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Thousands Converge on Canton to Support Union

Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses a pro-union crowd at the March 4, ‘March on Mississippi’ rally in Canton, MS.

March 6, 2017 – About 4,000 marchers descended upon Canton this month, vowing support for the effort by local Nissan automotive factory workers to unionize.

Participants gathering near Nissan Motor Co.’s Canton plant included union members, state and local politicians, human rights advocates, and countless pro-union individuals, both local and national. The international UAW union, multiple NAACP branches, and Mississippi OneVoice, among other organizations, jointly organized the event.

Speakers included UAW President Dennis Williams, actor and activist Danny Glover, national NAACP President Cornell Brooks, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-MS, former Ohio Senator Nina Turner, and keynote speaker Sen. Bernie Sanders. Even National Sierra Club President Aaron Mair joined the rally, arguing that people can’t “save the planet on the back of degraded labor.”

Turner’s fiery demeanor was in full form: “It is not too much to ask that Nissan, which has received millions of tax dollars … to treat employees here in Canton with the decency they deserve.”

“There are millions of your brothers and sisters all across this country standing in solidarity with you because we hope and believe that tomorrow will be better than today,” Turner added.

Williams vowed international UAW support for the unionizing attempt, which must garner a certain percentage of employee approval before the union may exist. He praised the benefits of unionizing and its ability to bring the voice of workers to the table to have a say in issues such as safe speeds for factory production lines. The union can also hire international experts to investigate workplace accidents, rather than leaving injured employees at the mercy of company yes-men who protect management and hide corporate negligence.

There appears to be plenty of negligence to hide. The Canton plant currently faces more than $20,000 in fines over federal workplace safety violations. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued three citations against Nissan North America following a series of inspections late last year, and an additional spate of workplace accidents. Workers complain that having a voice at the table would cultivate a safer work environment because management would be more open to accepting employee suggestions on health and safety.

Above all, Williams referenced how Nissan Canton increasingly relies upon an army of temporary workers with no employee benefits or sense of permanence. He told the crowd that he was furious that Nissan had a habit of working temps up to seven years before considering the option of full-time employment.

“We say that is nonsense. Everybody has a right to a full-time job and a path to get there,” Williams said. “…[A union] is not about being anti-Nissan. This is about a balance of power, where workers have a voice in the workforce.”

Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders adhered to his traditional pro-worker message.

“In America, half of all the workers have nothing in the bank as they prepare for retirement. In this country moms and dads can’t afford quality childcare for their kids, and we have teachers here working two or three jobs to make a living. This is America. This is the greatest country in the history of the world, and all our people deserve decent wages and decent benefits,” Sanders announced to cheers.

Sanders defined the struggle to unionize as “a struggle for dignity.”

“It’s great that your (Nissan) CEO makes $9 million. It’s great that you made $6 billion in profit, but share some of that wealth,” Sanders said. “The reason we see opposition to unions in Mississippi and all over the country is because unions actually work in providing increased wages and benefits.”

Sanders repeated a claim Rep. Bennie Thompson made earlier: that union members typically earn 27 percent more on average than non-union workers, and are far more likely to have paid family and medical leave, as well as a better retirement and health plan.

“We are engaged in a race to the bottom in America,” Sanders said. “Jobs from the north go to The south, where people earn less. Jobs in The south go to China, where people earn less. Jobs in China, literally, go to Vietnam, where people earn less. Our job is to tell corporate America that they cannot have it all. Start treating the working people of this country with respect.”

Employees claim Nissan management actively discourages unionizing attempts through coercion and misinformation. Workers claim management imposes anti-union media upon employees, and tamps down union messaging. Nissan leaders actually shut down the plant on the March 4 day of the rally—something the profit-sensitive company very rarely ever does—rather than expose employees to pro-union rhetoric delivered by thousands of worker advocates.

Immediately after the rally, organizers marched the enormous crowd of stoked participants from the stage at the Canton Sportsplex to the actual factory location to deliver a letter to Nissan officials. The letter demands the company “halt its ongoing harassment of African-American workers who are organizing to form a union.”

The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP supports Canton, MS Nissan Workers.

October 2014

Clergy Group Supports Pro-Union Nissan Workers

A group of about 100 ministers from throughout Mississippi is calling for a union vote and better treatment of workers at Nissan Canton.

The group held a prayer vigil Tuesday outside the automotive manufacturing facility and delivered to plant officials a petition with their signatures calling for a union vote at the plant, which employs more than 6,000 people.

