Since South Carolina is a “right-to-work” state, BMW’s facility is not unionized, unlike General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), and employee attempts to unionize in 2004 were unsuccessful.
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BMW Teamsters Members Once Again
When BMW contracted out the administration of a factory to a third party ten years ago, Local 495 in West Covina, California, was able to save Teamster employment. All of the members were initially scheduled for termination.
After the Teamsters Union launched a global campaign against BMW, Local 495 was able to hammer out a historic agreement that safeguarded the members. No matter who was chosen to manage the BMW site, Teamsters were guaranteed their jobs for a period of ten years under the terms of the agreement.
BMW recently approached Local 495 as it was getting ready for negotiations with the third-party management firm. They wanted to talk about re-institutionalizing the bargaining unit.
These individuals are once again BMW employees after many meetings. BMW will retake control of the facility under the terms of the agreement, and members will get lost benefits.
Bob Lennox, the secretary-treasurer of Local 495, declared, “We have reached a historic agreement with BMW, and they are terminating the third-party agreement and reassuming the entire membership and our contract to once again make our members proud, full-on BMW Associates as well as Local 495 members.
“I work with a terrific team, and at BMW facilities, we have always ranked first. This team produces excellent work. It means a lot to everyone to be able to return and work again, “added 19-year employee and assistant shop steward Rosendo Cardenas.
BMW informed 65 Teamsters in June 2011 that their employment would be outsourced the day their contract expired. Local 495 and the International Union acted quickly to safeguard the jobs with just a few weeks before the contract expired. Outside numerous BMW dealerships, the union staged protests and demonstrations. The international labor community joined in, as did members of the US Congress. Even outside of major league athletic events, the union flown flags from aircraft.
After the huge effort to save BMW was successful, Local 495 negotiated the 10-year contract. The facility’s management and the Teamsters working there were turned over to a third party soon after the agreement was made.
Even after what they did, “we maintained a strong relationship with BMW in the hopes that possibly one day we could make them BMW employees again,” said Jim Lennox, a business agent for Local 495. The facility’s third-party manager has now been fired, and BMW has taken back ownership of the entire membership.
“Since leaving BMW, we’ve come a long way. The past ten years have been difficult “admitted chief steward Albert Bautista, who has been employed there for a total of 19 years. “However, these folks continued to pump, and our local is fantastic. The Teamsters were quite helpful to us.”
Why Are BMW and Mercedes So Rich If Unions Are Causing Automakers to Fail?
Actually, German autoworkers received a pay of roughly $67 per hour (including wages and benefits). However, the average wage in the United States is only $33 per hour (also including wages and benefits). Additionally, German automakers made a lot of money despite paying their employees relatively high wages. Mercedes-Benz brought in profits of 4.6 billion euros, while BMW made a profit of 3.8 billion euros before taxes.
So how did Germany just fully dispel the concept that automakers must pay their employees less in order to increase profits and produce more vehicles? How can Germany reverse this trend and pay their employees more, make more money, and produce more cars?
First, by unionizing almost every single autoworker in the nation under IG Metall, the German autoworkers union, Germans have entirely democratized the auto industry. Autoworkers have a lot of influence when they threaten to strike because of the high proportion of union membership in their industry. Workers have been able to maintain high earnings and comfortable working conditions by doing this. But as Horst Mund, the head of the German Autoworkers Union’s International Department, noted, there is a sophisticated system of conflict resolution that is frequently used in Germany to reach the kind of compromise that is acceptable to all parties, which is why unions there hardly ever go on strike.
How did Germany just dispel the fallacy that automakers must pay their employees less to be more successful and produce more vehicles?
Because unions are not under attack in Germany, as they are in the United States, and because there are no “right to work for less” zones where automakers can hide out and disregard the voice of organized labor, CEOs and workers have a more cooperative relationship.
Another, possibly more compelling argument is that corporate executives in Germany are required by a constitutional amendment to consult with labor unions. Every factory must establish a works council under the Works Constitution Act so that workers’ representatives can participate in all factory decision-making. That is the democratization of capitalism—the expansion of the decision-making process to include the entire organization, starting at the bottom and working its way up—rather than simply the corporate elite.
The autoworkers union has a strong voice in the German economy, in Mund’s opinion, because of this. Mund notes that there is a conflict between employers and labor unions in America “The hostile environment in which the unions must operate is undoubtedly a factor in the claim that American unions are more radical and destructive. If they are constantly having their asses kicked, how can they be pleasant and helpful?” He continues by stating that “employers would not talk to us either if they had a choice” if Germany did not have the Works Constitution Act.
Although it may not have been done intentionally, Germany has benefited economically from the strengthening of labor unions there and the democratization of the workplace as seen by increases in auto sales, employee wages, and profitability.
As Mund explains, “We have robust social security systems, powerful unions, and high incomes. Therefore, if I agreed with the neo-liberals’ claims, we would have to be bankrupt, but it appears that this is not the case since Germany’s economy is doing well.”
What steps can we take to democratize capital in the US and give workers a bigger role in how our economy is run?
BMW and Labor Unions Reach Cost-Cutting Agreement
BMW has disclosed that it is in discussions with numerous suppliers and unions to discover methods to reduce costs in the upcoming years. These steps, according to BMW, are necessary to ensure that the company maintains its profitability and has the funds to invest in autonomous technology and electric vehicles. According to a recent Reuters article, Bavarians and labor officials have already come to an agreement.
The report claims that bonuses for employees based on firm results would be reduced, and Christmas and other bonuses for some employees will be modified to a leaner form. Workers’ bonuses and pay won’t be impacted by this deal this year; nevertheless, it will be put into effect beginning in 2020. “A cooperative solution has been reached. This enables us to avoid the harsh actions others are taking right now to cut their costs “Oliver Zipse, CEO, remarked.
Zipse is pointing to the difficulties that other automakers are currently experiencing, particularly its German rivals. Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, earlier this year announced personnel and cost reductions, which ultimately led to job losses. As the Ingolstadt-based firm announced plans to reduce approximately 15% of its German workforce in order to ensure it remains profitable, Audi isn’t doing too well either.
BMW made sure it won’t fire anyone and will still make money at the end of the day by reducing some bonuses for its employees. By 2022, it is hoped that the cost savings will total more than 12 billion euros. For the same reason, the suppliers’ list will also be altered soon, and other steps will be taken in that direction.
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By purchasing goods created by UAW members, you can help the US auto industry’s high-quality union jobs.
Purchasing union-made, domestically produced goods helps the American economy as a whole by promoting the preservation of American jobs. In the US, 3.4 nonmanufacturing jobs are produced for every manufacturing job.
Check the vehicle identification number (VIN) to learn where it was manufactured before buying any vehicles. The country of the vehicle’s origin is indicated by the first character (number or letter) of the VIN.
The first two VINs were produced in Canada. The union that represents the manufacture of GM, Ford, and Chrysler products in Canada is known as Unifor.
There are factories all throughout the world that produce some automobiles. The Chevy Equinox, for instance, is produced in both Mexico and Canada. Prior to making a purchase, demand to view the VIN number!
Be aware that certain automobiles are produced in the United States and Canada by other manufacturers, such as Tesla, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, and Honda. Currently, there is no union representation for employees at those businesses. When buying a vehicle, we firmly advise customers to search for the union label. When a workplace is union-made, employees have a voice to bargain for things like pay, hours, safety, and general working conditions, which is not the case at non-union workplaces. At several of these automakers, employees have tried to form unions but have been rebuffed by their employers who have used hostile methods to prevent them from doing so.