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Don't take our word about the dangers of neutrality at JCI Holland — take a look at what is said by members of the press... congress... even JCI's own Employee Handbook!
"Supplier to take over JCI plant" Holland Sentinel February 20, 2007
Bev Dornbush, a 21-year employee at Johnson Controls Inc., is likely to have a new employer soon. But little else is clear about her future at the company's Southview manufacturing facility. Plastech Engineered Products Inc., a Dearborn-based plastic injection molding company that has worked as a supplier for Holland's largest employer since 2001, will take over operations of the plant on April 1… 'I think the biggest concern is the pay, of course,' she said. "'We've heard rumors that it was going to drop about $4 per hour. There's also some worry over benefits…'"
"A Simple Fact and a Stubborn Union" The Washington Post February 18, 2007
"Had the UAW understood and accepted the intrinsic nature of corporations, it and its members would not be in the position they're in today -- lamenting the decision of German-owned DaimlerChrysler to cut 13,000 jobs and shutter all or part of four Chrysler Group plants in North America over the next three years."
"For 780 BorgWarner workers, it's the end of the line" The Star Press February XX, 2007
"The jobs are gone. Months of speculation for Muncie's BorgWarner's 780 employees were hushed Thursday morning on the Kilgore Avenue factory floor with a plant closure announcement that most considered inevitable… Supporters of the UAW alleged the company wanted to shutter its last union shop, but the plant in Ithaca, N.Y., also has a union workforce. Critics of unions pointed to the high wages locally -- reportedly as much as $48 an hour including benefits -- and said the United Auto Workers had priced themselves out of jobs."
"UAW: Expect sacrifice" The Detroit News January 16, 2007
"The message coming down from the United Auto Workers' top ranks as they prepare for this year's contract talks is not the hard-line rhetoric of the past. Labor leaders are talking to rank-and-file workers about sacrifice and the need to help Detroit automakers become competitive again. They're warning of difficult negotiations ahead and reminding members of the financial problems and intense pressure facing the companies."
"UAW's Full Plate and Drastic Action" ThomasNet Industrial News Room December 16, 2006
"Recent news that 38,000 Ford Motor Co. employees agreed to take the company’s buyout offers might have been welcome news for the Michigan automaker — but it sure wasn’t for the United Auto Workers, which has already seen its membership fall to 598,000 from 1.5 million 20 years ago."
"UAW's stubbornness hurts Michigan's future" Detroit News October 13, 2006
"Neither the United Auto Workers nor its president, Ron Gettelfinger, seems to care much about Michigan's future. If they did, they would be working harder to sell the state to prospective businesses rather than giving them reasons to avoid it… it tells prospective employers that if they set up shop here, they'll have to battle industrial-era attitudes and labor leaders who still think businesses can afford expensive job benefits without reform."
"Exodus of car workers set to burden Midwest" MSNBC October 12, 2006
"Michigan's jobless rate has already jumped from 6 per cent in May to 7.1 per cent in August, tying with Mississippi for the highest among the 50 states. The jobless rate in Ohio has grown from 5.3 to 5.8 per cent."
"UAW pays for fun, perks" Detroit Free Press June 23, 2006
"While their union membership shrank by 15% last year, United Auto Workers officials spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meetings at splashy resorts from Palm Springs to Cape Cod, and paid tens of thousands more for bowling and shooting tournaments, baseball and golf. More than $22,000 alone went for souvenir key chains. The spending is outlined in U.S. Labor Department forms that, for the first time, require unions to provide greater details about how they spend members' money. But the filings still require only bare-bones summaries -- leaving some union critics to wonder what, exactly, was purchased and who got what."
"UAW Is Dealt Setback as NLRB Objects to Deal With Freightliner" Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2005
In a potential big setback for the United Auto Workers union, truck maker Freightliner LLC rescinded an agreement to designate the UAW as the collective-bargaining representative at a bus plant in North Carolina over alleged unfair labor practices by the company and the union... The UAW's loss of its status means the union, which has been losing membership, won't be able to represent the plant's approximately 1,200 workers."
"Labor's Neutrality Pact Comes Under Attack" Newhouse News Service, January 28, 2005
"They came to my house and said everything they did was secret," said Linda Kandel, a 21-year employee at the factory. "I had to sign a card right in front of them. I said, `I don't think so."'
"Future of ‘card-check’ organizing pivots on case from Dana factory" Toledo Blade, January 23, 2005
"Many workers were intimidated by union supporters 'standing over' them as they considered whether to sign authorization cards in late 2003, she recalled. Less than a month after the successful card-check election, she gathered signatures from 68 of 182 co-workers seeking a decertification vote. 'If they’re going to unionize, go ahead and have a [secret ballot] election,” Ms. Atherholt said. 'That’s how President Bush got elected.'"
"UAW ousted at Saint-Gobain... Workers vote 350-309 to decertify union at Greendale plant" Worcester Telegram, January 28, 2005
"Workers at Saint-Gobain Abrasives Inc. yesterday voted to decertify the United Auto Workers union, rejecting the union as their bargaining agent after a tumultuous 3-1/2-year tenure that featured a strike, unfair labor practice charges and a stalemate over an initial contract."
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