While stressing in the petition that it is “pro-business, pro-growth and pro-economic development,” the group of religious leaders reiterated claims often made by union supporters – that plant officials intimidate workers from seeking a vote and suggest that the plant eventually will go elsewhere if it is organized.

The automaker has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying workers can make up their own minds as to whether union representation is worth having. Nissan says workers and management in Canton have free, open communication with each other when issues or concerns arise.

The plant has been a focal point of the United Auto Workers’ as-yet-unsuccessful attempt to organize a foreign-owned automotive manufacturer in the South, where that industry has exploded in the last 20 years, with Nissan and Toyota employing thousands at manufacturing plants in Canton and Blue Springs, respectively. Thousands more work for suppliers that make parts for those plants.

Nissan Canton’s workforce is divided over the issue, with some employees publicly supporting a union and others coming out against it. The plant opened in 2003, and no union vote has been held there. A 2008 vote to organize a Madison County Nissan supplier failed by a two-to-one margin.

October 2014

Unclear if UAW will charter union in Mississippi

Some union supporters say they hope the United Auto Workers will charter a formal local union at Nissan Motor Co.’s plant, but it remains unclear whether the union will do so.

The workers made the comments Friday during a visit by a group of international trade union leaders whose organizations represent workers at Nissan and its controlling partner Renault S.A. of France.

Jyrki Raina, the general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said representatives would pressure Nissan in their home countries, although he declined to say exactly what union members would do.

“In the globalized world we can’t allow Nissan to treat the workers in Mississippi as second-class citizens,” said Raina, accompanied by representatives from unions in Japan, France, Spain, Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom. “We want them to have the same rights and representation as at all plants.”

IndustriALL, a global federation, says its constituent unions represent more than 150,000 Nissan and Renault employees worldwide. The UAW, an IndustriALL affiliate, is trying to organize Nissan workers and contract employees to seek union representation at the Canton plant, where more than 6,000 people work. No petition for a union election has been filed.

Nissan said again Friday that it hasn’t done anything illegal and said its workers are free to unionize under American law.

“No, certainly not. We don’t tolerate intimidation at our facilities,” said spokesman Justin Saia. “I think we’ve addressed that over and over again over the last two years.”

The UAW set up a local even though it lost an election to represent workers at a Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in February, and claims it has reached a “consensus” with VW that it will recognize the UAW there without another vote once they sign up enough workers. Volkswagen has said there is no formal agreement.

More recently, it announced it would set up a local at Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

In both cases, working in the UAW’s favor are German unions whose representatives sit on their company’s board. The UAW has no such advantage with Nissan, although it has repeatedly won support from unions elsewhere.

Morris Mock, a Nissan employee who’s one of the most visible union supporters, said after Raina’s remarks that he’d welcome a UAW local. He thinks that familiarity would help build support among Nissan workers.

“It gets rid of all the intimidation,” he said.

UAW representatives said Friday they weren’t authorized to speak to reporters.

The union has also focused on building support in the local community, among civil rights groups, students and performers, all in an attempt to overcome hostility to organized labor in Mississippi’s business and political worlds.

They’ve also appealed to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, asking the U.S. State Department to mediate complaints. Raina said Friday that IndustriALL still awaits a response to its OECD complaint. (DNJ)

October 2014

Slimantics: A level playing field for Mississippi workers

Our elected state officials, especially those with the big “R” attached to their names, will tell you they believe in small government and personal liberty.

But this only goes so far. As best we can determine, this conviction only applies to things like guns, abortion, “traditional” marriage and regulations on business and industry.

It certainly does not apply to the workers’ right to choose whether or not they want to unionize.

On this subject, our elected officials — from the governor to the members of the state legislature — have no trouble at all in siding with big business at the expense of the workers.

Last week, a group of international trade union leaders visited the state in support of the United Auto Workers union efforts to organize at the Nissan plant in Canton.

One of those leaders, Jyrki Raina of IndusriALL Global Union, stated the group’s intentions clearly.

“In the globalized world, we can’t allow Nissan to treat the workers in Mississippi as second-class citizens,” he said.

Yet, treating workers like second-class citizens has always been a key component to Mississippi’s share-cropper economy where workers are convinced they are “lucky” to have jobs that generally pay less than jobs in other states and where virtually every decision that affects employees is made by management.

It is an idea so deeply ingrained in our state ethos that even the workers concede all authority to management.

Gov. Phil Bryant, who makes no pretense about his ultra-cozy relationship with big business, boasts routinely that new industries are locating in Mississippi because of the state’s business-friendly climate and the quality of the state’s workers.

Yet it’s pretty clear that “business-friendly” is code for relaxed regulation and low taxes and “quality of workers” is code for non-union workers.

