Why I proudly support Nissan workers fight to unionize - Bernie Sanders
Thursday 3 August 2017 - Bernie Sanders
Excerpts:
Large corporations like Nissan like to set up shop in states like Mississippi because they know that when safety nets are frayed, and people hit hard times, they’re more likely to accept low wages and poor working conditions. They know how to exploit human misery and insecurity, and turn them into high profits.
Nissan is no stranger to trade unions. It has union representation in 42 out of 45 of its plants throughout the world – from Japan to France, Australia to England. But the company does not want unions in the US south, because unions mean higher wages, safer working conditions, decent healthcare and a secure retirement.
Corporations like Nissan know that if they stop workers in Mississippi from forming a union, wages will continue to be abysmally low in this state. Further, if workers are unable to form unions and engage in collective bargaining, Americans throughout this country will continue to work for longer hours for lower wages. As Americans, our goal must be to raise wages in Mississippi and all over this country, not engage in a destructive race to the bottom.
I proudly support Nissan workers’ fight to form a union. What they are doing takes tremendous courage. If they succeed in forming a union it will not only improve their wages and working conditions, but will benefit workers across the south and all across this country.
But regardless of what happens this week, Nissan workers should be very proud. They have exposed the system of racial and economic injustice that corporations like Nissan are perpetrating. We need to build on their courageous efforts, and fight for an economy that works for all of us, not just the top one percent.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/03/nissan-workers-union-bernie-sanders
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Voting began inside the plant at 2 a.m. Thursday in the election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. Ballots can be cast until 7 p.m. Friday.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nissan-workers-mississippi-begin-voting-union-49005065
