Well, at least my dismal record of predicting political outcomes remains intact.
Tennessee autoworkers have rejected a bid by the United Auto Workers to unionize the operation. I had thought most of the workers would seek to join the UAW — and I said so on this blog.
Silly me.
I get that the UAW lost the vote and I’ll accept that outcome. That was their call.
What’s still difficult to accept is the interference thrown in front of the effort to unionize the workers by a member of the U.S. Senate, a former mayor of the city where the Volkswagen plant is located. Republican Bob Corker argued vehemently against the unionizing effort and threatened the VW plant with retribution if its workers endorsed the UAW effort.
The troubling aspect of this is not that Corker opposed the union per se. It is that he was elected ostensibly as a pro-business conservative who, I think I presume correctly, has suggested that government should stay out of the affairs of private business. VW moguls had said they would not oppose the unionizing of its Chattanooga, Tenn. workforce.
So why did the Distinguished Gentleman feel the need to throw the weight of his public office, his own high profile in the state and the power of the federal government behind something that was essentially a private business decision?
What’s done is done. This particular VW plant’s workers won’t be unionized. I’m hoping the company treats them right.
I ought to stay the heck out of the predicting business.