It is an attitude that is embraced by our legislature, too, which passed not one, not two, but three pieces of legislation in the 2014 session designed to impede attempts by workers to organize.

Regardless of personal feelings about unions, the mountain of obstacles thrown up by our legislature to prevent workers from organizing cannot be fairly defended.

Mississippians believe in fair play. And in this instance, it should be up to the workers themselves to decide whether or not they want to form a union.

The history of the labor movement in our country strongly illustrates that there should be a balance between management and labor.

When faced with this undeniable truth, there are those who say that the time of the union has passed, that the appalling abuses that characterized the industrial revolution that led to the union movement have been addressed through our judicial system.

But that argument suggests that there is no longer a need and right for workers to have a meaningful say about what happens in the workplace.

Our own state government suggests that big business enjoys a favored status when disputes between management and worker emerge.

In each session of the legislature, it is clear whose side our elected officials are on.

Hint: There is not a single piece of legislation in recent memory that protects the rights of the workers.

Given that, we simply cannot trust our leaders to be a fair and impartial arbiter of these matters. By their own acts, our legislators are proving the value and necessity of organized labor in our state.

Unions are not the “enemy” they have been portrayed to be.

There is no reason that a Mississippi worker should expect lower pay or poorer working conditions than workers in other states. Our state should not be viewed as a domestic alternative to the sweat-shops of third-world countries.

We are better than that, even if our governor and legislators don’t really believe it. (The Dispatch)

October 2014

Leader of 50-million member labor federation blasts Nissan in Mississippi

Raina is in Mississippi leading a delegation of ranking trade union leaders from automobile workers’ unions in Japan, France, Spain, Brazil, South Africa, and the UK, that represent Nissan and Renault workers. The group convened in Canton, Mississippi, to meet with Nissan workers and learn first-hand about Nissan’s worker rights’ violations. Unions represented on the delegation include Unite the Union in the U.K., the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (JAW), the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions (JCM), the French CGT and CFE-CGC, Spain’s MCA-UGT and CCOO, South Africa’s Metalworkers’ Union , Força Sindical and CNM-CUT from Brazil, and Workers Uniting North America.

In meetings with workers, delegates learned about Nissan USA’s growing reliance on lower-paid temporary workers, how the company has bullied those who speak in favor of unionization and has used anti-union videos and one-on-one meetings between workers and supervisors to dissuade workers from supporting the UAW.

Delegates say they will take these direct stories from workers back to their home countries to generate increasing international support for the workers among colleagues and other union members in their home countries, and to encourage local management, Nissan North America and Nissan Motor Co. executives to remediate the international labor rights violations, stop threats and intimidation and allow workers to hear both sides of the union issue while deciding for themselves whether to have a voice on the job.

In response to previous press inquiries about the workers’ unionization effort, a Nissan Vice President, in a statement to U.S. press, said “If you are pro-union, you are anti-Nissan.” Delegates say Nissan allows unions at its facilities around the world where workers have a voice and accountability from their employer, and has a strong record of positive relations with unions. However, less than a year ago Nissan refused a request from IndustriALL to discuss concerns about the treatment of Nissan USA workers. The delegation’s request to meet with U.S. Nissan management in Mississippi was also denied.

Members of the IndustriALL group say they intend to fully demonstrate to Nissan North America workers that the global labor movement stands alongside them in their demand for fairness and justice, that they will communicate to Nissan management that the global labor movement will not be silent in the face of rights abuses, will not accept inadequate responses to well-documented problems in the plant and that IndustriALL and its affiliates will take any necessary steps to ensure that basic human and labor rights are respected in the United States.

IndustriALL leader Jyrki Raina says it’s time for Nissan to stop blocking U.S. workers from their exercising their legal rights and let them join their global counterparts in unionizing. “Our message to Nissan is that we are not going away until these Nissan workers win the right to a union, as the 150,000 unionized Nissan workers elsewhere. And our message to Canton’s Nissan workers is that they are not alone in their fight, use our support and fight with our support to join the UAW.”

Canton Nissan worker Calvin Moore says he’s glad the international delegation made the effort to meet with him and his fellow workers to hear their stories about attempts to form a union at Nissan. Moore, a member of the fair election committee, was unjustly terminated but later reinstated, with back pay, after Brazilian unions mounted protests outside Nissan dealerships in Brazil and a social media campaign in support of him. “I am a testament to international support and how unions in Brazil and around the world supported me when I was fired by Nissan. Because of their support, I am back working today,” said Moore.

