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Pros And Cons Of Nissan Plant Workers

Decent Essays

In this VICE video, there is a discussion on the why or why not workers at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi should vote to allow the UAW to come into the facility. The short documentary focuses on 2 different workers at the plant to show each side of the argument. Betty Jones is an engine quality tester who is very pro-union, whereas Tony Hobson is a night shift forklift driver who is strongly against joining the UAW. Each side of the argument had many different Pro’s and Con’s they discussed in the video. The UAW used many different techniques to pitch their side of the argument. Their main point they used is that “ Unionizing the Nissan plant is the next rung in the long climb to equality for African Americans in the South”. The …show more content…

On the other side of the argument Nissan and many of the plant workers argued the exact opposite of this. The main reason workers had against the joining the union is their job security. As Tony mentioned while being interviewed, they have not had a single layoff in over 15 years. If the agree to allow the union to come into the plant the increase of having a massive layoff increases. Another Con many used against the union coming into the plant was the campaign that the UAW will turn the city and surrounding areas into Detroit. By this mean that by allowing the union to enter the plant, the city’s economy will collapse and leave many of the plant workers out of the job, just like what happened to the city of Detroit. Even the Mississippi governor tweeted something similar to this campaign to try and persuade workers to vote against the union. As mentioned in the prompt why are workers divided on whether to unionize if they all want to same thing (better benefits, better pay, better working conditions, etc.). The main reason for the split I picked up on while watching the video is that many workers do not want to change the system they have right now because they have the mentality of “if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix …show more content…

(Insert stat of unions). According to James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics, the main reason we are seeing a declining member in unions is because unions have not adapted to the modern workplace. Many of the most powerful unions today were formed in the early to mid-1900’s when manufacturing and working in factories was popular in the job industry; whereas today, many workers are placed in offices. For example, the New York Public School system voted in 1961to organize a new union, so no one teaching today had a vote I the forming of the organization that represents them today. The landscape of the economy and workplace has changed drastically since then. Sherks states “Most employers today value employees for their skills and abilities - "human resources" - instead of seeing them as interchangeable cogs on the assembly line. Employees also expect to be rewarded for what they bring to the table”. This is the exact opposite of the purpose of a union. Unions bring everyone together as a single entity rather than individuals. Workers want to be able to work as individuals rather than groups of workers so that they can be promoted fasted because it is based on skill and knowledge rather than seniority or other way unions typically

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