The Other American Auto Industry
Not all U.S. automakers are struggling to survive:
The auto production numbers in the South are staggering. A dozen years ago, Alabama produced zero cars. Now it turns out 750,000 annually at Mercedes, Honda, and Hyundai plants. Three years after Mercedes opened its SUV factory near Tuscaloosa in 1996, it doubled the size and output. A Honda plant halfway between Birmingham and Atlanta went on line in 2001, and the next year the company spent $450 million to expand it, adding 2,000 more workers.
The southern auto industry mocks Detroit. The transplants make money and aren’t asking for help from Washington. The recession has curtailed car sales temporarily, causing the transplants to slow production. But they are expected to expand again once the economy recovers. Volkswagen is currently building a plant outside of Chattanooga, which will produce 150,000 cars a year.
How do they do that? No UAW has been a major reason.
The southern auto belt from South Carolina to Texas, home to eight German, Japanese, or Korean plants (plus three more under construction), is right-to-work country. In these states, workers can’t be compelled to join a union or pay dues, and not many are inclined to sign a union card anyway. The result: The UAW has failed miserably to organize workers. No Mercedes, VW, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai (KIA’s parent), BMW, or Nissan plant in the South is unionized.
But there’s more that this, so read the article.
Related posts:
- It’s Because Unions Operate on the Principle of Class Warfare The View from Alexandria: Thirty years ago, the average steelworker at the Ambridge (PA) plant made over $100,000 (in 1978 dollars!), due to lax overtime...
- The Unintended Consequences of “Buy American” Good intentions, usual results: It’s not surprising that Democrats in Congress could not resist adding a “Buy American” provision to the fiscal stimulus bill earlier...
- Union Mythology Do we really need to thank unions for the 40 hour week, paid vacation, and health benefits? From the best comment to the article: Since...
- Happy Cost of Government Day If you are a working American, today is the day the government allows you to work for yourself for the rest of the year. It...
- Taxing Energy Production To Subsidize Energy Consumption You don’t need no stinkin’ economics if your heart is pure: WASHINGTON – The Senate has endorsed using revenues from controversial cap-and-trade auctions of permits...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.