Moore’s colleague Chris Milton says international labor support will play a key role in worker’s eventual unionization at Nissan in Canton. They simply can’t do it without global partners, said Milton, while pointing to another non-U.S. based auto company in the South where international support is an integral part to U.S. workers gaining a voice. “I went to the Volkswagen NLRB vote count in February in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although pro-union workers didn’t win, the company was neutral and didn’t intimidate or threaten workers who wanted a union. They were neutral partly because unions in Germany supported neutrality in Chattanooga. We in Canton also need global unions to demand that Nissan respect our right to organize,” said Milton. (People’s World)

October 2014

Global unions support Nissan Canton vote, but tough fight remains

The United Auto Workers’ continuing push for a union vote at Nissan Canton has long been viewed as perhaps organized labor’s last true stand in the U.S., especially in the South, but the effort is increasingly attracting global attention.

Last week, the IndustriALL global union brought delegates of organized-labor groups from the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Spain, Brazil and South Africa to Canton to meet with and show support for pro-union plant workers who want to make the Nissan plant the first organized automotive manufacturing facility in the historically anti-union South.

“We are not going away until these Nissan workers win the right to a union,” said IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina in a news release announcing the visit. “They are not alone in their fight.”

It’s a fight that’s been mainly a war of words in the two-plus years that the UAW has publicly campaigned to organize the 11-year-old plant, which, at 6,000-plus employees, is the second-largest private employer in Mississippi. The union and its supporters say Nissan Canton regularly intimidates workers from seeking to unionize by hinting the plant will shut down if such a vote is successful.

Nissan officials have repeatedly denied the claims and say plant management has a successful, open-door policy with employees who have concerns or complaints. They point out the automaker started several years ago a career-path program where temporary workers, the use of which has been a sticking point for union supporters, could become full-time employees with full salaries and benefits. The automaker says its entire current workforce at the plant is considered full-time.

The facility’s lack of union representation hasn’t stopped the plant from growing. Since 2011, Nissan Canton has doubled its workforce and added a number of new vehicles, including the Murano crossover, which goes into production locally this month.

Each side’s stance is crystal clear. What happens next isn’t.

As vocal as both sides have been, there hasn’t been a vote, and one doesn’t seem to be in the offing. Some pro-union workers say a vote would essentially be useless under current conditions because they don’t feel a fair election can be had at Nissan Canton. Nissan itself, feeling a union isn’t necessary, certainly isn’t going to seek a vote just to have it and get it over with.

Union supporters have enlisted celebrities like actor Danny Glover and rappers Common and Sean “Diddy” Combs, as well as organized-labor delegates and advocates from across the globe to spread their message. They’ve portrayed the effort as a modern-day civil rights struggle, equating the right to unionize with the broader rights that were hard-won in the 1960s.

Nissan, meanwhile, enjoys the support of a state Legislature that has approved millions of dollars in incentives and other perks that have helped the plant grow, including in 2013 a financing package for a neighboring supplier park that passed despite some lawmakers’ complaints that the legislation was too vague. Those same lawmakers earlier this year passed several bills placing restrictions on organizing activities at workplaces.

Plant workers themselves are divided on the issue. Some want a union, others don’t. Some say the pro-union voices are a vocal but very small percentage of the plant’s workforce. Others say more workers are becoming convinced a union may help them achieve a better work environment.

Organizing the plant still seems like a long shot, especially considering the UAW’s failed vote to organize a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. The vote there was close, 712 against a union to 626 in favor, but union critics will say a loss is a loss, be it by a hundred votes or 500.

The chess board in this dispute has long been set, enemy lines clearly drawn. Which side will make the next move, a decisive move?

(Clarion Ledger)

April 2014

Heaven Help the UAW: Union Solicits Help from Faith Community in Mississippi

It is no secret that the United Auto Workers union failed in its attempt to unionize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee just a few short weeks ago.

The union has not given up on Chattanooga, but the Nissan plant in Mississippi is also in its sight.

Canton, Mississippi is the location of a 5,000 employee Nissan plant. As the union seems to be on damage control after its embarrassing performance in Tennessee, they are looking for new tactics to organize in Mississippi.

The UAW is looking for help from an unlikely source — pastors. Yes, pastors are serving as the mouth piece for the UAW. A recent article published by the Los Angeles Times profiled the work of a few of the pastors. Rev. Charles Miller of Ridgleland Mississippi leads his congregation to “… pray for the employees who are working at Nissan” and to “”… pray you wake up the conscience of those [sic] that are oppressing them.”

But Rev. Miller is not the only pastor at work for the UAW. The UAW has helped others in the faith community to form “Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan.” This group meets with the union before they set up rallies, and the UAW even provides the funds for many of these pastors to travel to events across the country and even to Brazil.

