Flush From GM's IPO, UAW Targeting New VW Plant

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

GM’s stock may be hovering near its IPO price of $3/share, but the UAW doesn’t need much more growth to cash out with every penny it wanted from GM. The UAW’s VEBA account has banked $3.4b in stock sales so far, and Forbes reports

The VEBA will break even on its investment if it can sell the remaining 206 million shares at an average price of $36.96.

Taxpayers, meanwhile, need GM’s stock to top at least $52/share in order to break even on the bailout that it funded. Because it’s just not a bailout unless the least deserving benefit the most. Meanwhile, with its accounts once again flush with cash, the UAW is turning South in hopes of accomplishing what it has never accomplished before: unionizing at ransplant auto factory in a right-to-work, Southern state.

UAW boss Bob King tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press that

“We want workers there, and not just Chattanooga but all nonunion assembly facilities… We want workers to have a choice to come into the UAW.”

The UAW is “committed to the success of the employers that we represent, Ford, GM, Chrysler,” King said, and the union supports a “winning formula” for overseas transplants “whether it be Volkswagen, Toyota or Honda.”

Of course the bailout proved that, when push comes to shove, the UAW not only prioritizes itself first, but it also has the political clout to get the government to prioritize it over taxpayers as well. Which is probably why Senator Bob Corker advised bosses at the new VW plant in Tennessee to keep the union away.

I certainly shared with [VW] I couldn’t see how there was any possibility it could be a benefit to them to enter into a contract with UAW,” said Corker, a former Chattanooga mayor.

He stressed he is not “anti-union” and said he often employed union craftsmen when he ran a construction company.

But the UAW “breeds an ‘us versus they’ relationship, and I just don’t think it’s healthy for a company to be set up in that regard,”

To which King responded that

There is a difference between “this 20th century perception of UAW” and “the 21st century reality where we’re proactive on all these issues of quality and productivity.”

But again, the bailout speaks to the most current reality in Solidarity Hall. And VW is taking care to avoid confrontation with the UAW, preferring to let workers boot the union of their own accord, just as Tennessee workers already rejected two attempts to unionize the Nissan plant in Smyrna. According to management at the new plant

At Volkswagen Chattanooga, the employees will decide for themselves about their representation

And VW’s hands-off approach (not to mention, it’s history of “labor relations”) aside, you have to assume the UAW will have its hands full trying to organize Southern transplant shops. Especially without the help of a certain popular, caffeinated beverage.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Ihatetrees Ihatetrees on Nov 29, 2010

    Twenty years ago, this may have been a close call. But the UAW's recent history (and the new media that won't ignore it) will kill their chances in any open vote.

  • Contrarian Contrarian on Nov 30, 2010

    The UAW is a badly evolved parasite in that it usually kills its host.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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