chrysler and General Motors is the reason he’s so sour on the idea in his home state. The senator claims that the UAW put the success of the automakers “way, way, way way” behind the needs of union, adding “I just can’t imagine any company of their own accord of being desirous of entering into a relationship with UAW.”

Volkswagen currently has a reported “neutral position” concerning unionization in Chattanooga, but according to a study by the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan and other Booth newspapers, the UAW could lead to higher labor costs for the German automaker. The paper says that overall labor costs, which include pension funding and health care, adds up to about $74,000 per year per employee. Non-union automakers reportedly average a much lower $53,000 per year.

But while Corker’s feelings about the UAW may or may not give VW pause, neither the senator or the automaker will have the final say in the matter. VW Communication Manager Guenther Scherelis says “the employees will decide for themselves about their representation.”

[Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press | Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty]

TN Senator Corker argues UAW would be “highly detrimental” to stateside VW plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Government/Legal, Electric, Diesel

Carl Levin

Michigan Senator Carl Levin has been called the auto industry’s best friend by detractors who say he’s worked hard to obtain that title by defending the status quo. At the 2010 Business of Plugging In conference in downtown Detroit today, though, he made some comments that might put a stop to such name-calling. Levin said he wants to end what he sees as the small, incremental approach to cleaner vehicles the U.S. government is using today in favor of a huge and comprehensive program. “Our goal should be nothing less than making electric vehicles affordable and attractive to every American family,” he said.

Levin talked about seriously overhauling how the U.S. government promotes cleaner vehicles. He said there are three policy drivers pushing us in this direction today: climate change (which he said “is real, it is urgent and we either deal with it now or our children and grandchildren will have to deal with it later when the remedies will be much more difficult, much more expensive and much less effective.”), national security (i.e., oil independence) and the desire for a thriving manufacturing sector (i.e., jobs).

What has held the U.S. back from dealing with these issues in a coordinated way? Levin cited a fear of government support of manufacturing because that was considered industrial policy, what he termed “the kiss of death”:

While our government refused to partner actively with American manufacturers, our competitors were establishing partnerships and making investments to position their manufacturers for the future. The second impediment was the ability of oil-exporting nations to play like a yo-yo.

America made progress on fuel efficiency gains in the 1970s, Levin said, but OPEC knew how to set us back:

Oil ministers of those nations made it clear they would keep the price of oil at a low enough level so that alternative energy sources would not make economic sense and that distracted us from the fact that ending out dependence on imported oil in our long-term economic interest, beyond the need for environmental and security reasons.

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Senator Levin in favor of a bolder clean vehicle mandate to replace CAFE originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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