The demographics of the Canton plant are different than that of what the UAW faced in Chattanooga, with higher proportion of African American workers. The LA Times reported that “Historically, African Americans are more open to unions than white workers” and despite the low unionization rates in Mississippi of 4 percent, the pastors serve as an in to many of these African American communities.

If the pastors don’t work out for the UAW, the union has also enlisted help from the NAACP. In October of 2013 the NAACP issued a report against Nissan claiming that the company was “…. obstructing efforts by Canton employees to build support for the union.” The report was even funded by the UAW according toThe Wall Street Journal. The NAACP may seem like an odd choice for the union, but Derrick Johnson president of the NAACP’s Mississippi branch, believes the organization’s presence is very relevant, because he claims that “historically the right to organize and the civil rights movement have been intertwined.”

The race rhetoric is something that the union is also using in their arsenal. “Mr. Johnson of the NAACP acknowledged that some workers have expressed concern about racism at the Nissan plant.” The union hopes that the demographics of this plant will give them the opportunity to make racial allegations.

With the union’s reputation on the line they feel the need to not only pull the race card, but the religious one as well. (Center for Worker Freedom)

March 2014

Common performs in support of Nissan workers

Grammy award-winning singer and actor Common performed before a sold-out audience at Jackson State University March 21 in support of Mississippi Nissan workers as they expand their effort to organize a union at the Nissan plant in Canton. Other guests at the event included actor and activist Danny Glover, local performance artists, Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN) members, Nissan workers, and student supporters from Mississippi Student Justice Alliance (MSJA) and Concerned Students for a Better Nissan (CSBN), who are calling on Nissan to respect its workforce’s labor rights. Workers who have adopted the slogan “Tell Nissan: Labor rights are civil rights” see their effort for a fair union election as an extension of the civil rights movement from half a century ago.

Singer, producer and actor Sean “Diddy” Combs added his support to the campaign with a welcome greeting video to the audience before the performance began.

The event was held in support of Nissan workers in Canton who want the company to stop intimidating and threatening workers to discourage them from considering a union. Workers want to exercise their civil right to form a union so they can have input into a variety of workplace concerns, including unsafe working conditions, and the company’s growing use of temporary workers who do the same work for years as direct hires for much less pay and benefits and no job security.

Concert participants also unveiled upcoming stops on CSBN’s multi-city Nissan Truth Tour, which is exposing the intimidation and threats pro-union workers have faced from Nissan for years. Young people are a nationwide, growing part of the movement to support Nissan workers, saying they don’t want to work in an economy based on temporary work status. At the event, students announced a petition drive they’ve launched in support of Nissan workers.

Common said workers can rest assured that their desire for a better life is attainable. “I’m a real advocate for love and spreading love. When you operate out of love, there is no fear,” said Common. “There is no fear anymore. We’re ready to stand up for what we believe in and stand up for justice.”
“When workers at Nissan began to organize a union, Nissan responded with implied threats that they would leave Mississippi if workers unionized,” said Reverend R. Isiac Jackson, Jr., MAFFAN chair and president of the General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Mississippi. “While we welcome the presence of foreign-owned companies like Nissan in Mississippi, we will not tolerate a company treating Mississippians as second-class citizens. The Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan will carry the message in Mississippi and throughout the world insisting that Nissan allow a fair process that allows workers to freely decide on unionization,” said Jackson. MAFFAN was founded after Congressman Bennie Thompson called on Mississippi leaders to form a committee to stand up for Nissan workers.Actor and activist Danny Glover, who is involved in a variety of humanitarian causes, said the Nissan organizing campaign is of special importance to him. “Of all the worker struggles around the world, the Nissan workers of Mississippi stand out to me. For a place that’s one of the most important battle grounds of the civil rights movement to now be the center of the global workers’ rights movement is significant. I am committed to the campaign to win the right to organize for Nissan workers,” said Glover.

Mississippi NAACP State President Derrick Johnson says the workers’ efforts to have a voice on the job are a civil and labor rights issue. “The NAACP and labor unions have long history of collaboration,” said Johnson. “The NAACP fully supports this campaign, and believes the campaign is a strong example of that partnership.” Johnson said Nissan’s treatment of Mississippi workers is wrong, particularly because Nissan has unionized auto plants around the world but not in Mississippi.

