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Evidence Of GOP Interference In VW Election Is Now Overwhelming - Truth-Out
Evidence of GOP Interference in VW Election Is Now OverwhelmingFriday, 11 April 2014 10:20
By John Logan, Truthout | Op-Ed
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Last week's disclosure by respected Tennessee journalist Phil Williams concerning Republican dirty tricks in the Chattanooga union election demonstrates beyond any doubt that the GOP committed grand theft at Volkswagen. The confidential documents obtained by Williams show that Governor Bill Haslam offered Volkswagen $300 million contingent on the outcome of the election, and that Sen. Bob Corker's chief of staff coordinated anti-UAW messaging with Tennessee Republicans and anti-union groups. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must restore democracy and overturn the flawed election.
The evidence of external interference with workers' choice is as follows:
1. Shortly before the election, senior Tennessee lawmakers threatened to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in state incentives if workers voted for the United Auto Workers union (UAW).
2. Confidential documents show that Gov. Haslam offered Volkswagen nearly $300 million in subsidies, but only if the union election were concluded "to the satisfaction" of his administration.
3. Neither Haslam nor his staffers have been able to explain the revelations. Haslam previously denied a connection between the subsidies and the election result, but when questioned by Williams, he responded, "We've been really clear all along that we had an interest in the outcome of that vote." He apparently does not understand that the purpose of federal labor law is to protect the choice of workers, not GOP politicians. After continued inquiries, a spokesperson for the governor explained that, "the state of Tennessee has incentivized unionized companies before." So Haslam's best excuse for interfering with the election is that this is not his first offense?
4. Republicans' statements on the election were in direct conflict with their actions behind the scenes. While Republicans tried to blackmail the company and colluded with anti-union extremists, Haslam warned Volkswagen management that it was essential that workers be allowed to vote "without undue influence," and stated that a fair vote was essential to the "acceptance of any result by the employees and the community." But thanks to the GOP's litany of dirty tricks - which gets longer with each new revelation - the Chattanooga vote was anything but fair.
5. Sen. Corker (R-Tenn.) twice told workers...
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More: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/23007-evidence-of-gop-interference-in-vw-election-is-now-overwhelming
59 replies
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It's not as if it's super-urgent, like arresting a pot smoker would be.
Nashville area. 
unfortunately, easily brainwashed.
6. Out-of-state organizations with links to Grover Norquist and others ran an unprecedented campaign of interference. After the election, Grover's chief strategist, who spent a year in Chattanooga, boasted of having created "strife" in the community.
And...
8. One AstroTurf Tennessee organization, Southern Momentum Inc., claimed to represent ordinary Volkswagen workers, but raised significant funds from anti-union businesses and hired the leading "union avoidance" firm Projections, Inc. to produce anti-UAW videos.
And...
The recipients of Womack's email represent a who's who of Tennessee lawmakers, business leaders, and union avoidance organizations. They include Bill Hagerty, commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Economic and Community Development and a member of Haslam's cabinet; Maurice Nicely, an anti-union lawyer who fronted Southern Momentum Inc.; Jim Gray, head of a South Carolina firm that has a "primary focus on union avoidance," who told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm just here to help out"; Don Jackson, a former Volkswagen plant manager turned anti-UAW spokesperson; Ron Harr, CEO of the Chattanooga Region Chamber of Commerce; Tim Spires, CEO of the Tennessee Association of Manufacturers; and Peter List, a notorious anti-union consultant and blogger, and founder and CEO of the union avoidance firm Kulture. According to Fortune magazine, List is "a firm believer in Ayn Rand's philosophy of radical individualism" who "opposes all state efforts to regulate labor relations."
List himself states that unions are "one of the biggest threats facing America today."
In addition to revealing the astonishing number of groups that were working to defeat the organizing campaign - we knew about the involvement of anti-union groups with links to Grover Norquist and the Koch Brothers, but did not know about List and others - the email demonstrates that senior Republican staffers were in direct contact with these groups over anti-union messaging.
List himself states that unions are "one of the biggest threats facing America today."
In addition to revealing the astonishing number of groups that were working to defeat the organizing campaign - we knew about the involvement of anti-union groups with links to Grover Norquist and the Koch Brothers, but did not know about List and others - the email demonstrates that senior Republican staffers were in direct contact with these groups over anti-union messaging.
From link at OP.
Glad ta have ya aboard !!!
And yeah... I'm angry too.
