In an extraordinary act of coercion, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee led an anti-union meeting last Monday at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant. All of the plant’s day shift employees were required to attend, but the broader public was shut out. No other politicians were invited and journalists were not allowed in the building.
Audio of the meeting, obtained by Labor Notes, reveals the most powerful politician in the state throwing his support behind Volkswagen management and against the plant’s workers.
“Every workplace has challenges, and there are things in your workplace that you wish were different. My experience is that when I have a direct relationship with you, the worker, and you’re working for me, that’s when the environment works the best,” the governor stated.
The governor’s comments are an unprecedented demonstration of how Southern government officials and corporations work hand-in-hand to bust unions.
“We’ve had Republican governors using the power of their office to speak out against specific unions before, but nothing quite like this,” said John Logan, director of Labor and Employment Relations at San Francisco State University.