Canton Nissan worker Shelia Wilson says Nissan’s anti-union intimidation campaign has been going on for years and that the company needs to respect the labor and civil rights of workers, which are the same. “We have a fundamental human right to organize in the U.S. Nissan’s intimidation and threats are keeping us from exercising those rights,” said Wilson. She said the company holds one-one-one and roundtable anti-union meetings with workers, shows anti-union videos and creates a climate of fear by implying the plant will close if workers unionize, all without allowing pro-union discussion. Wilson said workers want a union so they can improve workplace safety and the company’s treatment of injured workers, and have input into the company’s growing use of temporary workers who do the same work as direct hires but for much less pay and benefits and with no job security, with many left in temp status for years.

MSJA and CSBN member Monica Atkins says young people are an expanding part of the Nissan organizing struggle because they don’t want to enter a workforce built on insecure temporary jobs and denial of workers’ labor and civil rights. “We want better for today’s Nissan workers and for ourselves tomorrow,” said Atkins. “College students around the country are a growing force behind these workers. We are continuing the strong civil rights movement that students have historically participated in, particularly in Mississippi. Young people are part of this state’s civil rights legacy and we will be a part of the civil rights future,” said Atkins. (UAW)

October 2013

Why the NAACP Joined a Mississippi Union Battle

For years, the United Auto Workers union has largely struck out on its own in trying to organize the South’s foreign-owned car plants.

Now, it’s enlisting some help from the outside.

That help arrived on Tuesday, when the NAACP lent its support to the UAW’s push to unionize a Nissan plant in Canton, Miss. The civil rights organization issued a 47-page report that alleged Nissan is obstructing efforts by Canton employees to build support for the union.

Specifically, the report, which was funded by the UAW, claims that Nissan managers pressure workers not to side with the union, routinely suggest the plant could close or cut production if the work force unionizes and prevents UAW organizers from meeting workers inside the factory.

Nissan denied the charges, saying in a statement that its managers routinely meet with employees to discuss “matters pertinent to our business.” It added that the report “is neither objective nor credible” and that Nissan has never violated labor standards” and “continue to abide by U.S. labor laws and support the rights of employees to decide whether they wish to be represented by a union.”

Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP’s Mississippi branch, said the organization got involved because it got calls from workers at the Canton, Miss. plant expressing concerns about Nissan’s management practices. He also added that historically the right to organize and the civil rights movement have been intertwined.

“For anyone who questions whether or not it is the role of the NAACP to do what we’re doing today, I say yes it is,” Mr. Johnson said during a press conference in Washington.

But the involvement of the NAACP reflects the new reality for the UAW: in its drive to unionize foreign-owned auto plants in the South, it needs help to press its case, which is becoming an increasingly international one. The report was also released in Brazil, where Nissan has plants, and a Japanese-language version was published in Nissan’s home country.

In the UAW’s efforts to organize a VW plant in Tennessee, and a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, the union is cooperating with top labor representatives at those companies and the German auto union, IG Metall.

But how much the NAACP can help the UAW at Nissan is unclear. Mr. Johnson and the UAW claim Nissan’s practices violate “international labor standards” but are legal under U.S. labor laws. “I’m not going to say Nissan has violated the National Labor Relations Act – this report wasn’t about that,” said Lance Compa, Cornell University labor law professor who was one of the authors of the report.

A spokeswoman for the UAW said the union is not filing a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board but said Nissan, as a global company, should be held accountable to international labor standards.

In a phone interview, Mr. Johnson of the NAACP acknowledged that some workers have expressed concern about racism at the Nissan plant. One worker who participated in the news conference described one situation where he felt he had been a target of discrimination. But he added: “Our broader concern transcends race. This is about a worker’s ability to have a voice in the workplace.”

In its statement, Nissan said suggestions of racism at the company are “simply false,” and added that it does not tolerate employee intimidation. “Nissan Canton is an inclusive and positive work environment that values and celebrates the diverse backgrounds of our team member,” the company said. (WSJ)

October 2013

Mississippi auto workers accuse Nissan of anti-union labor violations

According to a report released this week, Nissan has allegedly violated international labor standards by using what the report describes as anti-union tactics at its Canton, Miss., plant.

The report, published by Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson and international labor law scholar Lance Compa, accuses Nissan of threatening employees who want to unionize and intimidating them in one-on-one meetings between workers and management.

The company’s alleged anti-union tactics are chronicled in extensive detail in the 46-page report. The tactics include “mandatory “captive audience” meetings, individual sessions with supervisors, closed-circuit television presentations, surveillance and interrogations. The authors of the report say “Nissan management has relentlessly and repeatedly implied to its workforce that the plant faces the risk of closing down if the workers decide to have a union.”

