In a major union vote that’s being watched by leaders across the globe, workers at Nissan’s assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, will begin voting today on whether they want be represented by the United Auto Workers union.
Voting began inside the plant at 2 a.m. this morning in the election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. Ballots can be cast until 7 p.m. Friday.
On one side are workers who say the 3,700 Nissan Motor Co. assembly and maintenance workers need a union to give them a voice in their workplace, to protect against arbitrary treatment, and to bargain for better benefits and pay.
Opposing them are other Nissan employees who reject the idea of a union speaking for them. They warn that the UAW would be an economic albatross burdening an employer who pays them well.
Outside analysts assume the union is an underdog, since the UAW has never fully organized a foreign-owned auto plant in the southern United States. But no one knows for sure.
So far, only maintenance workers at a Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have been persuaded to join the UAW. But worldwide, the only Nissan factories without unions are the Canton plant and two plants in Tennessee.
It’s not an overstatement to say the world is watching—French politicians have been involved, and crowding into a sweaty union meeting Tuesday night were actor Danny Glover, a Brazilian unionist and a Japanese journalist.
About 6,400 people work for Nissan and its suppliers in Canton, where Frontier and Titan pickups, Murano SUVs and NV vans are assembled. But only direct employees can vote. Excluded are managers, engineers, clerical workers, guards, and hundreds of contract laborers who do the exact same work on the factory floor.
