election, if it were to go back and do it again it would be lucky to get 35%. does anybody believe this is the last they heard from the uaw? not for a moment. that s because uaw president bob king has made it part of the uaw s survival strategy to target all of these non-union automobile manufacturers in the south. and in addition to volkswagen, there are some ten others, including mercedes-benz in alabama and mississippi, the nissan plant there, that the uaw is already targeting. but as far as the chattanooga vw plant goes because of an agreement with the company, the uaw has to stay out of there for at least a year. very interesting. john roberts, thank you. democrats fighting to keep control of the senate may turn to a familiar theme in november s mid-term elections. two top democratic strategists urging candidates now to take a page from president obama s 2012 playbook that some call class warfare. they say forget talking about any economic recovery, just go after the 1% again.
councils. this is a different model. it s something that the uaw has had to learn about, get comfortable with, and i have to say what s happening here in tennessee is a big kind of shift for the uaw. they are accepting a different model, a model that would put unionized workers and nonunionized workers at the table helping to manage the plant. if that works, and if that makes southern folks who have sometimes been resistant to unions more comfortable, that s the big deal here because then that s good for america. the other plants get to that s good for management. it seems to me one concern, if you have any problem with the unions or even if you re very pro union, work rules can drive you crazy. people say i m not going to do that, it s not my job when in fact it makes no sense to say it s not your job. some case maybe yoiru re exploited. pay is something people really want and benefits as you said, john. you think the mechanic who works
they don t know it yet, but they re gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they ll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn t rocket science. it s just common sense. from td ameritrade. welcome back to hardball. voting wraps up this evening in a tennessee volkswagen plant where auto workers will decide whether or not to unionize. if approved, it could mark a huge turning point. not just for the plant itself, but for the united auto workers and for local republican
political culture down there? what s the fear on the republican side? i think you take them their word on one front, there s concern by republican leaders in tennessee if the plant is unionized and give momentum and force unions to do this in other places in the south and at the nissan plant there in tennessee, if you look at the flip side of this, you know, vw has not opposed this effort in any way. if they are in opposition, they re using tennessee republicans including bob corker and the governor, bill has lam, to do it. i m encouraged by it and find it intriguing. if indeed they re able to put together the kind of work council vw has with its employees across the globe at other plants where it s working and working successfully, if the uaw is able to bind to that, if they wind tonight and cooperate and work with management on a whole range of issues related to productivity and pay and so fort, and attracting new jobs there, this could be a new model for the uaw which is obviously
what s the fight about, john nichols, work rules problematic for management, that s negotiable, or is it the pay? is the way they re giving people lower in michigan or indiana or where they re unionized? the pay lower in southern plants sometimes as much as 20 bucks an hour. when you combine the pay and the benefits. i don t think in this instance it s as low as that, though, john, in fairness to the tennessee model, i think this plant is not as low it may be in some instances but not near. let me finish the thought here. there are many, many different work positions and in some cases, the pay is substantially less. and the key thing here, though, is that this is about more than pay. this is also about a question of whether these southern plants fit into the global plans of these companies. these companies have come into the united states to get a place in the u.s. market. and in most other countries, they do operate with works