“It’s constant discouragement,” Rafael Martinez, an employee at the plant, said in the report. “Discouragement is a powerful thing. You don’t feel like doing anything. The sad thing is, it works.”

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Nissan strongly denied the allegations.

“This UAW-commissioned report is neither objective nor credible and simply restates two-years’ worth of false allegations by the union,” the automaker said. “Nissan has never violated labor standards and would never tolerate threats or intimidation of our employees. Nissan will continue to abide by U.S. labor laws and support the rights of employees to decide whether they wish to be represented by a union.”

The Canton plant has nearly 4,000 employees and produces the popular Nissan Altima sedan, Titan truck and Armada SUV among other models. Employees interviewed for the report, which received financial and logistical support from the United Auto Workers union (UAW), list a host of other problems at the plant besides the anti-union stance the company has taken.

Employees say Nissan also blames the UAW for the financial problems of the “Detroit 3” — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — and refers to employee efforts to form unions as the efforts of a “third party.”

The report contains a transcript from an April 2005 meeting that highlights Nissan management’s criticism of the union, and the potential for plant closures and layoffs if employees were to join the UAW:

“The UAW’s record is one of plant closings, layoffs, decline of market share,” the transcript from the Nissan meeting reads. “Nissan’s record in the U.S. is one of building new plants, hiring to increase market share … Virtually all of the new jobs in the auto industry are non-UAW companies. Virtually all of the plant closings and layoffs in the auto industry are predicted to be UAW-represented companies.”

The report says workers also accuse Nissan management of favoritism among employees, issuing retaliatory job assignments, allowing pay disparities between the Canton plant and the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn., denying them bathroom breaks and freezing their pension plans among other things.

“A lot of us who have been here longer see the need for a union,” said Everlyn Cage, another plant employee. “But the younger people who went through all these meetings, they are scared about losing their jobs if they get involved.”

Nissan says that in the 10 years the Canton plant has been open, employees have “chosen to maintain a direct relationship with the company rather than inviting an outside party like the UAW to speak for them.” The report contends that Nissan has mounted an aggressive campaign to prevent workers from having a vote to elect union representation.

Employee Betty Jones agreed in the report that fear is what keeps she and her co-workers from unionizing.

“I love what I do. I love the people in this plant,” said Jones. “I give the company more than 100 percent every minute of every day. But they just want us to come in and work and keep quiet. A lot of people do that because they’re scared. That’s the problem, the fear. We just want a fair election without the fear.” (Al Jazeera)

October 2013

Report Outlines How Nissan in Canton Violates Workers’ Human Rights Standards to Organize and Bargain Collectively

Report from the Mississippi NAACP and international labor law scholar Lance Compa will outline how Nissan undermines workers’ freedom of association, in violation of International Labor Organization Conventions 87 and 98.
Newly unveiled summary from the Mississippi NAACP and international labor law expert Lance Compa describes how Nissan undermines workers’ freedom of association under International Labor Organization principles.
An extensive report by Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson and international labor law expert Lance Compa released in Washington, D.C. today (October 8) shows that Nissan in Canton, Miss., is in violation of international labor standards on freedom of association through its aggressive interference with workers trying to exercise their fundamental right to organize a union.

“Under international law and pursuant to its own stated commitments, Nissan is supposed to respect human rights standards on workers’ freedom of association – the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining. But in the Canton plant, Nissan has launched an aggressive campaign of fear and intimidation to nullify these rights,” said Johnson.

“Our research shows that Nissan is not living up to the standards of worker treatment enshrined in International Labor Organization (ILO) core labor standards, UN human rights principles, and other international norms. It also belies Nissan’s own public commitments to honor international standards through its membership in the United Nations Global Compact,” said Compa, an American lawyer currently based in Europe. “Workers’ descriptions of how they are treated behind the walls of the massive Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., affirm that Nissan is systematically interfering with the internationally recognized right to form a union.”

“Workers and everyone in the Canton community are appreciative of this research on the unfair treatment of Nissan workers,” said Cong. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss). “The finding that Nissan is in violation of international labor rights standards is alarming. I and the entire Canton community continue to stand with workers in Mississippi, because they deserve the freedom to organize a union if they so choose, free from implied threats.”

The International Labor Organization’s (ILO) 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and ILO Conventions 87 and 98 are the foundation of international standards on workers’ freedom of association. They prohibit:

Imposing pressure, instilling fear, and making threats of any kind that undermine workers’ right to freedom of association.
Creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear with respect to union organizing.
Pressuring or threatening retaliatory measures against workers if they choose union representation.
Denying reasonable access for workers to hear from union representatives inside the workplace.

