CANTON, Miss.- Employees at the Nissan plant in Canton are fighting for a union and Friday members of the IndustriALL Global Union Delegation on Nissan came to back them up.
Some union supporters say they hope the United Auto Workers will charter a formal local union at Nissan Motor Co.’s plant, but there is no formal answer whether it will happen or not.
The delegates from five continents said they listened to the worker’s complaints and said that this is not the way things operate at other plants.
“The worker’s told us there are problems in the plant with health and safety, with quick changes of schedules, with of course temporary agency workers, and there are at least one-third of them.” General Secretary for IndustriALL, of Switzerland, Jyrki Raina said, “This is unheard of; this is not what happens at other Nissan plants.”
Raina said what the workers are really lacking is a structured way to handle matters, which is why they want to start a union.
Union leaders said they believe Nissan is unfairly intimidating workers against forming a union and many employees fear losing their jobs if they speak in favor of it.
“So our message to Nissan is that we will not go away. We will stand by the workers and support their vigilante demands as long as it lasts until they receive treatment of respect and dignity and the representation,” Raina said.
Nissan says it hasn’t done anything illegal and says its workers are free to exercise their rights under American law.
