The UAW and other unions are on the case of Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler again. They threaten to picket dealers of the carmakers, and to disrupt their stockholders meetings. (Good luck doing this in Japan, Korea and Germany.) What did Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler do now? They did nothing, and the unions say it’s an outrage.
A coalition of 15 civil rights organizations and labor unions is trying to overturn a controversial new immigration law in Alabama. That law requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain, if they think that person is in the country illegally. The Obama administration says Alabama is messing with the federal government’s exclusive authority over immigration policy, and challenges the law in court.
What does that have to do with Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler? Nothing. Except that Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler have plants in Alabama, and the unions would like to have Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler on their side. The companies could bring their leverage in the state to bear. The companies don’t want to get involved. Now the unions attempt to strong-arm them.
I can imagine that the foreign carmakers, being guests in the country, don’t want to be found on either side of this corrosive issue. Why do the unions attempt to force them on their side? Aren’t companies that were the target of an abortive UAW organize-the-transplants drive odd allies anyway? What’s wrong with the unions? My take: The unions simply want to discredit Honda, Hyundai, and Daimler with the Latino community.
Automotive News [sub] notes that Asian brands dominate new vehicle purchases among Hispanic buyers in the United States, with especially Honda accounting for 13.9 percent of the Hispanic market. The UAW could be trying to change this. “Nice demographic you have here. It’d be a shame if anything were to happen to it.”
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