Worker Jeff Moore, a body shop quality technician hired in 2001, stated that anti-union intimidation began early on. “In the first meetings, managers told us that Nissan is totally non-union and didn’t want any part of unions, that unions make plants close,” said Moore. “Everything they said about unions was negative, nothing positive. It’s like they were drilling it into our heads, stay away from the union,” said Moore.

Workers also recounted “captive audience” meetings in which they were forced to watch films and hear speeches filled with implicit threats of plant closure if they formed a union, and orchestrated one-on-one meetings with supervisors warning of dire consequences if they choose union representation.

Nissan, the report says, also targets their anti-union behavior at hundreds of “associates” or temporary workers, many of whom do the same work as regular Nissan employees but are paid lower wages and have less job security. The report concludes temporary workers, because of their tenuous situation, often feel even more susceptible to the company’s intimidation and climate of fear if they support a union.

The report’s authors say call on Nissan to change its practices, specifically:

Affirm workers’ right to organize in keeping with the core labor standards of the ILO and ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association.
Make clear that Nissan will not close the plant or fail to introduce new product lines because workers choose union representation.
Assure workers that if they choose representation, Nissan will negotiate in good faith with a sincere desire to reach a collective bargaining agreement; and
Grant access to UAW representatives so that employees can receive information from them inside the workplace.

The report also recommends that socially responsible investment firms “ … re-evaluate their portfolio holdings of Nissan stock in light of ILO standards and the company’s actions at the Canton plant, and engage with Nissan management to encourage adoption of the recommendations in this report” and that “ … The United Nations Global Compact and the OECD … consider whether the company’s actions in Canton are consistent with its commitments to, and obligations under, international labor standards.”

Nissan recognizes and bargains with unions at almost all of its operations globally, but not in the U.S. Nissan workers and their supporters want Nissan to change how it treats workers, including:

Stopping the anti-union campaign at its U.S. operations and treating workers with dignity and respect. Allowing union supporters equal time to address employees on the issue of union representation. Apologizing and retracting past statements that imply the future of the plants would be at stake if workers choose union representation.
Providing permanent jobs for all temporary workers and paying these workers the same as it does its regular employees

CLICK HERE to view full report

January 2013

“Worker rights have always been a Civil Rights issues. The struggle we had to abolish slavery was about worker rights. The struggles in the ’60s was about the right of workers being able to organize. In fact, Dr. King was assassinated as he was organizing workers in memphis who wanted the right to have a voice as sanitation workers. So, we see worker rights on the same playing field as voting rights, civil rights. It is about human dignity. And workers at Nissan should know when they go to work on a Monday morning, they should be able to predict whether or not they go to work 3 hours that day or 12 hours that day, whether or not they’re going to work seven days a week or five days a week. How can workers be expected to raise a family, have a quality of life if a company like Nissan don’t respect them as human beings?”

“We’ve joined with pastors from across the state. We’ve organized committee as we’ve received calls, we’re working with workers over their concerns. We’re showing the workers that we have support. We’re gathered here tonight at Tougaloo College because we understand that workers need support. They are an important part of our community. They are parishioners in our church, they are members of the NAACP, and they are human beings. And if workers in Brazil can organize who work for Nissan, if workers who Japan who are Nissan workers, if workers in South Africa at their Nissan plant are organize and able to collectively bargain, why shouldn’t Mississippi workers be able to organize? I think it’s unfair and unfathomable that a company from outside of the United States comes to Mississippi and treat workers as un-American. It is unfortunate that we can sit here today in the State that has a long history of exploiting workers for cheap labor to allow an international company to exploit our workers. We will not stand for it. As clergy, we will not stand for it as NAACP, and we will stand with the workers.” – President Derrick Johnson

June 2012

On behalf of the Miss. State of the NAACP, we also stand in solidarity of Nissan workers. Our goal is to ensure equal protection under the law is guaranteed for all citizens, but in that, it should also extend to workers having a right to cast a vote, so they can choose their representation.

And for the NAACP we have fought long and hard to ensure individuals can cast a vote, have the right to cast a vote without intimidation, without manipulation, and be provided the opportunity to hear all the information so they can make an informed decision.

When it comes to workers in the country, when it comes to corporations, they prevent the workers from having equal access to information. They prevent the workers from making a truly informed decision so they can understand the leverage they have collectively, so they can provide a better quality of life to their families.

So the NAACP, we support the Nissan workers. Because it’s the right thing to do, it’s the mission of our organization, and it’s the right thing for the state of Mississippi. [An excerpt of President Derrick Johnson’s speech]

Full Conference | President Johnson’s speech