In recent weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about union versus nonunion, what value unions can bring, and whether a union has any value in a state like Tennessee.

The best response is to take a look at how collective bargaining and collaboration saved nearly 2,400 jobs of Tennesseans and created more than $350 million in investments for workers and communities in Tennessee.

Two years ago, when the gates to the General Motors Co. assembly plant in Spring Hill reopened, it was a testament to what can be gained and who wins with sound collective bargaining and strong collaborative relationships. The UAW’s 2011 collective bargaining agreement reopened the idled GM plant, since infused with new life to the tune of nearly 1,800 new jobs and that hefty $350 million product investment.

Those jobs were in or headed to Mexico. Now, they belong to workers in Tennessee.

In April 2011, when Zeledyne was on the brink of closing or selling its glass production plant in Nashville, collective bargaining between the UAW and Carlex Glass America saved that plant along with about 600 jobs.

Workers win with positive results that only can be achieved when companies and unions work together. Without that cooperation and collective bargaining the Spring Hill plant would not have received a second chance and the Nashville Glass Plant would have closed.

Those results trump politics and ideology because good jobs make a difference and good union jobs not only help build the middle class, but help set a higher standard for the type of benefits union and nonunion workers alike can win.

The UAW is working with many domestic manufacturing companies, making sure they are efficient and profitable. In auto and other manufacturing sectors UAW members have been sharing in the success of their employers through collectively bargained, transparent and rewarding profit sharing plans.

While some politicians have put ideology and their personal interests above those of citizens facing high unemployment and good jobs being shipped overseas, the UAW has helped create more middle-class paying jobs in Tennessee than any other entity.

Tennesseans know firsthand the difference it makes when good jobs come to town.

When the Saturn plant closed, county unemployment rose as high as 17 percent, downtown storefronts emptied and homes went into foreclosure. That year’s graduating high school class lost 85 students after the shutdown, according to a Sept. 22, 2011, story in the New York Times.

This kind of turnaround does not just happen in Tennessee, it happens in communities throughout the country when unions and companies bargain collectively. And it happened in town after town across the country where the UAW negotiated to bring vehicle production back to the U.S. from overseas. The UAW takes great pride is fighting for good jobs for workers who create quality products and deliver top-notch services in one sector after another across this country.

In 2014, unions are more relevant than ever before and the UAW will continue to fight for the right of all workers to bargain for the good jobs that keep America strong.



Bob King is president of United Auto Workers.