It's Over at Athens

JCI's plant in Athens, Tennessee was next on the list for the UAW in June, 2003. 

As part of the neutrality agreement with the UAW, employees' personal information was given to UAW organizers.  Employees were forced to attend "captive audience" meetings Organizers called and visited their homes and harassed them on and off the job. 

The UAW was seeking employees' signatures on union authorization cards.  Under the "card check" authorization scheme, if a majority of employees signed cards the UAW would have been declared bargaining representative for the JCI employees in Athens without a secret-ballot election.

But JCI employees in Athens resisted strongly.  In the captive audience meetings, JCI employees wore t-shirts that said "UAW - Union Ain't Wanted."  And after several weeks of bitter campaigning, only 10% of Athens employees had signed cards.

Faced with this opposition, the UAW gave up.  Organizers "packed their bags and left town," according to one employee.

Don't tell UAW Local 2209 -- they put a press release about this defeat on their own website here

The good news?  The UAW can be beaten.

The bad news?  With Athens out of the picture, the UAW needs JCI in West Michigan that much worse.